turn your dream into reality

Join the leading entrepreneurship program in Finland for female and non-binary business founders

Have you been thinking about a business idea for a long time but feel like you do not know how to take the first steps? 

Do you have a research topic that you want to transform into a business?

Do you have a hobby or side project that you want to take to the next level?

The Shortcut Spark Program will teach you all the skills you need to start your business from scratch and turn your dream into a reality. You will learn how to create an innovative company that makes an impact on many people’s lives.

In the free 3-month program for women and non-binary people, you will learn together with our inspiring community to set up your company for long-term growth and build meaningful connections along the way. 

The next cohort will start in Spring 2025. Join our Spark mailing list to be notified when registration is open!

Have you been thinking about a business idea for a long time but feel like you do not know how to take the first steps? 

Do you have a research topic that you want to transform into a business?

Do you have a hobby or side project that you want to take to the next level?

The Shortcut Spark Program will teach you all the skills you need to start your business from scratch and turn your dream into a reality. You will learn how to create an innovative company that makes an impact on many people’s lives.

In the free 3-month program for women and non-binary people, you will learn together with our inspiring community to set up your company for long-term growth and build meaningful connections along the way. 

The next cohort will start on 10th September 2024. Spots for the program are limited, so make sure to apply now! 

Deadline for application is August 22nd 2024.

Max 25 Participants

3 Months

Entirely free

"Joining Spark Academy has been a game changer for my business."
Minaë Tani-Lafleur, Founder Zestii Kitchens
"I realized being a young female founder was something to be proud of, not a weakness."
Alejandra Cobos, Founder Atlas
"The community at Spark Academy was truly inspiring and gave me the confidence to pursue my dreams."
Blen Hailu, Founder KotiBet Home Services

It's time to turn your dream into a reality

Have you been thinking about a business idea for a long time but feel like you do not know how to take the first steps? 

Do you have a research topic that you want to transform into a business?

Do you have a hobby or side project that you want to take to the next level?

The Shortcut Spark Program will teach you all the skills you need to start your business from scratch and turn your dream into a reality. You will learn how to create an innovative company that makes an impact on many people’s lives.

In the free 3-month program for women and non-binary people, you will learn together with our inspiring community to set up your company for long-term growth and build meaningful connections along the way. 

The next cohort will start on 10th September 2024. Spots for the program are limited, so make sure to apply now!

Max 25 Participants

3 Months

Entirely free

Woman Coding

Bridge the gender gap

Did you know that women make up only one fifth of IT sector employees in Finland? 

We need the female perspective to create technological solutions that serve the needs of both women and men. 

The Shortcut Spark Academy wants to help bridge the gender gap in the tech industry and give you the opportunity to learn basic coding skills to build your own business or manage tech projects.

What You Will Learn in our full-stack development module

You will learn front and back-end development, including building a website and performing tasks related to website architecture. 

These are highly sought-after skills, which will enable you to get started on developing your own product, or help you find a job in the ecosystem.

You Will Go Over...

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Spark Academy Woman Computer

What is the spark academy


The Shortcut Spark Academy is a free eight-month program for women and non-binary people who are interested in the world of entrepreneurship and innovation that is running yearly in 2022 and 2023.

We’re teaching the necessary entrepreneurial skills to open up the door to two paths: entrepreneurship and employment in the startup ecosystem.

Our participants will get the tools to start their own business but we are aware that entrepreneurship might not be for everyone. The skills we are teaching will also give our attendees a higher chance of getting employed in the innovation and tech industry.

Spark Academy Group

THE LEADING PROGRAM IN FINLAND FOR EARLY-STAGE FEMALE AND NON-BINARY ENTREPRENEURS

Spark is aimed at getting more gender diversity in entrepreneurship. The goal is to build a solid pipeline of future female and non-binary company founders who can inspire the next generations to come.

The 3-month training program offers a coherent and clear path towards starting your own business. The program is held in-person in Helsinki, Kamppi with some sessions online.

