The idea for the Ignite accelerator program was born out of a passion for entrepreneurship and a desire to provide students with the resources and support they need to turn their ideas into action. The founders of the program, a group of students at Aalto University, recognized that many students are eager to become a founder but lack of knowledge, experience, and networks to take this leap.
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Ignite, a 10-week student startup accelerator, was sparked into life as a response to these issues. With growing interest among university students to solve significant challenges, our mission is to give everyone the opportunity to see what is required to build a successful startup and help aspiring students create a lasting impact on society.
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Each year we select a number of teams to take part in the accelerator during the summer. What we really look for are motivated teams who want to develop as problem-solvers and test out their ideas in a safe and supporting environment.

During the ten weeks, we dive into weekly topics covering all the aspects required to build a startup from scratch. The most important thing we do is help our teams work on their startup ideas. The weeks are tailored to support the development of the teams in the best way possible.
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Throughout the program, experts from various fields provide a view on different aspects of startups, hold workshops, coach the teams, and tell their own stories. Typically, speakers include startup founders, venture capitalists and executives from well-known technology companies. The goal is to help our teams understand how to bring an idea successfully from zero to one. In addition to supporting our participants acquire lifelong skills that they can leverage wherever they go later in life, we want to make it as enjoyable as possible. For many, participating in our accelerator has offered ‘the best summer’ of their life so far.

In 2023, Ignite will be held for the fourth consecutive time, and we are more excited than ever about the upcoming summer. Ignite has grown from a small pilot into a full-blown accelerator in the last two years. This year, together with our participants, we are ready to take the next step in our journey.

The Ignite team