Startup Sauna

From the distant homeland of Angry Birds, we give you a unique opportunity to experience two days of Sino-Finnish Startup Magic in Shanghai:

22nd of February – Startup Sauna Warmup

Apply now to Startup Sauna! (Applications only in English)

What is Startup Sauna?
Startup Sauna open sources seed acceleration for early stage startups in Northern Europe, Baltics and Russia. In just 2 years, 48 startups have graduated from the Sauna and raised about $10 million of seed funding. By open sourcing we mean that we offer our services for free to selected startups. This is possible due to being graciously funded and supported by Aalto University.

More info on our results from the past 1,5 years (not including Fall 2011).

European startup accelerators are gradually revealing their performance figures TechCrunch 27.01.12

Why Shanghai?
Startup Sauna seeks to position Shanghai equal to Silicon Valley for European startups. We see that China will be a dominant market place in the future and the best way to start 
co-operating is on a grassroots level.Angry Birds opened an office in Shanghai and, as we work in close co-operation with them, we see Shanghai as a perfect place for us to be!

Who should apply?
We are looking for startups that can speak and work in English and have at least a

• a scalable business idea
• a prototype or a “ready” product
• a good team (more than 1 person!)
• are looking for advice and are eager to learn!

As Startup Sauna doesn’t do investments, you can apply to the event if your startup would have gotten an investment already. The applications will be screened by our coaches. As long as you’re ambitious, driven, speak english and eager to learn – Startup Sauna welcomes you to apply!

What’s in it for me?
Our coaches’ advice are more targeted for going global than just for for Chinese markets. We promise you that our coaching is something you’ve never experienced before. On top of the learning part, we have amazing prizes. The winner of the competition gets $1000!* We’ll also take the three best teams out for a dinner on the same evening.

AND on top of this, IF we see that your startup could benefit out of spending 6 weeks in the  Startup Sauna Finals in Finland – we’ll invite you to the second stage of the applications!

How’s the day like?
Shanghai’s Startup Sauna will be a one day coaching event where selected startups get to pitch in front of experienced coaches and get valuable feedback in private 1on1 coaching. In addition we’ll have some very inspirational keynotes – including Mr. Mighty Eagle!

The preliminary schedule for the day

9:00am Welcome by the Captain, Ville Simola & Antti Ylimutka
9:10am Welcome by Xindanwei, Liu Yan
9:15am What it takes to build a world-class startups, Startup Sauna Coach
9:30am “The Angry Birds story”, Mr. Mighty Eagle Peter Vesterbacka
10:00am Startup Pitches, format: 3 minutes with slides, 3 minutes feedback, the Coaches
12:00pm Lunch offered by Startup Sauna
1:00pm Startup Life – Go work for a startup anywhere in the world!, Lauri Lehtovuori.
1:15pm 1on1 private coaching in 20 minute sessions, the Coaches.
4:30pm Wrap-up feedback, Announcing the winners
5:00pm Networking !
9:00pm After-party!

Venue
Xindanwei – CentralPOD
No. 8, Lane 433 YuYuan Road
Jing’an District, Shanghai, China
http://xindanwei.com/lang/en/property/centralpod/

This event has limited capacity. If you wish you participate in the morning demo session as an audience and networking in the afternoon, please RSVP your name, organization and phone number to xindanwei@gmail.com before Feb 19, 2012, we will confirm your attendance by email. 

EVENT AND COACHING ARE BOTH HELD IN ENGLISH!

Apply now to Startup Sauna Warmup! (Applications only in English).

We’ll email the results to selected startups by Tuesday, 15th of February. Max. 20 startups can get selected to pitch. About 10 will make it to the afternoon coaching sessions.

Contact

Antti Ylimutka
Wingman at Startup Sauna
antti@startupsauna.com
+358 50 408 6377 (from 10am to 6pm GMT+2)
Liu Yan 刘妍
CEO/Co-founder
Xindanwei 新单位
(+86) 13524295509

Feature Photo