Polar Bear Pitching Day Conference
Start your Polar Bear Pitching day with a deep dive into growth and sustainability at our Day Conference! We have secured local experts and speakers to bring you a program with invaluable insights. With a very special edition for Oulu2026, our Day Conference topic ”Cultural Capital in Startup Growth” will be dedicated to exploring the role of culture and creativity in startup growth. During the Day Conference you will also have the opportunity to book meetings with other participants through our matchmaking tool and have a big lunch break for additional networking.
Place: Radisson Blu, Hallituskatu 1, Oulu
Date: Thursday, 26th of February, 2026
8:30 Registration open & Morning coffee
9:00 Welcome words
9:10 Sarita Runeberg: ”Ecosystem DNA: How Culture Powers Startup Growth and Fuels Global Impact”
9:30 Maria Pennanen, ”Startup Culture Unplugged: The Power of Courage and Presence”
09:50 Panel ”Investment cultural climate change” Hidekuni Takagi (Takagi Building Co., Ltd. & Investor) , Ville Heikkinen (Butterfly Ventures) , Maximillian LeRoux (Acouspin), Sami Lampinen – moderator (Inventure)
10:20 Ronny Eriksson,” Entrepreneurship as Culture, Culture as Entrepreneurship: case ODDfest. ”
10:40 Rasmus Wiinstedt Tscherning, Creative Business Network “Creativity as Europe’s Next Growth Engine”
11:00 Lunch
13:00 Ville Hulkko, ”How AI is changing startup culture at this exact moment”
13:20 Daniel Fischer, Fingersoft” Building work culture when you work in a passion industry”
13:40 Panel ”Investing in Creativity: Rethinking Value and Growth in Startups” Victoria Fäh – moderator (PRvc), Milja Mäkelä (FiBAN creative), Kati Uusi-Rauva (EIT Culture & Creative North), Jukka Vidgren (Whatever Pictures)
14:10 Fanhaven: “From Fandom To Funded: Building at the Intersection of Culture & Capital”
14:30 Steven Lavalle, ”The Impact of Cultural Values on Entrepreneurship”
09:00-09:55 Ronny Eriksson: Team Building
10:00-11:30 Todd Davey: Startup Engine
11:45-12:15 Erkki Holmila: What every startup should know about intellectual property
12:30-12:55 Aleksi Kallio: LUMI AI Factory – How we support startups
13:00-13:55 Laura Meriläinen: Unbox Your Black Box
14:00-15:00: Walid O. El Cheikh: Pitching For Life – Present Like Your Life Depends on it!
Startup Engine (Todd Davey)
The Startup Engine Method is a method for developing efficiently successful startups. Startup development has significantly advanced in the past decade, with new methods enabling founders to rigorously test their projects before market entry, minimizing time and financial losses. However, many startup founders rush to enter the market or seek funding with a prpject that hasn’t yet solved a market problem or found a viable market fit resulting in wasted time and resources, lost momentum and motivation, diluted equity and even reputational damage.
The Startup Engine Workshop, facilitated by Todd Davey, is a half day workshop that addresses these issues by providing a clear, robust framework for building viable business models and development processes, ensuring founders focus on essential priorities for success. The method is designed to help founders not only build fast, but build right. It creates space to step back and test project feasibility, offering a fresh perspective to reassess the basics of the project, and to refocus on the things that truly matter.
What every startup should know about intellectual property (Erkki Holmila)
Erkki is a lawyer with over 20 years of experience in intellectual property rights and has represented several of the world’s largest brands. Erkki is also the founder of Reggster Oy.
LUMI AI Factory – how we support startups (Aleksi Kallio)
LUMI AI Factory supports startups by offering cutting edge services to build their AI models and applications. We offer world-class computing capacity, high-quality data, and cutting-edge AI expertise and training – all this free of charge. Come and hear more!
Unbox Your Black Box (Laura Meriläinen)
The Human Black Box Under Pressure
Startups are built on dopamine – thrill, obsession, momentum. But humans are not machines. This workshop cracks open the human black box: what really happens when pressure, fear, and rejection hit. During this workshop you will challenge your why, how to kill your darlings without killing yourself, and how to stop taking NO as a verdict on your worth. This is about holding your ground, simplifying relentlessly, and leading from a core that does not split in two under pressure.
Sarita Runeberg is the CEO of Maria 01, the leading startup hub in the Nordics. She has a distinguished background in international business and extensive startup experience from companies such as Smartly.io. She fosters innovation and collaboration and has been featured in BBC and Financial Times as a thought leader. Sarita drives commerce and sustainability, positioning Maria 01 at the forefront of global startup innovation. She is also dedicated to increasing the share of women in the startup ecosystem.
Maria is the CEO of Mindclip Behaviour and creator of the Authority Shift™ framework, helping founders overcome limiting patterns. She co-founded Accelerator Frankfurt, supporting 60+ startups that have raised €100M+ since 2016. With 17+ years in leadership, angel investments in 15+ companies, and building a €30M fund, she advises leaders and institutions across Europe.
Maximilian LeRoux is an economist, CEO & co-founder of Acouspin, and winner of the 2025 Polar Bear Pitching competition. A serial entrepreneur and C-suite executive, Max brings 20+ years of experience scaling global tech companies. Previously, he held leadership roles at Aurora Propulsion Technologies and Nightingale Health, and co-founded AINA PTT. A 3rd-degree Taekwondo black belt and author of Career Chess, he also holds a silver medal from Helsinki’s Lidl Grillimaisteri.
Rasmus Wiinstedt Tscherning leads the Creative Business Network, supporting creative industries entrepreneurs globally through access to finance, internationalization, and business development. He is behind the Creative Business Cup and MyCreativeNetworks and is involved in several EU projects. Rasmus serves in expert groups, is a founding partner of EKIP, and is the former Chair of the European Creative Industries Alliance. He holds an MA in Political Science and has a strong creative background, including award‑winning design and urban planning work.
Since the late 1990s, Kati has specialized in cultural and creative business development, supporting design, audiovisual, games, and fashion industries, as well as creative professionals with funding, exports, and internationalization. Over 25+ years, she has worked as a producer, independent agent, entrepreneur, and CCSI expert. Before joining EIT Culture & Creativity, she led AGMA (2014–2022) and built Uniarts Hub pre-incubator at the University of the Arts Helsinki (2022–2024).
Jukka Vidgren is a director, screenwriter, and producer based in Oulu. His debut feature Heavy Trip (2018) premiered at SXSW and became an international cult hit, winning multiple audience awards and selling to over 60 countries. Its sequel Heavier Trip premiered in 2024 also getting a wide distribution internationally. Vidgren is co-owner in Whatever Pictures, a Northern production company creating films, TV, and commercials. At the moment he is working on a comedy series to be shot in summer of 2026 for YLE.
Cole Marston and Kaden Bishop represent the next generation of visionaries in live entertainment. Alumni of Polar Bear Pitching, they bring experience from multiple startup exits. Through their company Fanhaven, based in Los Angeles, they are building a customer data platform designed for large-scale live entertainment, shaping the future of audience engagement at the heart of the industry.
Walid is a Venture Partner at BSV Ventures, responsible for portfolio support and business development coaching. And he is the author and CEO of Pitching For Life, coaching over 150,000 people in 35 countries. He has worked with dozens of accelerators, incubators, universities and VCs. He is active in the startup ecosystem in Finland and Europe, attending conferences as a guest speaker, panelist and pitching judge.