Microsoft Finland has launched a new accelerator program called Turbopump, leveraging Microsoft’s experience and resources to help promising Finnish startup companies in growth and international expansion through Microsoft’s customer, partner network, and talent acquisition.
Microsoft’s main partners in the Turbopump program are venture vapital investors and startup centers, as well as co-working spaces and companies in the target market.
“After a promising start, many Finnish startups get stuck in the starting line, never able to penetrate and scale into new markets. The purpose of Turbopump is to give promising startups the boost they need to help them secure the next phase of financing, expand into new markets and to recruit new talent,” says Drazen Dodik, Audience Engagement Manager at Microsoft Finland.
The nine-week program will start in autumn 2017 with Go-to-Market coaching and development of market entry plans, culminating in a two-week stay in Stockholm, one of Europe’s hottest startup hubs. There, the teams will network and meet with local mentors, potential partners, and investors. After the Stockholm event, Turbopump will speed up Finnish startups’ market entry efforts in other European startup hubs.
Turbopump is especially interested in startups with a mobile-first – cloud-first approach (and those working in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning or Business SAAS), but startups in all fields of business are also eligible to apply.
The Turbopump program was announced during Microsoft Flux’s one-year anniversary celebration, at Microsoft’s co-working community for startups in downtown Helsinki.
For more information on the Turbopump programme, please click here, and watch the official Turbopump video.