The workshop sessions run two to three times a week, between 10-15. A second Spark cohort for the year 2024 started on 10th September.

impact

25 - 30% average rate of new companies founded per cohort

program feedback rating: 4,5/5

14 new companies founded by spark cohorts in 2023

program feedback rating: 4,5/5

Spark Academy Minae

Who is it for

  • You are driven, motivated, and inspired, and you have a business idea that you want to start working on
  • Your business idea is built on your or your team’s strengths (in some cases we’ll also accept others, but generally we see good results when it plays on existing strengths)
  • You are committed to investing time and effort into building your business or a start-up dream
  • You are excited to create a positive impact to the world
  • You want to build a business that can grow
  • You identify as female or non-binary

join our mailing list to receive the latest info

We will send you the latest information about the program and reminder when the application period starts.

impressions

THE OUTCOMES - WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT

The Spark Program will guide you to start a business from scratch in 3 months. The program is highly practical, giving you tools and teaching methods and knowledge needed to:

  • Get out there into the world and talk directly to your potential customers
  • Assess whether your idea is profitable – and what needs to happen to make it a profitable one
  • Build together a killer business pitch 
  • Understand how to build a team around your idea
  • Utilize the latest tech (AI) for boosting your business
  • Understand the different financing instruments available in Finland
  • Put together a well-backed business plan

Join SPARK LITE - Thrive as a New Entrepreneur

Spark Lite is our coaching & wellbeing program that is open to anyone, not just Spark Academy participants. You will learn the day-to-day skills entrepreneurs on how to cope with the challenges of the entrepreneurial lifestyle: managing your stress levels, dealing with uncertainty and strengthening your resilience to be successful.

In our free life & career coaching and wellbeing sessions, we teach you the kind of mindset, information and skills you need to succeed long term as a business owner. Connect with likeminded people and learn hands-on skills in a safe space (instead of spending hours alone googling by yourself).

Our soft skill workshops run every Friday during Spark Academy. You will get an invite straight into your email two to three weeks in advance with info about the workshop and get priority access to join. 

Sign up now and prioritize yourself:

Spark Lite Woman
Spark Academy Group Posing

How to Apply

  1. Apply via our application form until 22nd August.
  2. If you are accepted, we will send you an invitation to the group interviews.
  3. You will be informed if you have been picked for Spark latest by
  4. Even if we did not send you an interview invitation soon after your submission, we might contact you at a later point in case of any cancellations.
Additional Information: 

Deposit: Applicants selected for the program pay a joining deposit of €100. This is returned upon completion of the program, and upon delivering doing the customer engagement work throughout the program and delivering the final pitch. Deposits are not returned to participants who do not deliver the final pitch nor do the customer interviews/research work.

TE-Office: If you’re currently registered as an unemployed jobseeker with the TE-office, you need to contact your own TE-office or municipality caseworker BEFORE you apply for Spark (more information in FAQ).

FAQ

Before Applying

Anyone who resides in the greater Helsinki region and identifies as a woman or non-binary. 

We expect you to be fluent in written and spoken English to ensure a successful learning experience.

Applications will be evaluated based on motivation and commitment to completing the program. If you are accepted to Spark, we expect active participation in the sessions.

  • You are driven, motivated, and inspired, and you have a business idea that you want to start working on
  • Your business idea is built on your or your team’s strengths (in some cases we’ll also accept others, but generally we see good results when it plays on the existing strengths)
  • You are looking to turn your academic research, a hobby, identified business problem into an existing business or a startup
  • You are committed to investing time and effort into building your business or a start-up dream
  • You are excited to create a positive impact to the world
  • You want to build a business that can grow

We will select 20-25 participants per cohort.

It would be good to have some experience with working in the private sector. In any case, we expect you to be fluent in written and spoken English.

The program is held in-person, as we have seen this really helps to build a strong sense of a community, which is one special part of the Spark Program. We plan to have most of the workshops/activities taking place in person at Maria01, however some workshops might take place online.

