The Draft program’s early 2026 call in North Karelia attracted a record number of second-phase applications and highlighted emerging trends, particularly the growth of AI-driven digital solutions. Several promising teams were selected, with two advancing to the next stage to further develop their innovations toward business.
19 March 2026
Heikki Immonen, Karelia University of Applied Sciences
A total of 29 applications were received for the call organized in January–February 2026. Of these, 20 were first-round applications and 9 were second-phase applications. The number of second-phase applications was a new record in Joensuu!
Seven teams were selected for the first phase of Draft. Two highly promising startups advanced to the second phase. In this round, the largest number of applicant teams came from the University of Eastern Finland. As many as 58% of the applicant teams had some connection to the University of Eastern Finland. Additionally, 28% of the teams included members who were alumni of Karelia UAS or UEF.
The Draft Program® is funded by Karelia University of Applied Sciences, the University of Eastern Finland, the North Karelia Municipal Education and Training Consortium Riveria, and the William and Ester Otsakorpi Foundation.
Interesting highlights and details from this round of applications
A clearly emerging and likely lasting trend is the rise of digital applications, products, and services built with the help of artificial intelligence. Among the applicants, there were already several teams that had developed a first working demo version of their digital product idea using tools such as Lovable or Replit.
Lovable and Replit are so-called “vibe coding” tools, which allow even people with no coding knowledge to develop their own applications. Development takes place through a chat-based interaction with artificial intelligence: the user describes the desired application, and the AI builds it. Importantly, applications can be published directly through the same tools.
Startup teams selected for the second phase
Nandiini Oy is a Joensuu-based team developing a novel product related to nutrition for young children. The founding members are experienced professionals specializing in nutrition and working with children.
LUMETRIX is a team built on expertise in photonics and chemistry from the University of Eastern Finland. Their innovation relates to generating energy from transparent surfaces.
Teams selected in the January–February call
Teams selected for the first round:
- Remote healthcare service, team lead Jonna Koljonen
- Intelligent feedback processing system, team lead Henri Parkkonen
- Fitness application, team lead Sergei Enkov
- Virvoke, team lead Nelli Siljander
- Digital courses, team lead Olli Virmajoki
- Well-being service, team lead Marika Nissinen
- Digital product for families with children, team lead Maija Saari
Teams selected for the second phase:
- Nandiini Oy, team lead Sanna Laakkonen
- LUMETRIX, team lead Olga Pereshivko
You too can explore the Draft program application guidelines and apply in Joensuu or Kuopio!
Use of artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence was utilized in the preparation of this publication for information retrieval and language editing tasks. The header image of the article was also generated using AI.