Creative growth

Join us for an inspiring morning of insight, opportunity, and connection!

Espoo is home to a vibrant creative and game industry landscape — and we believe it’s time to bring the community together to fuel new growth.

Business Espoo Breakfast Club: "Creative Growth" is a dynamic morning event designed for entrepreneurs, creatives, and companies working across the cultural, creative, and game sectors. Whether you're looking for practical tools, fresh ideas, new partners—or simply coffee with likeminded professionals — this event is for you.

You’ll hear from city representatives, creative professionals, and entrepreneurs who are shaping the future of the industry. From funding opportunities and service paths to cross-sector collaboration and creative entrepreneurship, we’ll share the latest updates and spark conversations that matter.

What to Expect

Inspiration: Short and sharp talks from creative and game industry professionals
Insight: Info-packed session on Espoo’s services, funding paths, and support for creatives
Interaction: Guided networking and peer mentoring discussions designed to spark new ideas and connections

Themes

Growth and collaboration across creative sectors
Cross-pollination between creative industries and the game sector
Entrepreneurship, funding, and practical support
Building a stronger creative ecosystem – with the city as your partner

Who Should Join?

Creative entrepreneurs, freelancers, companies, artists, developers, and anyone working within or in collaboration with creative and game industries in Espoo and the region. Members of the Business Espoo network are especially welcome.

Event details

📅 Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2025

🕘 Time: 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM

🏠 Venue: Technopolis Innopoli 2, Edison Room 1&2 (Tekniikantie 14, Espoo)

🌐 Language: English

This event is organized by Business Espoo in collaboration with KLOV and Espoo Game LAB.

Registration

The event is fully booked. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us via email: info@businessespoo.fi .

Program*

8:30 Registration, breakfast and informal mingling

9:00 The program starts

Opening words: "Why creativity matters for Espoo" / Leena Hoppania, Manager of Cultural Services, City of Espoo
City of Espoo & Business Espoo insight: services and funding / Ville Tolvanen, Senior Business Advisor, City of Espoo and Katja Koskela, Senior Specialist, Cultural Unit, City of Espoo
Growing Creatively – Experiences in International Growth and Visibility / Nellie Nyberg, Project Manager, KLOV, Federation of Finnish Enterprises and Petra Koivisto, Senior Agent & Partner, Agent Pekka
Where we are now & what you should know: Creative snapshots from game industry, visual arts, music and photography
Wrap-up & guided networking introduction

11:15 Creative roundtables; participants select or rotate between:

How to monetize creativity; beyond grants and gigs
Game industry crossovers; what other creatives can offer (and learn)
Funding & scaling up in 2025; what’s changing?
New business models for creatives; productizing, partnering, growing
Espoo’s ecosystem; how can the city better support us?
Creative collaborations that work: Sharing case stories
Future-proofing your skills; What should creatives learn next?

12:00 End of the event

*We reserve the right to make changes to the program.

Speakers

Leena Hoppania leads Espoo's cultural venues and services, overseeing five major cultural centres and fostering regional cultural collaboration. With extensive experience in both public and private sectors, she has previously served as CEO of Cultural Centre Sofia in Helsinki and as acting Cultural Director in Joensuu. Hoppania has also contributed to Espoo's cultural policy as a former member of the city's Cultural Committee and as a Chief policy Advisor in management of the entrepreneurship and growth-promoting environment focus area in the Ministry of Employment and the Economy's Strategic Creative Economy Flagship Project.

Ville Tolvanen specializes in advising creative entrepreneurs on business development and funding opportunities. With a background in communications and economics, he provides guidance to both startups and established businesses, helping them navigate growth and innovation.

Katja Koskela focuses on cultural grants and partnerships within Espoo's Cultural Unit. With a Master's degree in Arts, she has a strong background in cultural policy and has played a key role in projects like EspooCult, which examines the city's cultural landscape. Her previous jobs include EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art and IHME Contemporary Art Festival.

Nellie Nyberg leads the KLOV project, aiming to enhance business skills and facilitate ownership transitions for entrepreneurs in the creative and cultural sectors. With a background in economics and entrepreneurship, she is dedicated to supporting the growth and sustainability of creative businesses.

Petra Koivisto is a Senior Agent and Partner at Agent Pekka, a global illustration agency with offices in Helsinki, Amsterdam, and Los Angeles. With over a decade of experience, she has been instrumental in building the careers of numerous artists and expanding the agency's international presence.

Accessibility

There is a wheelchair ramp next to the main entrance. Accessible parking spaces are available in guest parking (marked squares). The facilities have barrier-free toilets on the entrance floor near the meeting rooms. For more information about accessibility, kindly contact: espoo@technopolis.fi, phone +358 40 1790050.

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Business Espoo’s breakfast club is a meeting place for entrepreneurs to get tips to develop their businesses and learn about free business services. The event is free of charge and open to all entrepreneurs based in Espoo and Kauniainen.

Business Espoo Breakfast Club: Creative Growth

The event “Business Espoo Breakfast Club: Creative Growth” has ended