Stora Enso Announces Startups Selected for Accelerator Program
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Stora Enso, Finland, has chosen six startups to join its Accelerator Program, a joint startup initiative organized by Stora Enso, Aalto University Developing Entrepreneurship (Aalto ENT), and Vertical Accelerator.
The Accelerator Program combines an executive education program with a startup accelerator, in collaboration with dedicated partners from Vertical and Aalto ENT.
The winning teams were selected from a pool of more than 120 applicants, following an intensive application round, including final pitching to the Stora Enso Group Leadership Team. The proposals ranged from big data and analytics to IoT, supply chain optimization, safety, and many other ideas that could potentially support the transformation of Stora Enso’s business. The startups invited to join the Accelerator Program are:
The final decisions were based on the startups’ capacity to bring diverse out-of-the-box thinking and the fit of their business idea.
The Accelerator Program combines management development with cooperation and partnership with startups. From Stora Enso, 18 participants will join the program, which consists of executive education as well as working side-by-side with the startups supporting them to develop their business. The chosen startups will have dedicated resources from Stora Enso, participate in a globally renowned four-month Vertical accelerator program and get a four-month free co-working space in one of Europe’s biggest startup hubs, Maria 0-1 located in Helsinki, Finland.
"The Accelerator Program is a great way to build and strengthen the competencies and capabilities needed to continue Stora Enso’s transformation journey. Not only will we gain new knowledge, but it is also an opportunity to learn about the entrepreneurial mindset and way of working. We are looking for cross-fertilization between Stora Enso and the startups, and we hope that the companies joining the program will become potentially long-term partners," said Karl-Henrik Sundström, CEO of Stora Enso.
The Accelerator Program is designed to identify startups bringing disruptive innovations in digitalization, IoT, big data, analytics, supply chain, AI, VR, robotics, or in any other part of the chain that can help to speed up Stora Enso’s transformation as the world-leading renewable materials company. To get there faster, the company has invited six innovative, fast-moving startups to advance its understanding about new technologies and market trends. All of the selected startups act in an area of strategic importance to Stora Enso. The startups, in turn, will have the opportunity to develop their business by working side-by-side with Stora Enso employees and participate in an external accelerator program. The startups we have selected to collaborate with could be Stora Enso’s partners or suppliers of tomorrow.
