"Sampo” is the name of a magical artifact described in Finland’s national epic, Kalevala. It is a magic mill that brought riches and good fortune to its holder and produced unlimited flour, salt, and money.

At the moment, we focus on the acceleration of companies that are around the product launch stage, or at the very least have a working prototype, and a competent team. Therefore, our program is not likely to be as relevant for you or cater to your needs. However, feel free to shoot us a message and we’ll see what we can do to help!

Nope! We do not take any equity and there are no fees to participate in our program.

We believe in promoting the pay-it-forward culture and being as founder-friendly as possible, so we keep our programs free of fees or equity requirements. This vision is shared by our experts and coaches, who help out on a pro-bono basis. Our costs are currently covered via a sponsorship model.

No, Sampo Accelerator does not invest in companies directly, but we do help founders understand what they need to prepare to be ready to talk with professional investors.

Our batches are around 15 teams.

We open applications 2-3 months prior to the beginning of each batch. The application period is around 4 weeks long and the applications are sent through the Gust platform. This is followed by an interview round, where we interview approximately 30 of the most promising teams based on the founders' profiles.

Yes! In fact, most of our companies come from outside of Finland.

Yes, physical attendance of at least one founder is mandatory. Ideally, two founders will participate.

Ideally two, at least one being a founder. In some cases that might not be possible - we fully understand that you might have a very busy schedule. In those cases, it is enough that one founder shows up to the workshops and check-ins.

We run three batches of our startup program with 10-15 startups in each - Spring, Fall, and Winter batches. A program for scaleups is also coming soon - stay tuned!

No, it doesn’t matter where your company is established, and we don’t need you to move the company to Finland.

To maximise learning and community building, we ask that you be present for all of the program activities.

The intense 3.5-week period takes place in Startup Sauna, a co-working space located in Espoo, in the capital region in Finland. Find more info here.

Most of the program happens during regular working hours. There are 4 program days: 2 days of workshops, 1 day for 1on1 coaching, 1 day for check ins and popup coaching. We will schedule approximately 20-25 hours a week of activities each week.

Prepare to spend about 25 hours per week in workshops, 1on1’s and checkups. We also advise you to allocate some time for preparation and following up the sessions.

This is where we can help the most. Many of our alumni have started and grown successful consultancy type companies, but needed more help to understand how to grow a product based company. If you have more experience, you may actually be a better fit to take part as a coach, in which case, let’s chat!

The program is focused on sharpening the business aspects, and we have found that non-business founders have put least focus on these areas.

Either shoot us a message, or apply. If we are not the best fit, we will help by letting you know who in our extensive network would be the best fit for you.

Shoot us a message at hello@sampoaccelerator.com