This Builders' Breakfast session is part of the Maria 01 NEXT Startup Festival. Explore the full 2-day program here.
Sami Marttinen co-founded a company that most founders only talk about reaching: a centaur, meaning a private company generating over $100 million in annual revenue without ever needing to go public. Swappie crossed that threshold in 2023 and has held it since, closing 2025 with €234 million in revenue and, for the first time, a full year of EBITDA profitability.
Getting there wasn't a straight line. Before Swappie, Sami and his co-founder ran through thirteen different business ideas under one company, pivoting quickly, taking no salary, and funding the process themselves through student loans and savings. The idea that eventually became Swappie came from a personal experience, being scammed while buying a used phone online, and a consumer survey the next day that suggested the market for used electronics could eventually rival the market for used cars.
Sami is now building a new company in health tech, currently in stealth. This time, the environment is different. Swappie was built in a pre-AI era, with none of the tools founders now take for granted. His new venture is being built with AI shaping the process from the outset.
At this Builders' Breakfast, Sami will share the story on what it took to grow Swappie into a centaur, and how building pre-AI compares to building now.
If you find this session interesting, we invite you to explore the full Maria 01 NEXT Startup Festival Program.
Communal Reading meetup These regular meetups are low-threshold opportunities to check-in with our lovely community and for newcomers to familiarize themselves with our book club. So feel very welcome too if this is your first time joining the Asian Book Club Helsinki! What do we do 📖 We read together in silence for about an hour. You can read the book we picked for our upcoming Book Discussion or any other (Asian) book you’re reading at the moment. 💬 Before and after our reading hour there is time to connect & chat with each other. The program for this meetup: 16:30-17:00: Arrivals, ordering drinks & treats 17:00-18:00: Communal Reading (in silence) 18:00-18:30: Connect with fellow Asian Book Clubbies About the Asian Book Club Helsinki We are an open, diverse community of (aspiring) readers & lovers of Asian literature. In our book club we read and discuss: books by authors from an Asian background – including diaspora authors from all 5 Asian regions – East, Southeast, South, West, Central contemporary literary fiction (novels, short stories, novellas, biographical fiction) and memoirs Please follow the Asian Book Club Helsinki on Instagram! Support Asian entrepreneurs All Asian Book Club Helsinki meetups are free of charge. But we ask you to support our lovely (Asian) entrepreneurs of the venue by ordering drinks & treats/food from their cafe menu. NOTE: If you can't make it to our meetup, don't forget to cancel your registration to free up space for people on the waitlist! A fee will apply for: late cancellations (on the day of the meetup): €5 no-shows €10
This evening of the Tech Founder Crash Course is about turning something scrappy into something real. Come ready to work. Bring your laptop. The evening 17:30 — Doors Open 18:00 — Intro 18:05 — Register a Company & What AI Means for IP / Tuomas Pelkonen, Nordia Law 18:35 — Define Your Business Model (hands-on) / Mårten Mickos, Finnish Executive and former CEO of MySQL 19:45 — Break 19:55 — Pitch Successfully (hands-on) / Johannes Tervo, Intergrid & Sini Ågren, Herizon 21:00 — Mingling 21:30 — Exit Snacks and beverages provided. Who is this for Developers and people with a technical background who want to build something of their own. You might have a concrete idea or just a strong feeling that it's time to build something yourself. Juniors welcomed. This is not an event for sitting back and taking notes. Leave with Know-how on registering a startup, a business model draft, and a pitch. Registration Spots are limited. Selected participants will be informed in advance. Organised by Hive Helsinki, Slush, Aalto Founder School, and Startup Foundation. Getting there Type "Hive Helsinki" in your maps application to find the exact entrance. The campus is at Haapaniemenkatu 5A, Sörnäinen, Helsinki.
Aamiainen in-house-juristeille 10.9. | AI-agentti sopimusneuvotteluissa | Bind Tervetuloa aamiaiselle kokemaan, miten tekoäly muuttaa in-house-lakitiimien arkea juuri nyt. Kuinka pitkälle AI-agentti pystyy viemään sopimusneuvottelun? Vastaus muuttuu jatkuvasti, joten näytämme livenä missä mennään tällä hetkellä. Näet demossa, miten agentti käy vastapuolen luonnoksen läpi ja tekee muutokset perustellen jokaisen kohdan ja merkitsemällä kohdat, johon tarvitaan juristin näkemystä. Lisäksi näet, mitä tapahtuu neuvottelun ympärillä: miten uusi sopimus ohjautuu oikealle ihmiselle, miten hyväksynnät toimivat ja miten allekirjoitetut sopimukset säilytetään hyödyllisesti. Bind on in-house-tiimien päivittäisessä käytössä Suomessa ja maailmalla, ja tilaisuuden vetää perustaja ja toimitusjohtaja Aku Pöllänen, joten voit kysyä ihan mitä vain, myös sitä mikä ei vielä toimi. Paikkoja on rajoitetusti, joten vahvistathan osallistumisesi ilmoittautumalla. Voit ottaa mukaan myös kollegan, lisää hänen tietonsa ilmoittautumisen yhteydessä tarjoiluja varten. Tervetuloa! Bind & Byro Legal