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As you might have noticed, 2026 has kicked off at full speed. But before we get too far ahead, it’s worth looking back on 2025 – a year when interest in joining A Grid hit new highs, our community widened, and our events brought founders, researchers, and partners into the same rooms to make things happen.

Expanding the A Grid community

In 2025, applications to join A Grid climbed to their highest level yet, rising 47 % year-over-year. While our space remained tightly allocated, we were thrilled to be able to welcome new teams into our community:

• Mill Hill Garage
• Tukala Oy

This success is built on A Grid’s day-to-day advantages: over 25,000 square meters of startup space, a full service package, a makerspace, 24 meeting rooms, event facilities, a restaurant and café, and fast access to the metro – practical infrastructure for busy teams.

A year of events that connected campus and industry

We set out to make 2025 a year of purposeful encounters – moments where founders, researchers, investors, and industry could meet, learn, and act. Across our outstanding event facilities, the calendar delivered:

• Aalto Startup Center x A Grid Demo Day (March): Our biggest showcase of the year drew almost 800 attendees for founder pitches, R2B cases, and partner-led sessions, turning Otaniemi into a one-stop shop for early-stage innovation.
• Innovation Week (September): Co-created with Aalto Startup Center and players across the Aalto University startup ecosystem, this event welcomed almost 200 participants to dive into new tech, pilot opportunities, and research-to-market pathways.
• A Grid Impact Series: We ran seven themed events – AI, health, matchmaking, space, sustainability, wellbeing, and creatives – bringing in a total of 330 attendees. The goal: help teams find collaborators, customers, and the next right step.
• Community events: From May Day to the Summer Party and our year-end Christmas gathering, we kept the “building as a village” energy strong – because good work travels farther in a connected community.

Collaboration that turned insights into outcomes

We piloted two collaborations that turned insight into action – one focused on how we design shared spaces for real user needs, the other on building a repeatable pathway from startup to buyer in the built environment.

The JAVIST (Jakamisella viisautta / Resourceful sharing) project explored how people actually experience shared spaces in startup and coworking environments, using participatory walkthrough interviews. The in-context method revealed that providing shared areas isn’t enough; empowering users, fostering diverse social environments, and building continuous feedback loops are essential. When people feel informed, supported, and connected, shared spaces spark spontaneous collaboration, stronger networks, inspiration, wellbeing, and active use. We’ll take these findings into account when planning our spaces further.

The Speeding up Sustainable Business in the Built Environment project was conducted together with Urban Tech Helsinki. The project focused on creating a structured, trust-based process that generated over 20 confirmed leads for built environment startups — while connecting them directly with major buyers to accelerate sustainability transformation and create real business opportunities. The initiative demonstrates how startups and large institutions can be brought together effectively through intentional design, collaboration, and long-term engagement.

Looking ahead to 2026

We’ve already kept the momentum going. In early February, our Impact Series hosted its most successful event yet – Building Impact as a Female Founder – bringing together women across the ecosystem to share experience and empower the next wave. The series continues on April 8 with Impact Networking.

Next up is the Aalto Startup Center x A Grid Demo Day on March 4. It’s the perfect window into Otaniemi’s innovation pipeline: startups and research-to-business cases on stage, plus hands-on workshops and sessions from ecosystem partners. You won’t want to miss it.

We’re also lining up an exciting autumn event – details coming soon. Alongside headline gatherings, we’re planning more community activities, deeper collaboration with Aalto University and ecosystem partners, and continued support for startup interaction and growth. Our mission remains the same: create meaningful connections and provide opportunities for success.

Want to become part of the A Grid community?

Future events