Key players of the Finnish startup ecosystem participated in the preparation and organization of the event. The basic idea to organize an event for selected Czech startups across different sectors was conceived more than a year ago in consultation with the Finnish Venture Capital Association. In Finland, there has been a sharp increase in newly established venture capital funds in recent years and a multiplication of their investments. It has also become apparent that the Finnish market is already too small for these funds and they are therefore seeking to internationalize their investment portfolio and are looking for startups that can offer sufficiently innovative capabilities and products. Currently, about 30 % of these funds' funding is invested abroad and most of them no longer suffer from the limited resource allocation possibilities of the past.

The Czech Embassy in Helsinki worked closely with the Czech Business Angel Association from the very beginning on the event and it was the Association, who carefully selected the eleven most suitable startups. The main focus was on companies with market-ready products and a history of pre-seed funding. A crucial partner on the Finnish side was also the Finnish Business Angels Network, who helped to identify the priority sectors of interest for Finnish business angels and venture capital funds: healthtech, medtech, urbantech, fintech, smart cities or gaming. Despite the current economic and energy crisis, the appetite for these types of investments in Finland has not diminished, but on the contrary has strengthened due to the relatively low capital intensity and unique opportunities to address in a new way the non-standard economic aspects that always accompany such crises.

NewCo Helsinki a municipal agency of the City of Helsinki focused on supporting startups and early stage companies, was also an important partner in the project. NewCo provides free consulting services to startups and also helps startups to expand into international markets. Maria 01, where the event took place, is also a part of Helsinki's greater start-up ecosystem. Maria 01 is a unique startup campus focused primarily on the Nordic market, bringing together startups, technology companies, venture capital funds and other players at one spot.

The event, called “Acceleration Bootcamp for Czech Startups”, was attended by almost 140 participants on 15 November 2022, with Czech startups represented by eleven companies working in IT (CodeNOW, Contember), healthtech (Kardi AI, MAIA LABS), sustainable and smart construction (Moisture Guard, Stavario), fintech (Orka), online publishing or cleantech (Poetizer), personal security (Sunfibre), data analytics (Supertalent) and machine learning through mixed reality (Nullspaces). The presentations attracted a lot of interest from the Finnish audience and many companies have already established relationships with Finnish partners, funds or business angels on the spot during the networking and 1:1 part of the programme. Most of the Czech companies are also participating in selected side-events, which are taking place during the whole week of Slush, and some of them have received tickets from the Embassy for Slush itself, which is taking place in Helsinki from 17 to 18 November 2022.

Also thanks to the highly positive evaluation of the Czech companies involved, this project helped to attract active interest of key players of the Finnish startup ecosystem, which can be capitalized on in the future. The Czech Embassy in Helsinki remains available also to other Czech companies or investors who are interested in obtaining further information or contacts in this area.