On April 10th, 23-year-old Perttu Pölönen, who has been called the most creative Finn in his homeland, will be coming to the Tallinn Creative Hub to make a presentation at the MELT Innovation Forum.

 

He is a true multi-talent, whose rousing speeches about technology, future trends and innovation have inspired listeners around the globe. He has established two education technology start-ups, written the music for several international stage productions, and given dozens of lectures about future technologies.  

 

When he was only 15 years old, Perttu invented the MusiClock, a music teaching aid that has received international awards, and also won first prize at Europe’s largest invention competition. He has studied at Silicon Valley’s Singularity University and graduated from the Global Solutions and Launchpad programmes, which have provided him with a deep understanding of future megatrends, new technologies and ways of thinking.

 

Perttu Pölönen is also a composer, who had graduated from the Sibelius Academy. His compositions have been performed in Finland, Hungary, Japan and the U.S., and he has participated in several international projects together with Morris Hayes and the Sonic Gods production company. His passion is film music, although he also liked to compose concert music.

 

In addition to Perttu Pölönen, the speakers at the MELT Innovation Forum include the best Estonian practitioners from various fields of life and business, who will share their inspiring stories that can encourage us to make changes in our lives, and will also speak about product development and innovation based on their own enterprises. The forum will focus on product development and will dissect the myths surrounding it in six different topic blocks.      

 

In the financing block, Fundwise co-founder Gleb Maltsev will share practical advice about how to sell your business idea to investors. The other speakers include Kait Karu, who secured €110,000 in funding for his Nudist craft beverage factory in only three days, and Kirtjan Kangro, the head of Change, a new era bank, who was able to attract millions of dollars in investments for his company internationally.   

 

The research cooperation block will be opened by Mart Noorma, Director of Research and Development at the tech company Milrem Robotics. Thereafter, Marko Lehes, Managing Director of Selfdiagnostics, which develops medical diagnosis products, will share his experiences. The block will be completed by Marko Russiver, Managing Director of Guaana, who will focus on scientific collaboration.

 

The speakers in the sustainable innovation block include Margus Siilik, head of Okkastyle, which produces wall panelling from pine branches, Märt-Erik Martens, head of Gelatex Technologies, which produces environmentally-friendly textiles that are chemically identical to leather from the low value wastes of the meat industry, and a representative from Reverse Resources, which provides a technological platform for the garment industry that enables the purchase of textile waste from the Asian garment industry, thereby increasing the amount of recycled clothing.

 

In the cooperation block, inspirational stories will be shared by Helena Almqvist, Managing Director of Protex Balti, which is developing smart work clothing with the cooperation of several partners; Kitty Kubo, Innovation Manager of the Connected Health Cluster, the initiator of a series of innovation clinics that unite doctors and entrepreneurs; and Ardo Reinsalu, the Managing Director of Stigo, which is developing electric scooters and has benefited from cooperation between Estonia and China.

 

In the technology block, Toomas Kärner, the head of the IoT field at Telia will take the stage to talk about its contribution to finding technological solutions. Christer Loob, a member of the Operose Labs management board, will discuss the new smart eyeglasses being developed in cooperation with a company providing airplane repair and maintenance services, and Timmu Tõke, head of Wolf3D, a company that originally started with 3D printing, will talk about how technological development enables companies to constantly change their main products thereby penetrating more markets and reaching more target groups.   

 

The speakers in the strategic innovation block include Erika Pääbus, the hostess of Andre Farm, who will talk about how, despite the obstacles, they were able to maximize the value of their main product – cow’s milk.  Inge Rätsep, CEO of Interlex and Skuuper, will speak about her daring step to purchase a share in the translation technology startup Skuuper in order to achieve a competitive advantage in her field. The topic block will be completed by Evelin Org, Director of Sales and Marketing at Sokos Hotels Tallinn, who will speak about the revolution on the hotel landscape organised by one of Estonia’s oldest companies.

 

In addition to the presentations, the forum will also provide information on the practical, hands-on side of innovation. In the large showcase area, the innovative products and services of Estonian companies, bright start-ups and student companies will be exhibited. Several fields of activity are represented, which proves that innovation is not dependent on the company’s field of activity, but the courage to think outside of the box and be different. And simply show initiative. 

 

The forum will end with a lively afterparty, where all the speakers and listeners can exchange ideas on the topics related to innovation.

 

The MELT Innovation Forum is organised by the Tallinn Enterprise Department in cooperation with the Tallinn Creative Incubator.  

 

More information:

Jaanus Vahesalu
Programme Director, MELT Innovation Forum
https://melt.tallinn.ee
jaanus dot vahesalu at tallinnlv dot ee