HARBOR

Forget job applications, join Harbor.

6 week project with a startup in your field

Harbor pairs early-year students in teams of 2-3 with startups to solve real exploratory problems in product, design, growth, and validation.

Project Spotlight

A selection of projects from the program, each calling for a different skillset.

Purpose-built commerce infrastructure for rental, resale, and circular business models. Think Shopify, but built for the circular economy.

twicecommerce.com ↗

Project

Engineering & AI

Rapid Feature Prototyping

Hands-on technical developers explore how a technical team can use Claude Code to rapidly build experimental product. Prototyping new platform capabilities, testing AI-assisted development workflows, and validating how quickly new features can go from idea to working prototype. Getting hands on with Claude code.

AI Financial Controller working with international high-growth companies to automate their Financial Operations.

control.dev ↗

Project

Sales & Business Development

AI-Driven Growth

Team mixed with sales, marketing and technical skills tests, iterates, and runs a specific AI-driven Sales or Marketing automation. Launching live campaigns, talking directly to customers, and executing the chosen automation during the Harbor project.

While the research industry relies on what people say they do, Behavix captures what they actually do. Their Behavioral Data OS tracks 3M+ users globally across apps and walled gardens like TikTok, Netflix, and Amazon, giving brands and hedge funds a decisive behavioral advantage.

behavix.io ↗

Project 1

Business & Partnerships

Strategic Ecosystem Expansion

Business-minded team validates and maps out new verticals, like global game studios, mobile app developers, and ad networks, for SDK solution. Identify key partners, conduct market validation, and draft sales and marketing playbooks to turn anonymous behavioral data into new revenue streams.

Project 2

Data & AI

Taxonomy Curation & Verification

Data-focused builders audit and scale how the AI engine categorizes millions of digital touchpoints across new geographic markets. Build a comprehensive, localized brand taxonomy for the Financial Industry. Ensure data packages are "analyst-ready" for major tech platforms and hedge funds.

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FAQ

Harbor connects early-year students with startups for 6-week innovation projects over summer. Teams of 2-3 work full-time on real, explorative problems, for example: market validation, prototyping, customer discovery, or marketing experiments. Not grunt work.

You get real experience on real problems: proof of work, skills you can show, and a story that stands out. For many startups, Harbor is where they find their next hires.

On completion you receive 1,000 € and 10 ECTS credits, which also qualifies you for Kela opintotuki over summer, so you can apply yourself to the fullest.

Exploratory innovation work: new markets, pricing and business model validation, feature prototypes, customer discovery, marketing and design experiments. These are real problems startups want to pursue. You learn by doing on real, open-ended work.

Research enterprise customers and build a pricing model from interviews and willingness-to-pay
Explore 3-5 adjacent markets for a product and report which are worth pursuing
Do field research to validate new customer segments so the startup knows where to build next
Make deep tech understandable and usable for customers: user research, journey maps, data visualization, concept development, pitch materials

Applications for 2026 are closed. We match startup needs with student competencies and can match projects to specific competencies in design, research, or technical skills.

Six weeks, May 11 - June 17, before Midsummer.

The application period for 2026 has closed. The program includes six weeks of full-time project work including orientation and wrap-up.

You're not on your own. Your team has an Account Manager and coaching throughout the program so the project is scoped clearly and supported to completion. Payment is tied to agreed deliverables, not outcomes. Deliver what you signed up for and you get paid, regardless of what the startup does with the results.

Teams work from the Aaltoes space by default, or from the startup's office. You'll also get coaching and an Account Manager who supports your team throughout.

Harbor requires full-time commitment for the entire program period. However, if you have a few mandatory lectures or exams during the period, those can be worked around.

If you have other commitments, include them in your application.

Have questions or need to change your application information? harbor@aaltoes.com

Applications closed

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