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According to Sami Marttinen, the founder Swappie which is essentially a web store for used smartphones, one of the greatest hindrances for startups is the fear of pivoting. The company, born out of continuous trial and error by Marttinen and the second founder, Jiri Heinonen, has grown to have a revenue of over 8,1 million euros and currently employs 102 people. The quick growth has forced the young company to relocate its office every few months due to the rapidly growing number of employees.

When Paloma Bautista was working in Spain, she spotted a problem in urban development. The company serving the Ministry of Development she was working with was developing a railway project across Bautista's hometown. Whereas the studies and numbers supported the need for such development, direct dialogue with the citizens on the matter only happened once the plan was already made, which encouraged citizens to complain about it, rather than suggest improvements. That’s a problem Bautista and her team are now addressing at CHAOS, the smart city platform that combines urban data with human perspective and creativity.

Gunnar Suikki – Maria 01 project manager and the task of renovating 12,100 m² into a startup powerhouse