Dream Lahti startup event 2026: winners, finalists, jury and prizes

Dream is a startup and innovation event run by StartHub, the startup community in Lahti. The 2026 edition, Dream 2026, took place on 9 October 2026 and combined keynotes with live pitches by startups and student teams.17 This page collects what StartHub's own pages say about the event, which you can also read on the Dream website and the Luma event page. It is part of SiltaNova's coverage of the Finnish startup ecosystem and of startup events in Finland.

StartHub's event page describes Dream as a startup and innovation event that brings together founders, students, investors and the wider ecosystem in Lahti.7 The Dream website calls it a startup event and pitch competition.1 Visitors could watch live startup and student pitches, hear keynote speakers and meet founders, students and investors.7

The organiser is StartHub Lahti. StartHub describes itself as the place where ideas become companies and founders become a community. LAB University of Applied Sciences describes StartHub as a community and boosting platform for new business ideas in the Lahti region, and says it uses LAB's resources and networks there.810 The event page lists Eric, Ulla Ristkari, Chinmay and Mikko Kittelä as hosts.7

Dream 2026 was a one-day event on 9 October 2026 at Malski, Lahti. The Dream website gives the address as Päijänteenkatu 9 B 1, 15140 Lahti. The Luma event page names the hall as Sammiosali.17 Attendance was free of charge, financed by StartHub's financiers and event partners, and visitors had to register.7 StartHub says more than 200 people attended.12

StartHub published a preliminary programme and noted that it could change. The times below are from that page.2

• 08:45 doors open and registration; 09:00 startup workshop and startup clinic; 09:30 morning coffee.
• 10:30 kick-off with Tomi Kaukinen and Chinmay Deshmukh; 10:45 keynote by Natalia Rincón–Eriksson; 11:45 student ideas.
• 13:00 lunch; 14:00 keynote by David JP Phillips.
• 15:00 startup pitches, part 1; 15:40 coffee break; 16:30 startup pitches, part 2.
• 17:10 audience choice vote; 17:15 music break; 17:45 winner awards; 18:00 after work.

The Dream website's keynotes page names two keynote speakers and two hosts.11

The page describes him as an expert in communication, storytelling and presentation skills, with more than 20 years of experience and keynotes in over 30 countries. It says his talk covers how to pitch so that people listen, understand and invest. The programme places his keynote at 14:00.112

The page presents her as one of Europe's leading female voices in technology and AI. She is a PhD candidate and the founder of CHAOS Architects, and works at the intersection of smart cities, artificial intelligence and urban planning. The programme places her keynote at 10:45.112

The page calls him a serial entrepreneur and keynote speaker. Before becoming a full-time entrepreneur he was head of marketing at the aviation technology company QOCO Systems.11

He is Head of Accelerator at StartHub and the founder of Lahti Entrepreneurship Society, and works on startups, capital markets and ecosystem development. The programme has the two hosts open the day at 10:30.112

From 59 applications, StartHub chose 10 startups for the main track and 5 teams for the student track.3 The table lists all 15 as named on the finalists page. The descriptions are StartHub's, not independently checked by SiltaNova.

The Result column follows StartHub's post-event announcement, which names four awards. A dash means the announcement does not name the team and says nothing about how it placed. NeoPerforma is listed in the student track. Read the full list on the official Dream 2026 finalists page.

The jury page lists seven members:4

• Riikka Rajaviita, mentor, founder and operator, Human Runway.
• Mikko Kiertonen, startup mentor, advisor and business developer, Aalto University.
• Vesa Riihimäki, Head of Startup & Growth, Nordea Finland.
• Pirita Koskinen, business angel.
• Juha Miettinen, angel investor and startup mentor.
• Sith "Joe" Sicoravit, General Partner, Valkeus Ventures.
• Mithuran Gajendran, Investment Manager, Failup Ventures.

The application page states two jury prizes: a €10,000 cash prize in the startup competition and a €2,000 cash prize in the student competition.5 Each pitch was 8 minutes including questions, in English. The startup track required a registered company and international growth potential. The student track allowed teams of up to three people and did not require a company.5 Applications closed on 24 May 2026.5 For money beyond prizes, see startup funding in Finland.

The Dream website and StartHub's website did not list results when SiltaNova checked on 24 Oct 2026. The winners below come from StartHub's post-event announcement on LinkedIn.12 Posts from LAB's business unit, jury members and the teams name the same four winners. The award descriptions come from the finalists page.

Ionic Wind pitched in the startup track. The finalists page describes it as a Swiss ETH startup building solid-state cooling for AI computers, without moving parts, noise or vibrations, and notes that it won Oulu Polar Bear Pitching 2026.3 The startup track's stated jury prize was €10,000.5

ainoo. pitched in the student track. The finalists page describes it as a service that explains every letter from the authorities in the reader's own language, highlights what must be done and warns before a deadline passes.3 The student competition's stated jury prize was €2,000.5

Agronomy Oy pitched in the startup track. The finalists page says it digitises local farms and brings their products onto one platform, so that fresh, traceable farm food is easier to buy and farmers can manage sales, inventory and distribution.3 The programme shows an audience choice vote at 17:10.2

NeoPerforma pitched in the student track. The finalists page describes it as an AI marketing manager that connects advertising, analytics, search and sales data and makes each change once the user approves it.3 The prize is named after the Helsingin kauppiaitten säätiö, a Helsinki foundation, and was worth €1,000.

The partners page lists LAB University of Applied Sciences, Lahti and Isku as financiers, and event partners that include Finnish Business Angels Network and Lahden teollisuusseura.6 The event sponsors section on that page was empty when checked.

Yes. StartHub's own blog says that in October 2025 its DREAM 2025 event brought together startups, students, investors and entrepreneurs, and that the startup Coubonga took part as a finalist team.9 StartHub's post-event announcement calls the 2026 edition the fifth Dream.12

I joined StartHub less than a month before Dream 2026. I was working on NeoPerforma, and I had not registered for the event.

A few days before the event, StartHub told me that one of the finalists had withdrawn and asked whether I would like to pitch in their place. I was shocked. I had no pitch ready, and I would be presenting to a full hall and a jury. I said yes because it was a chance to be seen. I did not expect to be chosen, and I did not expect a prize.

I had three days. I built the slides, wrote the talk and rehearsed it. A good pitch at this level takes a lot of work. I also finished more of the NeoPerforma website, so that anyone who visited it after the pitch would understand the story and what we do.

When the winners were announced, NeoPerforma was the first name read, for the special prize. I was not in the hall at that moment. My wife and our young son went on stage to collect it. When I came back in and learned what had happened, I was shocked again. People congratulated me, and it felt very good.

Dream gave me a chance to test myself, meet new people and become more confident that the road I am on is the right one. It pushed me to take my next steps with more certainty.

Next year I hope to win the €10,000 startup prize. There is a lot to do before then.