“We have made enormous progress”

Medified is health technology startup founded by three medical students. The company’s rapid growth and progress are huge motivators for the entrepreneurs. The startup community of Medified’s home city, Tampere, has supported the young entrepreneurs’ journey from the start.

“We’re developing a new kind of digital tool to help monitor the treatment of mental illness,” says Valtteri Korkiakoski, Medified’s co-founder in charge of business development. “Our goal is to support patients’ individual recovery and also offer valuable clinical data to healthcare professionals to help them with treatment decisions,” he specifies.

A lot has happened during the company’s first year. At the moment, the company is in talks about a pilot where the app would be used as a practical part of everyday healthcare.

“We’re motivated to see the results of our work in practice,” Korkiakoski states. “If we can introduce some kinds of efficiency benefits or support patients’ recovery more effectively, we’ll be even more motivated. Currently, we are moving rapidly toward this goal.”

The local startup ecosystem supports young entrepreneurs

Medified’s three co-founders, Korkiakoski included, are third-year students at Tampere University’s Faculty of Medicine. In the beginning, the co-founders have worked on their business part-time, and so far, everything has gone fine. Korkiakoski admits that combining business with studies is not always easy, but that the situation also has many positive aspects.

“Since we’re students, time management can sometimes be difficult,” he says. “But making practical use of what we’ve studied in med school is extremely encouraging for the whole team.”

The entrepreneurs have received support from both the university community and the local startup community in Tampere. Medified has received practical support for the development of its platform, as well as important information and contacts from the Business Tampere events. The business community has welcomed the young entrepreneurs from the start. It has offered Medified a valuable network of fellow entrepreneurs, investors and mentors. In addition, business accelerators were great external motivators when the company’s idea was refined into a concrete form.

Rapid progress motivates learning

“We’ve realised that we’ve made enormous progress in the last few months,” Korkiakoski says. “That’s also extremely inspiring.”

When a business is developing at a rapid pace, entrepreneurs need to keep up. Related to this, Korkiakoski emphasises a quality that the Medified trio values very much:

“Continuous learning is a vital skill in today’s world. My advice to others is to always hold on to that.”

Building Tampere’s startup ecosystem together

6Aika – Ecosystems of growth: enabling the growth of companies through collaboration of the Kuutoskaupungit cities

The project supports the access of growth-oriented companies to suitable networks and services supporting research and product development activity. The project is implemented by the six biggest cities in Finland: Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku and Oulu, and the Council of Tampere Region. The project is based on the idea of the cities’ active role in supporting the innovation activities of companies and the related support networks.