Most likely no, but you need to contact your own TE-office or municipality caseworker BEFORE you apply for Spark. The decision of the TE office will depend on your specific situation and if you have participated in any trainings before while being unemployed.
If you are over 25 years old, it should be possible for you to participate while getting unemployment benefits, as long as you maintain your job search at the same time and remain available if a suitable position is offered to you. However, we cannot guarantee this, as the decision remains with the unemployment officials. Studies under 25 hours/week can be counted as part-time study. Our academy should qualify for this.

The Application Process

The selection process includes the online application, and for those chosen based on the application, group interviews.


We will reach out to you latest by August 29th, if you are chosen for the program.

The online application is open from 30th July to 22nd August. Group interviews will be organized for suitable applicants between 8th to 28th August.


The final decisions will be announced latest by the 29th August. The program launches on 10th September.

You will receive a decision via email from The Shortcut.

Unfortunately, you cannot postpone nor attend part-time. If for any reason you can no longer participate, please contact us, so that we may offer your place to someone else. We require active participation from the attendees.

Please make sure that you submit your application. We do not receive any data from incomplete applications. If you did not receive a confirmation email (please check your spam folder) after submitting, most likely you did not go through all the steps of the application. Please go back to the application form and make sure to go through every step of the form. 

About the program

About the program

The program language is English.

The autumn Spark cohort runs for approximately 3 months, from 10th September to 10th December.

The opening day is 10th September.

The estimated time investment into the program is 10 hours/week of workshops and we expect active participation from our participants. If you have any questions or doubts regarding this, contact the Spark Academy’s Program Manager via vivian.maar @theshortcut.org

The program itself is free of charge. However, we do require chosen participants to pay a deposit of €100. This is returned on completion of the program, which includes:

  • The business plan is submitted and has all adequate parts and is well written
  • The pitch is delivered, has all required parts and is well put together
  • The validation task is completed and presented

The Spark Program is built of a combination of the entrepreneurial theory combined with strong coaching and doing- based approach.

You can expect to get both theoretical and practical support for founding and running your business/start-up. You can also expect to be part of a community that believes in you, and where all the topics of being a founder and finding your way as an entrepreneur can be honestly discussed. In addition to group-based studies, you will be supported 1-1 in your business. Last but not least you will receive coaching in resilience and mindset, which are all integral parts in succeeding as a fresh business owner.

First, we expect active participation in the workshop sessions and 1-1 coaching and commitment to show up and put in the work required.

You’ll be supported to get out there in real life in the effort to find your target audience, form relationships early on with them and develop your business based on a customer-centric approach. Sometimes these kinds of steps can seem challenging, especially when done for the first time – but this is why the program is here, to guide you through the process of founding and setting up your business for success.

By the end of the program, we expect our participants to: 

  • Deliver us an executable business plan for their idea
  • Deliver a well put together business pitch 

 

We will of course be supporting you fully in taking those steps.

The Shortcut Spark Program is one-of-a-kind, a meaningful, practical, and intentional program that is designed to pull the curtains back on the startup ecosystem, by offering entrepreneurial training, space and practical methods to test out your business idea in a real life. It is one of the most thorough early-stage programs in Finland and has a proven track record of new founded companies out of the program.

In addition to the core entrepreneurial skills, we focus on building your sales, marketing, pitching and digital skills with the aim of helping you to found and run your start-up dream. We’ll cover as well the funding instruments available in Finland, as well as how to build yourself a team to work with. 

To set up our participants for success, we will also coach them in the confidence and resiliency needed to succeed. It is the first program of its kind built by women for women, that specifically addresses the challenges, unique responsibilities, and professional biases that women and non-binary people face.

What participants say

schedule (Cohort 2 2024)

30th July – 22nd August: Application Period 

8th August – 28th August: Group Interviews for Suitable Candidates

(latest) 29th August: Suitable Participants are Informed

10th September: Spark Cohort 2 2024 Opening Day

10th September – 10th December: Spark Program Cohort 2

Days
Hours
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got more questions?

Reach out to our Spark Project Manager: 
Vivian Maar, [email protected]

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