From Idea to Impact: What ClimateLaunchpad 2026 Finland Startups Took Away
For early-stage climate founders, the hardest step is often the first one: turning a promising idea into a business that can be explained, tested and funded. In 2026, ClimateLaunchpad, the world's largest green business idea competition, ran in Finland for the first time in the programme's history. Organised and delivered by the Estonian Aviation Academy as part of the Climate Engine project, funded by the EIT Higher Education Initiative, the first Finnish edition gave participants the structure they needed to make that leap.
Kvasir described the programme as a clear model and workflow for going "from having just a thought to an actual concrete business." The two-day bootcamp was the turning point. Arriving with little background in company building, they left fluent in the language of markets and investors, from TAM to SAM. Their one-word summary: inspiring.
For Else Thinking, ClimateLaunchpad changed how they saw their own venture. They had been focused almost entirely on the client side, without fully considering their climate impact. The programme pushed them to recognise their role in climate adaptation and to run calculations they had never done before. The result was a major rethink, with roughly half of their pitch content rewritten. They valued the pitching sessions most, along with the chance to practise and learn from other teams' innovations. In their words, the experience meant turnaround and speed.
Isokummun credited the programme's discipline. The coaches set firm expectations, and a clear schedule kept the team moving forward with their ideas. The most valuable element was the customer interviews, which revealed far more than the team expected and deepened their understanding of the market.
Across all three stories, the pattern is consistent. ClimateLaunchpad gave founders a proven framework, honest pressure to do the hard work, and direct contact with customers and peers. Teams left with sharper business models, stronger pitches and a clearer sense of the climate value they create. As a first edition, ClimateLaunchpad Finland has laid strong foundations for growing the country's climate startup pipeline through the Climate Engine project.
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