The AlgaLab team, comprised of Saana Soppela, Minne Jartti, and Stina Gröhn from Tampere University, won the fifth BioFinland pitching competition held on September 29th at Pörssitalo, Helsinki.
The competition's aim is to inspire students to adopt a positive stance towards biobusiness and entrepreneurship. Finnish Bioindustries FIB organized the competition in collaboration with HiLife and Nasdaq Helsinki as part of the European Biotech Week.
Finnish Bioindustries invited all students at Finnish universities and universities of applied sciences, including bachelor, master, doctoral, and graduate school students, to participate in the competition. Out of all the entrants, four teams were selected to compete in the final. The pitched ideas ranged from Parkinson’s disease treatment to health data solutions. The winning pitch involved using algae for protein production in vaccine manufacturing.
The pitches were of excellent quality, and the jury was tasked with a challenging decision. The jury members for this edition included Maarit Merla from Organon R&D Finland and Chair of Finnish Bioindustries, Pekka Simula from Innovestor Life Science, Minna Korpi from Nasdaq Helsinki, Vincenzo Cerullo and Johan Lundin, both from HiLIFE.
The competition prize is €1000, and the winner also gets a picture to the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City's Times Square.