A few years ago, the collaboration between Boost Turku and Åbo Akademi University was formalized through an agreement aimed at strengthening entrepreneurial thinking and career development among students. Today, the cooperation is coordinated by Head Coach Lauri Koittola at Boost Turku and Coordinator Jan Kraufvelin at Åbo Akademi University. Both express strong satisfaction with the diverse initiatives that have emerged from the partnership—including those highlighted by Islam Sabry and Mahdi Sayyadi.

One of the most impactful collaborations has taken place within the Social Exclusion master’s program, where Islam Sabry, Program Assistant, introduced Boost Turku’s entrepreneurship workshop into the curriculum. “I invited Lauri to offer it as part of the Social Exclusion and Work Life course, which we co-developed and launched in 2023 under the Talent Boost project,” Sabry explains. The goal was to help international students build careers in Finland by developing entrepreneurial mindsets—even with backgrounds in the humanities.

The Becoming an Entrepreneur workshop, now a recurring part of the course, has been met with enthusiasm. “It’s always interesting to witness the students' shift from skepticism about entrepreneurship's relevance to discovering its value,” Sabry notes. Students have described the experience as “inspiring,” with some even considering launching their own businesses or NGOs.

In 2025, the collaboration expanded to include a Team Dynamics session in the Race, Racism, and Antiracism course, helping students improve teamwork and communication while organizing a research seminar. “Lauri’s session gave students practical tools for task delegation, conflict resolution, and smoother teamwork,” Sabry says.

The partnership also connects students to Turku’s vibrant startup ecosystem. Mahdi Sayyadi, Doctoral Researcher in Information Systems at Åbo Akademi, has seen the impact of Boost Turku’s programs from attendees’ perspective. He highlights the value of the Startup Journey program in helping students move from ideas to execution.

“Resources are not just about money,” Sayyadi explains. “They include time, knowledge, expertise, experience, and connections. Startup Journey gave us access to an ecosystem that helped fill many of these gaps.”

He emphasizes the importance of mentorship and structure:

“We had one-on-one meetings with mentors from local professionals to seasoned entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley. That allowed us to zoom in and out on our strategies and evaluate ideas from multiple angles.”

Sayyadi also praised the program’s hands-on approach:

“It wasn’t just about lectures—it was a place to roll up your sleeves and learn by doing. That made it a perfect complement to university courses.”

Perhaps most importantly, the program fostered lasting relationships. “The connections we made with fellow founders, mentors, and supporters continue to provide value through collaboration and encouragement,” Sayyadi says.

Looking ahead, Åbo Akademi plans to continue and expand the collaboration. “We encourage students to join Boost’s startup events like the Startup Journey and Startup Marathon,” Sabry shares. There’s also interest in exploring joint events across faculties to deepen the partnership.

“We are very interested in discussing other ways together with Boost Turku where we can enhance the students’ knowledge of entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial skills and all the different environments, not only in the start-up scene, where these skills are valuable,” Kraufvelin says. Or as Koittola puts it: ”We are more than happy about the collaboration with Åbo Akademi! Boost has been created by students, for students. As a nonprofit entrepreneurship society our mission is always to help students from different universities to learn entrepreneurial skills. Not everyone has to become a founder, but in current work life, everyone needs entrepreneurial skills like ideation, team learning, problem solving, team dynamics, customer-centricity, conflict resolution and so forth."

In combining academic insight with entrepreneurial practice, Åbo Akademi and Boost Turku are not just teaching skills—they’re building futures.

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