Luontoterveyskeskus is the winner of the Pitch It idea race – the competition culminated in an online final event on 6 May 2020

The winner of the first Pitch It idea race in South Karelia is Luontoterveyskeskus. The three jury members particularly highlighted the social significance and mission of the winning business idea. The concept was well formulated, and the team’s performance was top quality.

Comments from Markku Hokkanen (the chairman of the jury):

”The winning team deserved to win, but a pitching competition is just the preliminaries. All the finalists can win much more by carrying their ideas forward to success.”

The finalists had five minutes to pitch their idea to the jury, and another five minutes to answer the jury’s more specific questions. The five finalists were Aitocon Oy, Marble Teams, Oy ProTCorb Ab, Kansainväliset verkkokoulutukset, and Luontoterveyskeskus.

The chairman of the jury was Markku Hokkanen from Assi Group Oy. The other jury members were Liina Lehtonen from Butterfly Ventures Oy and Sami Etula from Etula Group Oy. They participated virtually in the final competition. After the teams had pitched their ideas, the jury retreated to select the winner of the 5000-euro prize. The criteria included the novelty of the business idea, feasibility, commercialization capabilities, and the team behind the idea.

In addition, Roister Marketing Oy awarded the Manu Salonen marketing consulting prize to Aitocon Oy, and Assi Group rewarded all finalists with free use of the new coworking space for six months.

The original plan was that the winner of the Pitch It idea race would have been announced on 8 April already, at the Demo Day event in Nuijamies, a cultural venue in Lappeenranta. Because of the state of emergency, the event had to be cancelled and rearranged online. Together with Kimmo Metsälä from Valkoinen Valas, we built a studio in the Assi Group premises in Lappeenranta, where the final competition could take place observing the restricting measures due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Big thanks to every participant, organizer and to the jury!