The first months were spent designing operational models, exploring the latest research on business incubation, and building cooperation with experienced incubators in the field. We also brought in external consultancy, while our project team already had strong experience in entrepreneurship and business incubation.
In autumn 2024, we organized the first 100-day pre-incubator program, with 13 teams participating. Five of them continued into the full OYSTER incubator program, which started at the beginning of 2025. Altogether, 10 teams began in the main business incubator program, which is still ongoing.
From European success stories, such as the Smile incubator in Lund, a few critical success factors stood out: the expertise of incubator managers, strong ecosystem networks, external experts, financial know-how, and strong regional commitment to long-term incubator funding in addition to national funding coordinated by Vinnova. These principles also guide the development of OYSTER.
We also produced a report based on the latest research and existing reference incubators: Health and life science business incubators – literature review and benchmarking.
In health and life sciences, development cycles are long, as products and services undergo strict regulation and often require years of work before reaching commercialization. In the incubators we benchmarked, companies typically spent 2–3 years in the program. At later stages, international accelerators specialized in the sector can help companies scale further into global markets.
The OYSTER incubator is co-funded by the EU, coordinated by BusinessOulu, and implemented in cooperation with the University of Oulu’s Kerttu Saalasti Institute and Martti Ahtisaari Institute as well as Oulu University of Applied Sciences. OYSTER complements the OuluHealth ecosystem alongside, for example, Oulu Health Labs. Networks, access to funding, team development, and collaboration with sector stakeholders are essential success factors for new health and life science start-ups.
It is important to build a stable and long-term funding base for incubation activities so that they can also develop to meet future challenges and turn ideas into real, productive innovations. Research-to-Business (R2B) projects in universities can also benefit from strong incubator support to help ideas grow into sustainable new companies.
The first year of OYSTER has shown that with the right partners, networks, and a committed team, it is possible to build a functioning platform for the growth companies of the future. At the end of August, a new pre-incubator program was launched with 17 participating teams, and the interest in the program also demonstrates the need for this activity. This is a strong foundation to build on.
Author: Heikki Ailinpieti, B.Sc., Master of Culture and Arts, Project Researcher, University of Oulu Kerttu Saalasti Institute, Micro-Entrepreneurship Centre MicroENTRE
Photo: Riikka Savela
In Kerttu Saalasti Institute's blog we write about the topics of the Institute's research groups, micro entrepreneurship education and the Institute's general topics. The authors are researchers, experts and members of networks.
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