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PitchIT! competition once more rewards young innovators

The Federation of Finnish Technology Industries’ PitchIT! business idea competition for upper secondary school students was held for a second time. The winning teams received prizes at the Innolukio gala, Helsinki City Hall yesterday.

The competition evaluated the freshness and originality of the teams’ ideas and their potential for genuine business activity. Aapo Kiiso, from Martinlaakso Upper Secondary School, was chosen as the PitchIT winner by a panel of judges from the Innolukio competition, of which PitchIT is a part, for his idea for Skibb, a web-based collaborative problem solving platform. Mr Kiiso took 11th place in the overall Innolukio competition.

In the competition, the upper secondary school students’ task was to present their plan for a business idea, i.e., a new product or service, that utilised IT or communications technology. The teams pitched their ideas to the panel and received feedback from mentors. The teams were encouraged to consider how existing products or services could be improved by utilising technology and what technology-based idea would improve everyday life.

28 business ideas were presented in the competition. The participating teams represented upper secondary schools from around Finland.

The entire Innolukio 2013 competition, along with a 5 000 euro stipend, was won by Xiuwen Qiu from Ressu Upper Secondary School for his idea for InTo, a web guidance application. The chairman of the prize committee, Maunu Korpela, praised the exceptionally high level of the competition entries.  

Additional information:

Innolukio website
Piia Simpanen, Advisor, Federation of Finnish Technology Industries, tel. 0400 199 399, firstname.surname@teknologiateollisuus.fi