Crazy Town has implemented the Growth from Security pilot in collaboration with the Defence Forces’ Command System Centre for three special forces recruit cohorts.
In Finland, this is an exceptional experiment where product development and entrepreneurship skills are integrated into military service.
The full-scale war in Ukraine has highlighted the importance of agile product development. In the Defence Forces’ program, entrepreneurship is not an end in itself. More importantly, it is about learning problem-solving, teamwork, and entrepreneurial thinking. In the Growth from Security initiative, IT and Cyber Soldiers work in a week-long hackathon facilitated by Crazy Town in JyvĂ€skylĂ€.
The ideas from Winter 2025 included:
- sensor networks
- communication solutions
- programmable drone swarms
- analytics for physical load and performance
During the hackathon, the soldiers:
- refined the need to be addressed in relation to the Defence Forces’ performance requirements and dual-use opportunities in civilian markets
- built prototypes at Crazy Town JyvÀskylÀ and utilized the prototype space at JAMK University of Applied Sciences (thanks for the collaboration!)
- worked and stayed intensively in the midst of CT’s coworking community; code and hardware were “pushed” deep into the night hours
- sparred their ideas with local entrepreneurs and experts
- practiced pitching and building businesses
After the hackathon, the soldiers gathered for a pitching event organized with the DEFINE – Defence Innovation Network Finland (DEFINE) network. Nearly every one of the six teams expressed a desire to continue on the entrepreneurial path. Several are aiming for pre-seed funding in 2026â2027, once the ideas have been validated further and a foundation built. Crazy Town offers membership in the CT community for soldiers who have completed the program after returning to civilian life for work and/or studies. đ«Ą
According to Tiina Laisi-Puheloinen from FIBAN, there was nothing to be ashamed of in the teams’ pitches compared to more experienced startup teams. It was also interesting to see how many soldiers engaged in discussions with Timo Ahopelto, who was familiar to many from his Startup Handbook read in the barracks.
âĄïž If you need space for innovation camp-like work, Crazy Town’s locations in various cities provide excellent facilities and a community of 400 companies.
âĄïž And of course we offer services for all interested parties for similar innovation work. It doesn’t have to be a “war exercise” conducted in a coworking space as a hackathon.
Thanks to the Defense Forces for the collaboration and trust, as well as to other partners.
