Reflection on Summer Bloom 2025 and presentation of 2026 edition!

In 2025 the Vaasa Startup Arcade ran the first iteration of the Summer Bloom incubation program. In the pilot program, 20 students were paid €800 a month to work on their companies, and had two opportunities to pitch to real VCs, investors, and influential stakeholders in the startup ecosystem.

At the end of the program, the team who pitched best went on to visit SLUSH in Helsinki. The entrepreneurial skills learned during the program are not only highly beneficial for starting your own company but are also greatly appreciated by employers.

In 2025, the application window for Summer Bloom was open for merely one week. Nevertheless, more than 180 students applied to the program. Riccardo Notarangelo and Hendrik Morkel, who were running the program, interviewed over 80 candidates in just two days. After carefully considering the applicants, they began in June with 20 eager students from four of the six universities in Vaasa, all excited to build a company.

During the first week, the students got to know each other, formed teams, and identified problems worth solving. Every week, the teams took part in structured lectures covering topics from problem validation to building an MVP and financing a startup company. After four weeks, the seven teams pitched to a panel of investors, city and university officials, with four teams, fourteen students in total, continuing through July and August to further develop their services.

The program was not just about work, there was also play and fun. The cohort went on a cruise in the Kvarken Archipelago, went climbing at the local gym, and enjoyed other activities that helped create a strong sense of community. The speakers and mentors who joined the program shared their knowledge on different topics also brought fun and entertainment, because that too is part of being an entrepreneur.

At the end of August, the Next Level Growth Challenge competition took place, where three of the Summer Bloom teams participated and received great feedback. The next day was the Summer Bloom Pitching Finals, where our panelists from Maki.VC, START Helsinki, Antler, the Hanken Business Lab, and the City of Vaasa had the difficult task of selecting a winner. In the end the multicultural Team of Poropick, with students from three Universities, took home the win and went on to visit Helsinki during SLUSH, making valuable connections.

Now the sun is shining and the ice and snow are melting. This means it is time to start thinking about Summer Bloom 2026. This year, the cohort will grow in size while the program will be condensed into two months, running from 8 June to 7 August 2026. Once again, participating students will be paid €800 per month, as well as having the chance to visit SLUSH side events in November, not to mention the valuable connections to investors, coaches, other startups, and angel investors. If you want to take on the challenge, head over to https://forms.gle/oGbFyN9zXqxJYsyQ7 and sign up!

Text: Riccardo Notarangelo and Hendrik Morkel; Image: Anonymous Contributor