Co-Creating Sustainable Business from Innovation to Impact
Join the movement where ideas, strategy & hands-on project excellence converge
WHO WE ARE
Your partner in sustainable growth & impact creation
Ikigaia is a mission-driven expert organization accelerating the journey from early-stage innovation to scalable, sustainable business. We bridge the gaps between academia, industry, ecosystems and capital to unlock global solutions from local potential.
With Ikigaia, you don’t just get a diagnosis or a recipe. We assemble high-performance teams, run the kitchen, and serve growth ready to scale.
With us, you’ll SPARK – BUILD – SCALE
& FLOW GLOBAL, end-to-end — the whole nine yards.
-----
Let's discover your pain points & succeed together!
https://outlook.office.com/book/Letsgetfamiliar@ikigaia.fi/
OUR MISSION & MANIFESTO
Imagine a world where people don’t just respond to change — they spark it. Where ideas don’t fade but rise into stories that travel, inspire, and unite. A world where encounters are meaningful, energy is contagious, and co-creation feels as natural as breathing.
IKIGAIA is built on a simple truth: when communities meet, ideas take shape — and meaningful change becomes inevitable.
We’re creating a space where changemakers gather around a shared fire.
Where ambition sharpens, innovation gains momentum, and transformation becomes a collective force.
Here, stories are fuel to scientific breakthroughs, to daring startups, to bold ecosystem experiments. They call in those seeking purpose and those ready to reinvent how the world works.
We are cultivating a culture where ideas are experienced, where Humanity & Tech walk together, where strangers become collaborators and Growth is a shared Journey.
This is a call to the ones who want to see further and do more. To those who refuse to believe that “this is how it’s always been done.” To those who feel a quiet spark when a new possibility reveals itself.
We’re building a world where every bold idea becomes a powerful story — and every story has the potential to change everything.
Join the movement.
This is just the beginning.
SERVICES: Startups & Scale-ups · Industry & Corporates · Cities & Regional Ecosystems · Academia & Research · Impact Investors & NGOs
1. Strategy → Direction with Impact
We clarify purpose and define growth & impact roadmaps — turning complexity or frustration into actionable bankable concepts and project execution. For startups & scale-ups, industry leaders, regional ecosystems, academia, investors & NGOs
2. Co-Creation → Innovation in Motion
We activate innovation ecosystems and accelerate regional growth facilitating open collaboration, where research, business, and society meet execution. Co-creation platforms • Living labs & pilots • Ecosystem leadership • Research-to-business pathways
3. Projects → From Plans to Production
We don’t stop at concepts. We run projects, assemble teams, and deliver outcomes fast and credibly. Project leadership • Industrial consulting • Piloting & scale-up projects • TRL 4–9 execution
4. Growth & Deals → Capital Meets Capability
We structure growth, validate IP, and create investable innovation deal flow for partners, investors, and NGOs. Commercialization & IPR paths • JV & invest-in concepts • Impact funding readiness • Due diligence support
5. Scale → From Local Proof to Global Reach
We help innovations cross borders, linking reference customers, industrial partners, and global capital. Global partnerships • GTM support • Industrial matchmaking • Impact-driven scale strategies
IKIGAIA CORE TEAM
Mikko Ruuska
Founder & Managing Director
Pasi Rantanen
Chief Innovation Hunter
Tiina Ruuska
Managing Partner, Growth & Innovation ecosystems
Paniz Sepehrian
Project Flow & Data Storytelling
EU CO-CREATION PROJECTS
Ikigaia is proud to be part of a growing portfolio of EU-funded innovation & co-creation projects that drive sustainable impact across Europe and beyond. From circular bioeconomy to deep tech and ecosystem development, our role spans coordination, IP commercialization, and capacity-building in transformative ventures. Each project reflects our commitment to turning bold ideas into scalable solutions through diverse collaboration, creativity, and purpose-driven innovation.
EIT HEI GreenTech4Transformation
GreenTech4Transformation (GT4T) is a transformative initiative designed to empower Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) as leaders in sustainable innovation, entrepreneurship, and societal impact. Through focusing on key sectors such as the circular economy, digital transformation, and energy transition, GT4T integrates advanced research, deep-tech applications, and entrepreneurial training to tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our time. The project adopts a structured, interdisciplinary approach that connects HEI researchers, student innovators, and start-up ecosystems, aligning its outputs with Europe’s vision for a green and digital future. /// IKIGAIA's ROLE: Turning Research into Real‑World Impact Ikigaia bridges the gap between academic research and market adoption. As the lead of Research for Impact, Ikigaia aligns HEI research with industry and societal needs, identifies high‑potential innovations, validates IP, and accelerates deep‑tech solutions — especially in renewable energy, circular economy, and smart technologies — towards commercialization. Through its global network, Ikigaia opens access to investors, industry partners, and commercialization channels, ensuring that breakthrough ideas become scalable, market‑ready innovations that drive sustainable impact.
Interreg BSR SmartAging
SmartAging explores how to improve indoor environments in assisted living through sustainable, inclusive, and environmentally responsible design. The project develops and tests long-lasting, adaptable solutions using bio-based materials, while contributing to the education of future professionals such as designers, architects, engineers, and care specialists. /// IKIGAIA'S ROLE: Ikigaia accelerates the transformation of elderly care environments by developing and commercializing advanced, sustainable material innovations. As the project’s biomaterial and commercialization expert, Ikigaia leads the creation of antimicrobial surfaces, bio‑based components, and smart material solutions that enhance safety, hygiene, and daily living for seniors. Ikigaia supports needs assessment, co‑develops prototypes for smart housing and furniture, ensures real‑world integration of sustainable technologies, and builds commercialization pathways that turn innovations into scalable, market‑ready solutions. Leveraging its global network, Ikigaia also mentors SMEs and innovators — bridging the gap between concept, pilot, and long‑term impact.
Comprehensive Market and Impact Analysis for Sustainable Industry and Investments
The project develops a scalable, AI‑assisted impact analysis and digital reporting tool to support Ikigaia’s growth. It automates the processing of public data, enhances reporting and visualization, and improves internal processes so the company can deliver impact analysis more efficiently, consistently, and internationally. The project includes building the analysis model, testing it with real client cases, refining internal workflows, and enabling commercialization of a new digital service. /// Funder: EAKR, Toimintalinja: Innovatiivinen Suomi, Hämeen elinkeino-, liikenne- ja ympäristökeskus
Launch of Biomaterial Design Agency
Company Pivot 2024-2025 /// The project aims to develop a comprehensive service framework to facilitate the discovery of new bio-based material innovations through collaboration with universities and other innovators. These innovations undergo thorough assessment and examination, followed by scaling and integration into globally applicable solutions for the manufacturing industry. Simultaneously, the project ensures the optimal suitability of identified innovations for global players and facilitates seamless integration. The goal is to incorporate Finnish innovations in bio-based materials into solutions offered by global corporations, thereby reducing carbon footprints and increasing the revenue of stakeholders in the value chain.
More in progress 2025 >, information will follow soon.