*ship Startup Festival

*ship is an international acceleration and development platform for early-stage startups. It is also an excellent learning environment for anyone interested in entrepreneurship. The event includes the traditional Pitch Captain Competition, in addition to which we offer a mentoring program for competing startups. There is more to the event, especially from the visitors’ perspective, which you should read more about below.

*ship sails to Xamk – Kotka Campus 7.-8.5.2026!

“Application period for Data Center Track has been extended to 20.4. Read more and apply below!”

Program

What to expect from *ship?

Startups

From early stage to open seas – apply now to Pitch Captain Competition to get a change to pitch your startup and win!

Competition prizes:

Over €50 000 prize pool!

€1 000 to the best startup from South-Kymenlaakso

VC-level Growth Sparring to the top competitors by Innovestor

Golden ticket to the Dream for the audience favorite by StartHub

Application period for Idea Stage & Pre-Seed -Track is now closed

Application period for Idea Stage Track and Pre-Seed Track has ended on 15th of April

Thank you for you submitting your applications

Extended Application Deadline 20.4. – Data Center Innovations Track

Application period for Data Center Innovations Track has been extended to 20.4.

Apply now for a change to win €10 000!

Pitch Captain Competition – Brackets Guide

Data Center Innovation Track – 1st Prize 10 000 €

– Your Startup focuses on Data Center Innovations (see detailed focus areas below)

Focus Areas of the track – Startups should clearly fit into one or more of the following areas:

1. Power & Capacity Management

Optimizing limited grid and power capacity to support AI and growth. Examples: load management, peak shaving, grid flexibility, IT–facility power coordination.

2. Cooling & Heat Innovation

Nextgeneration cooling solutions and highvalue heat reuse. Examples: liquid/immersion cooling, retrofit cooling, district heating integration.

2. Resilient & Intelligent Operations

Automation and intelligence that reduce risk and increase uptime. Examples: predictive maintenance, incident management, reliability tools.

4. Sustainability & Compliance

Solutions enabling transparent, auditable, and sustainable operations. Examples: carbon reporting, CSRD/NIS2 tools, lifecycle and asset tracking.

– You may have 0-100 000 € of outside funding

Source of funding can be: competitions, angel investors, grants, scholarships, public funding,

No significant VC-investments or seed round

– You have a business idea, concept, demo, MVP, prototype, or pilot-phase solution

– You may or may not yet have a formal company, customers, or revenue

How to apply

Idea-stage bracket – 1st Prize 10 000 €

– You may have 0-30 000 € of outside funding

Source of funding can be: competitions, angel investors, grants and scholarships

– You have a business idea, a concept or a demo

– Your product or service is still at its planning stage

– You have not yet generated any turnover

– You want to get feedback, sparring and direction towards further development

Pre-seed bracket – 1st Prize 20 000 €

– You may have 0-100 000 € of outside funding

Source of funding can be: competitions, angel investors, grants, scholarships, public funding,
No significant VC-investments or seed round

– You have an MVP, prototype or a pilot version

– You have had your first customer validation from interviews, pilots or users

– You have an understanding about your target market and business model

– You have a team or are building one, that is committed to developing the startup going forward

Visitors

No pitching required, just good vibes – come aboard *ship as a visitor

Creator*ship workshops

Entrepreneurship Education Workshop

(Workshop will be in finnish)

This workshop is for teachers and experts in entrepreneurship education in the Kymenlaakso region. Join us to develop more impactful company visits, create new ideas, and gain practical tools to inspire and support future entrepreneurs.

From Side Hustle to Scalable Startup

(Workshop will be in english)

This workshop bridges the gap between creative passion and sustainable business. Move beyond guesswork as we equip you with concrete tools to stress-test your side project’s viability. Learn how to validate your idea from day one—ensuring that your leap from creator to founder is fuelled by both inspiration and strategic clarity.