BioBoosters Hackathon helps you find innovative solutions and partners

What is a BioBoosters Hackathon?

BioBoosters' innovation competitions, Hackathons, are conducted upon assignment from companies who have the need to find innovative partners and solutions to challenges related to sustainable business. BioBoosters Hackathons provide an opportunity for increased collaboration and new business around solutions, and for the development of the bioeconomy and circular economy as a whole.

Hackathons can be commissioned by one or more companies or organizations that have the desire and opportunity to continue working with the winner of the Hackathon to bring solutions to market. The Hackathon can be organised as an on-site, online, or hybrid implementation.

The application for the Hackathon is open to all interested parties. Companies, researchers, innovators and students can register together or separately. The challenge provider evaluates the teams' ideas and selects promising ideas for a joint innovation process to solve the challenge.

Hackathon process

1) Identifying the challenge

Agreeing on the practical implementation of the assignment
Formulating the challenge
Planning the marketing

2) Announcing and marketing the challenge

Finding solutions from networks
Presentation of preliminary ideas
Selection of solution provider teams

3) Solving the challenge

Kick-off - deep dive into the teams and ideas and the client's need
Development work - working on the idea, strengthening the team based on feedback from the Kick-off phase
Hackathon day - teams are mentored to prepare for a pitching session for a jury representing the challenge provider
Selection of the winner

4) Solutions put into practice

Follow-up agreed between the challenge provider and the winner

Apply for hackathons

LiukasHackathon – Smart Logistics for Recycled Nutrients

Biogas production and related flow of recycled nutrients is about to quadruple in Finland. Join us to solve the bottlenecks of logistics with Kuljetus Tero Liukas Oy. Let’s optimize the travelled kilometers and delivered nutrients on the road towards Finland’s Biogas Vision 2030.

Skellefteå Kraft Hackathon – Track the Stack

Energy company Skellefteå Kraft is looking to ensure quality and traceability by digitalization of the biomass piles. Join us to discover smart data management of the 500,000 tonnes of biomass flowing through the Skellefteå Kraft operations annually. Hackathon is organized by BioBoosters partner BioFuel Region.

Read more about the Skellefteå Kraft Hackathon

Karlstads Energi Hackathon – Sustainable Recycling of Wine Corks

Approximately 10–15 billion wine corks are produced annually globally. Salvage the corks from incineration and give them a new lifecycle with Karlstads Energi. Let’s create value out of this unique material! Hackathon is organized by BioBoosters partner Paper Province.

Read more about the Karlstads Energi Hackathon

Stora Enso Hackathon – Protecting Wood, Preserving Tomorrow

Interested in the sustainability actions of Stora Enso? The company’s Laukalne mill in Latvia is looking for ways to combat the dual threats of blue stain in sawn logs and wood-damaging insects. The mill is looking to pilot the winning solutions. Join the open innovation dialogue with Stora Enso and present your solutions for more sustainable and water-wise forestry. Call closed on November 15, 2024. The hackathon is organized by Vidzeme Planning Region in cooperation with BioBoosters by Jamk.

Read more about the Stora Enso Hackathon

Why join the BioBoosters Hackathon?

As a challenge provider of the Hackathon

Save your working time. We offer a guided and efficient service for reaching out to new solution ideas and partners.
Learn new perspectives on your sustainability challenge and be surprised by out-of-box solutions.
Get the expertise and support you need to pilot and uptake solution to your challenge.
Take advantage of the visibility of your company's sustainability work.
Launch commercial or R&D partnerships to meet your sustainability aims.

Organize an international Hackathon with the support of the BioBoosters Network

As a solution provider team

Test your business idea with direct customer feedback.
Grow your network and build partnerships with companies and experts.
Get the expertise and support to test your idea and commercialise your innovation.
Benefit from international visibility for your team's know-how and solutions.
Launch a commercial or R&D project with the client company.

Check out our participation rules

As a mentor

Support the green transition and the development of responsible business.
Learn from real-life business challenges and develop as an expert.
Grow your network and build partnerships with businesses and experts.
Take advantage of international visibility for your own and your organisation's expertise.
Join business-oriented development projects.

Learn about our mentoring principles

As an organiser of the Hackathon

Support your client companies' green transition and sustainable development aims.
Support innovative SMEs and startups in accessing business opportunities
Reach out to experts and talent from international and cross-sector networks to join the Hackathon.
Leverage the well-known Hackathon brand and impressive references.
Gain international visibility for your organisation's and region's expertise.
Help launch business-oriented development projects.

Latest Hackathons

TargiKielceHackathon – Recover Approved by Nature

One of the biggest exhibition and congress centers in Central and Eastern Europe, Targi Kielce S.A., is looking to replace, recycle or reuse the single-use polypropylene carpets. Targi Kielce orders and consumes approx. 100 thousand square meters of carpets per year! Can you propose an alternative? Hackathon is organized by Pro Civis, Poland in co-operation with BioBoosters by Jamk and the BioBoosters network. Winner has been selected to start a co-operation with the challenge provider.

Access the Targi Kielce Hackathon Call information

CosunBeetHackathon – Transforming Sugar Beet Residues from Waste to Value

Cosun Beet is looking for solutions to valorize sugar beet processing side streams. Hackathon is organized by Witeno, Germany in co-operation with BioBoosters by Jamk and the BioBoosters network. Winner has been selected to start a co-operation with the challenge provider.

Access the Cosun Beet Hackathon Call information

FibenolHackathon – Wood to Food

Fibenol invites you to find new high value applications for valorising cellulosic sugars, lignin and specialty cellulose for food or feed production. Hackathon is organized by Estonian University of Life Sciences in co-operation with BioBoosters by Jamk and the BioBoosters network. Winner has been selected to start a co-operation with the challenge provider.

Access the Fibenol Hackathon Call information

NandoHackathon – Reducing Overfertilization by Innovative Solutions

Nando seeks to tackle overfertilization in European agriculture which poses a significant threat to environmental and agricultural sustainability by smart technologies and models for precision farming and fertilization. Hackathon is organized by Sunrise Tech Park, Lithuania, in co-operation with BioBoosters by Jamk and the BioBoosters network. Winner has been selected to start a co-operation with the challenge provider.

Access the Nando Hackathon Call information

VõisteHackathon – Mining the Green Gold from the Greenhouse Biomass

Võiste Greenhouse, the largest tomato producer in Estonia, is looking for solutions how to extract more value from greenhouse products and residual flows whilst producing in a cleaner way. Hackathon is organized by Pärnu County Development Center in co-operation with BioBoosters by Jamk and the BioBoosters network. Winner has been selected to start a co-operation with the challenge provider.

Access the Võiste Hackathon Call information

Interested? Contact us!

Anna Aalto

Projektipäällikkö, Project Manager

Biotalousinstituutti, Institute of Bioeconomy

Teknologia, School of Technology

+358406402346

[email protected]

Eija Iso-Ahola

Projektiasiantuntija, Project Specialist

Biotalousinstituutti, Institute of Bioeconomy

Teknologia, School of Technology

+358442305042

[email protected]

References - What our customers say

The hackathon process has been very smooth: well organised and structured. We have also received new connections because of the good visibility of the process.

Viljami Kinnunen, Senior Process Engineer, Gasum

We are very pleased with the organisers and the competitors of this hackathon and the outcome. Probably we wouldn’t have been able to find these companies and their solutions without this cooperation.

Ari Väliheikki, Researcher, Dinex Finland