Start Smart training programme concludes with AI‑driven innovations hackathon
The spring 2025 trainings of the Start Smart training programme in Finland and Estonia culminated in a two‑hours online hackathon that challenged seven learner teams to devise commercially viable solutions aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Working under significant time pressure, participants were required to select a goal, formulate a local business concept, and demonstrate the integration of advanced artificial‑intelligence tools throughout their development workflow.
Winning teams and business ideas
The first prize for Estonia was awarded to Diana Melnyk, Serghei Ersov and Kyrylo Yefimov. Their concept featured an AI‑enabled healthy‑snack vending machine equipped with real‑time demand forecasting, personalised nutritional recommendations and circular‑packaging logistics.
For the Finnish winner, the learners chose Lubana Akter and Duc Le for their proposal “RuokaLoop,” an AI‑driven surplus‑food redistribution service operating in both Finland and Estonia. The platform dynamically matches excess inventory from retailers with end‑users, thereby reducing food waste while providing discounted meal options.
Each winning team received a commemorative diploma and travel gift cards provided by Eckerö Line, reinforcing the programme’s commitment to supporting cross‑Baltic collaboration.
More trainings to come in autumn
The hackathon concluded trainings as a joint cross-border activity for both courses, which had run in parallel in both countries, Finland and Estonia. According to curriculum designer Johanna Mäkeläinen, the exercise demonstrated “how quickly newly arrived young professionals can transform AI capabilities into actionable business models when given clear objectives and limited time.” The Start Smart programme will resume in autumn with the second batch of learners.
Start Smart training programme is part of UPBEAT, an Interreg Central Baltic project co‑funded by the European Union. The initiative fosters entrepreneurship among young individuals with refugee or migrant backgrounds through intensive training and mentorship provided in partnership with Startup Refugees and the Estonian Refugee Council.
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