Growth happens when knowledge, talent and connections move.
VIA is a city-backed innovation platform where companies, experts, research and partners turn real growth challenges into shared knowledge, relevant connections and practical next steps.
The connecting layer of the ecosystem.
Vantaa already has knowledge, experience and opportunities. VIA helps companies find them, connect them to a real challenge and put learning to use. It is not only a series of events, but a community that builds shared memory and capacity to act.
Technology enters the conversation when it serves a real need.
HBC brings ecosystem orchestration, technology and AI context, and connections to experts and experimentation. The purpose is not to promote technology for its own sake, but to identify where it can solve a real business problem.
Real challenge
Work starts with the company’s question, not a preselected technology.
Shared understanding
Peer experience, expertise and cross-industry perspectives make options visible.
Relevant connections
The need is connected to expertise, capabilities, partners and a possible experiment environment.
VIA works because every participant brings something different.
Business challenges, provider capabilities, research knowledge and the city’s ecosystem perspective meet in a shared working environment.
Companies
Bring a real growth challenge. Gain peer perspectives, practical tools and connections to capabilities that help you move forward.
Champions
Bring expertise, technology, methods or services to real needs while gaining market insight and trusted relationships.
Startups and research
Bring solutions and new knowledge into real business conversations, test relevance and discover partnerships.
Institutions and city
Connect initiatives, capabilities and business needs into a shared picture and more effective ecosystem support.
Four encounters. One continuous learning arc.
Each phase uses what emerged before it. Knowledge does not disappear between events; it feeds the next conversation, decision and collaboration opportunity.
Playground 1 — Opening
Growth experiences, knowledge and talent gaps, and the Growth-Gap Map.
Collaborative Playground
Structured pilot and collaboration conversations between SMEs and larger buyer-side organisations.
Playground 2 — Deepening
Bring learning back: what changed, what now needs a decision, and where did technology or AI create value?
Bridge Outlook
Make the autumn’s insights, decisions and recurring patterns visible and usable in Vantaa’s growth agenda.
Programme information is based on material published by VIA and reviewed on 10 September 2026. Current registration and event details are available on VIA’s own website. vantaa.innovation-activator.eu ↗
Bring the challenge that actually matters.
Join as a company, contribute capabilities as a Champion, or talk with HBC about connecting your challenge to the right knowledge, people and experiment.