Hippos area will serve as a growth and piloting platform for companies in the coming years
- Our goal is that in the future, Hippos will be home to growth companies operating in sports, health, and wellbeing. The area will serve as a dynamic platform for their development and piloting activities, explains Program Manager Taija Lappeteläinen from the City of Jyväskylä.
Hippos area is now rapidly progressing toward the start of construction preparations, says Project Director Ville Niskakangas from the City of Jyväskylä. In practice, construction will begin at the turn of the year. It will start with Hippos Parking and the Knowledge Center, followed immediately by the construction of the Sports center. The Ice Center will begin construction in May. This is one of Finland’s largest development projects in the field of sports and wellness.
- The Hippos project brings together sports clubs, universities, research, businesses, and citizens—enabling new kinds of encounters and the emergence of innovations. As an investment, it is a commitment to the residents’ wellbeing, and the future, says Niskakangas.
Strong networks at Hippos area
The Optimal Performance value network, already in operation, will continue to evolve by integratingmore closely with the Hippos area. This network brings together companies from the sports, health, and wellbeing sectors, alongside business developers, sports club representatives, and researchers.
- Finnish expertise holds strong potential for global expansion from Jyväskylä, thanks to thecity's well-established international networks and investor connections. For instance, Jyväskylä is a member of EBAN and part of the EBAN Sports nettwork, which provides concrete funding opportunities for companies in the sports andwellness sectors, explains Lappeteläinen.
In the coming years, Hippos area will increasingly host expertise related to business growth, acceleration, and testing. The expertise of KIHU, JAMK and the University of Jyväskylä in sports and well-being sciences provides a strong foundation for the area’s success. Hippos area already features the intelligent testing and development environment KIHU SportTech Experience, which aims to make sports-related modern technology accessible to everyone. In this environment, visitors can explore what can be measured and how technology can be utilized in different sports.
Axonometric drawing of Hippos / PES Arkkitehdit
Turning data into business
In September 2025, JAMK and KIHU launched a joint project: the Hippos Data Ecosystem. The University of Jyväskylä is involved in the project’s steering group. The project aims to determine what kind of data is collected in the Hippos area, who owns it, and how it can be utilized both in business and in promoting well-being more broadly. During the project, a model will be created together with companies to generate value from the data collected at Hippos area, for both businesses and local residents. The project also explores regulations and ethical questions related to data usage.
- This project strongly reflects the core idea that Hippos is evolving into an increasingly powerful platform for business growth and piloting. Companies play a central role in the initiative. Several participating businesses already possess substantial datasets and are keen to exploreways to utilize them. The project is open to all, and we warmly welcome new companies to join, says Jaana Mäkelä, Senior Specialist at JAMK Health Institute and Project Manager of the Hippos Data Ecosystem.
Once the project is complete, the goal is to gain a clear and comprehensive overview of Hippos data—where it is collected, how it is gathered, and how it can be utilized.
- Data has practical applications in everyday services—for example, identifying solutions for parents transporting children to hobbies or optimizing public transport based on visitor data. In this way, data can better serve both businesses and citizens as well other visitiors of the area. A major goal is also to harness the data economy to encourage healthier lifestyles and enhance overall well-being. Data can also be used to influence energy consumption and support the region’s green transition, Mäkelä explains.
Want to learn more about the Hippos Data Ecosystem project? Contact Jaana Mäkelä: jaana.makela@jamk.fi
Would you like to join the activities of the Hippos growth company ecosystem? Contact Taija Lappeteläinen: taija.lappetelainen@jyvaskyla.fi
This article is part of the innovation ecosystem work of the Business Development Services of the City of Jyväskylä. We are carrying out ecosystem work with the support of public funding and within the framework of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment's ecosystem agreement in 2021-2027, together with universities and other developers in the region. Funding is provided by the Regional Council of Central Finland (ERDF funding, Jyväskylä Growth and Sustainable Urban Development project 2022-2025).
