Demo­la and Business­Oulu Con­nect Tal­ent and Com­pa­nies Through Inno­va­tion Projects – Future Expert Launch­pad is now in Oulu!

The Future Expert Launch­pad (FELP) aims to sup­port the employ­ment and skills devel­op­ment of high­ly edu­cat­ed inter­na­tion­al pro­fes­sion­als, grad­u­at­ing stu­dents, and indi­vid­u­als seek­ing new career direc­tions. FELP offers par­tic­i­pants the oppor­tu­ni­ty to work on gen­uine, market‑driven projects and strength­en their exper­tise through hands-on col­lab­o­ra­tion.

Demola’s Inter­na­tion­al­ly Cer­ti­fied Learn­ing Envi­ron­ment Enables Inno­va­tion

Demo­la is a Finnish com­pa­ny with 15 years of expe­ri­ence in new con­cept devel­op­ment and co-cre­ation. Its glob­al­ly oper­at­ing inno­va­tion plat­form brings togeth­er tal­ent and real busi­ness needs.

“We always start from the ques­tion: what is the gen­uine need in the mar­ket? This becomes the foun­da­tion for form­ing a mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary team to explore solu­tions. Nei­ther par­tic­i­pants nor com­pa­nies know the answer in advance, and the goal is not to exe­cute a pre­de­ter­mined prod­uct, but to explore whether an idea could work. And if it doesn’t, the team can piv­ot towards a more promis­ing direc­tion,” explains Simo Kekäläi­nen from Demo­la.

At the heart of Demola’s mod­el is an inter­na­tion­al­ly cer­ti­fied project envi­ron­ment and a clear, guid­ed process that every team fol­lows through­out the Future Expert Launch­pad pro­gram. Ser­vice design, futures think­ing, and sys­tems think­ing all merge with­in FELP — empha­siz­ing cre­ativ­i­ty, exper­i­men­ta­tion, and learn­ing skills that are in high demand in today’s labor mar­ket. The aim is to cre­ate the con­di­tions for inno­va­tion and growth.

Invit­ing Job­seek­ers in Oulu to join

The Future Expert Launch­pad pro­gram has already been imple­ment­ed suc­cess­ful­ly in sev­er­al Finnish cities, includ­ing Riihimä­ki and Tam­pere. Now it arrives in Oulu. The eight‑week pro­gram wel­comes grad­u­at­ing stu­dents, inter­na­tion­al pro­fes­sion­als, and indi­vid­u­als cur­rent­ly avail­able in the job mar­ket.

“Teams are formed around each project — par­tic­i­pants might include an IT engi­neer, a gar­den­er, a nurse, and a lan­guage stu­dent. It is exact­ly this diver­si­ty that sparks new ideas. Peo­ple with many dif­fer­ent back­grounds are encour­aged to apply,” says Kekäläi­nen.

Business­Oulu sees the pro­gram as an oppor­tu­ni­ty for job­seek­ers to rec­og­nize their exist­ing skills and sup­port con­tin­u­ous learn­ing.

“Projects bring togeth­er pro­fes­sion­als from dif­fer­ent fields, and par­tic­i­pants gain project man­age­ment expe­ri­ence, design and devel­op­ment skills, and valu­able com­pa­ny con­nec­tions. The coach­ing opens up new — and some­times unex­pect­ed — oppor­tu­ni­ties for job­seek­ers,” notes Business­Oulu coor­di­na­tor Taru Lääkkö.

“One of the most impor­tant aspects of the ser­vice is that par­tic­i­pants can demon­strate their skills through real work, which strong­ly sup­ports their job search,” Lääkkö adds.

Demo­la also rec­og­nizes the val­ue for job seek­ers: “Demo­la and Future Expert Launch­pad are glob­al cre­den­tials that show you have com­plet­ed an inten­sive eight‑week process, gained updat­ed skills rel­e­vant to the job mar­ket, and built strong net­works,” says Kekäläi­nen.

Indus­try Col­lab­o­ra­tion Opens New Path­ways

Through­out the projects, par­tic­i­pants receive sup­port and guid­ance from Demola’s experts. As the devel­op­ment work pro­gress­es, local com­pa­nies and star­tups are invit­ed to review the teams’ ideas. This may lead to recruit­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties or fur­ther devel­op­ment of the project con­cepts — includ­ing entre­pre­neur­ial path­ways.

“In Future Expert Launch­pad, com­pa­nies see you and your exper­tise. Your skills are not eval­u­at­ed based only on a CV but through con­crete project results. All ideas and out­puts cre­at­ed in Demo­la belong to the par­tic­i­pants them­selves — so start­ing a com­pa­ny based on a project is entire­ly pos­si­ble,” Kekäläi­nen empha­sizes.

Business­Oulu high­lights the wider region­al impact: “The coach­ing also strength­ens local busi­ness devel­op­ment, as project top­ics address real com­pa­ny needs. Par­tic­i­pa­tion pro­vides a strong foun­da­tion for start­ing one’s own busi­ness — and for growth,” Lääkkö con­cludes.

The Oulu Imple­men­ta­tion Begins in March – Apply Now!

Demo­la and Business­Oulu are offer­ing job­seek­ers in Oulu the oppor­tu­ni­ty to par­tic­i­pate in the Future Expert Launch­pad pro­gram in spring 2026. You can join the FELP pro­gram with­out los­ing your earn­ings-relat­ed or oth­er unem­ploy­ment ben­e­fits. Job seek­ing and oth­er required process­es con­tin­ue nor­mal­ly dur­ing par­tic­i­pa­tion.

The appli­ca­tion peri­od for the first imple­men­ta­tion ends on 10 March 2026.

Pro­gram Sched­ule

• Kick-off: 16 March 2026
• Mid-event: 30 March 2026
• Finals: 11 May 2026

In addi­tion, par­tic­i­pants will have week­ly meet­ings with the Oulu group and ongo­ing work with their own project team.

More infor­ma­tion about the Future Expert Launch­pad pro­gram: Demola.net

Read more in our event cal­en­dar: Tyomarkkinatori.fi

Explore the projects and apply through the Demo­la Por­tal: Demo­la Por­tal

More infor­ma­tion:

Joonas Kemp­painen
COO
Demo­la
joonas@demola.net
tel.050 529 1845