The winners of the International Venture Academy have now been selected! The winners for the year 2025 are Coeur-Net and EOD

The winners of this year’s International Venture Academy have been announced! Out of nine selected companies, EOD from Finland and Coeur-net from France were chosen as the 2025 winners.

Held in Jyväskylä, the International Venture Academy (IVA) is an intensive program where startup and scaleup companies sharpen their skills in securing funding from international investors.

EOD develops and manufactures applications based on nanobubble technology and imports equipment for chemical-free microbial control and cleaning. The company’s mission is to support the natural vitality of plants, reducing the need for pesticides and thereby decreasing chemical runoff into soil and water systems. EOD uses nanobubbles to enhance irrigation water with properties that help strengthen plant health.

– This experience helped us learn how to speak the language of investors without getting lost in the technical details of our work. In the past, we’ve emphasized technology, research, and science. Through the International Venture Academy, we developed a more accessible approach that better resonates with funders, says Timo Kantola, CEO of EOD.

The second winner, Coeur-net, offers a secure, heartbeat-based authentication method as an alternative to traditional password systems. CEO Benjamin Vignau highlights that one of the most valuable outcomes of the week was the new partnership formed during the program.

– We found a partner here in Jyväskylä, and we’re now planning to deepen that collaboration, Vignau says.

According to Vignau, the team ended up modifying nearly their entire pitch during the week.

– An intensive week like this really tests your resilience. Personally, it was also a new experience to look out the window here in Jyväskylä Finland after a long day and see that there was still light outside, he adds.

International Venture Academy selects startups and scaleups seeking between €200,000 and €1,000,000 in investment or preparing to expand into international markets. The program culminated in a final pitching competition, where the teams presented their business ideas to a panel of jury and a live audience. Over four concentrated days, the participating companies refined both their growth strategies and investor pitches.

Next, the winning teams will have the opportunity to pitch their business concepts to a wider network of international investors at the Jyväskylä Business Rally Investor Days on July 31.

This year, the International Venture Academy brought together nine companies from five different countries, that are France, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands and Finland - including four startups from Jyväskylä.