Take the challenge of turning groundbreaking research into a groundbreaking business

On our mission to make the world a better place, we are looking for motivated entrepreneurs to participate in the new ForestBioPitch - From Lab to Business competition! The selected entrepreneurs will be paired with specialized researchers to form high-performing and committed teams.

The idea is simple: turn existing forest and/or bioresearch into a sustainable, profitable, and highly impactful startup. We believe, that Forest-based bioeconomic research contains an incomparable potential to solve major global challenges, such as climate change, and that by giving it a little boost, huge business opportunities will arise.

This will be facilitated by Kiuas' 8 week-long program, with a focus on product/market fit, go-to-market strategy, and building an MVP. Kiuas' program with the help of its community and coaches is designed to build and scale projects from any stage to fast-growing and thriving businesses. The culmination of this program takes place in November, with a pitching competition to showcase the results. The award for the winner will be 5000 € + Permanent access to the Kiuas startup community. In addition, 2nd place will win 3000€ and 3rd place 2000€.

Applications are open until 20.7.2021. From the application, the most suitable ones will be selected for a matchmaking day, organized by Kiuas, where the researchers will present their researches for the entrepreneurs. After this, a free mingling will take place for both parties to get to know each other. Finally, the researchers will decide the entrepreneurs they want to move forward with and form a team. The program will start with the selected entrepreneurs and their matched research teams in September.

ForestBioPitch is made possible by the Finnish Forest Products Engineers’ Association and VTT together with FinnCERES and Kiuas

Is it you we're looking for?

At Kiuas, we're always looking for ambition. We seek minds and attitudes which want to take things big and international. People who are not afraid to say "go big or die trying". To succeed in this program, you also need to have a tad of business knowledge in your pocket so you can sink your hands deep into execution. Whether you are an old-timer serial entrepreneur, a corporate grinder looking for something more meaningful, an engineer seeking to become the next Elon Bezos or a ridiculously thirsty recent graduate, attitude is key. If you think "should I?", then you're what we're looking for.

Timeline

20.7.21 - Deadline for applications

11.8.21 - Matching day with the researchers and entrepreneurs

1.9.21 - Start of Program

16.11.21 - Pitching competition