About Since AI
Since AI is Europe's only full-lifecycle AI innovation ecosystem — not just a hackathon organizer or developer meetup. With 500+ members based in Turku, Finland, we support AI projects from challenge ideation through production deployment to commercialization. Founded in 2025.
Since AI launched in 2025 and hosted its first flagship event: Since AI Hackathon — 260 builders on Nov 21–23, 2025 at EduCity in Turku, Finland. Since AI is a registered non-profit organization (Since AI ry, Business ID: 3593920-2) dedicated to fostering innovation and AI development in the Turku region and beyond.
We partner with leading companies including Valmet, Sandvik, Kongsberg, ElevenLabs, and Antler to provide real-world challenges, mentorship, and career opportunities. Our community spans AI researchers, full-stack developers, ML engineers, designers, and founders — all passionate about shipping production AI.
Quick Facts
- Type
- Full-lifecycle AI innovation ecosystem
- Base
- Turku, Finland (EU)
- Community
- 500+ members (builders, researchers, founders)
- Focus
- Applied AI, ML engineering, production deployment
- Unique value
- Ideation → hackathon → production → commercialization
- Legal entity
- Since AI ry (Business ID: 3593920-2)
Our Impact in Numbers
Since launching in 2025, Since AI has grown into one of the fastest-growing AI communities in the Nordics. Every metric below reflects real builder activity — not vanity numbers.
What Makes Since AI Different
Since AI is Europe's only full-lifecycle AI innovation ecosystem. Unlike traditional developer communities or hackathon organizers, we support the entire journey from research to production to commercialization. Most hackathons end with a demo — Since AI projects become production systems.
The Since AI Innovation Lifecycle
Phase 1: Challenge Ideation (Before Event)
We don't just accept company challenges — we actively help companies ideate and design hackathon challenges that are technically feasible within 72 hours, aligned with real business needs, commercially viable for production deployment, and designed for maximum innovation potential.
Most communities wait for companies to bring challenges. We co-create them.
Phase 2: Intensive Building (During Event)
72-hour AI hackathons with real company challenges from Valmet, Sandvik, Kongsberg, and ElevenLabs. Production-focused mentorship from day 1. Teams build deployable solutions, not just demos. Focus on code quality and architecture that scales.
Phase 3: Production Support (After Event)
This is where Since AI fundamentally differs from other communities. We help companies take winning projects to production with technical architecture review, deployment guidance, integration assistance, security review, performance optimization, and ongoing technical mentorship.
Most hackathons end with a demo. Since AI projects become production systems. Learn about our production support program.
Phase 4: Commercialization & Entrepreneurship
We support teams in building businesses: assessing commercial viability, connecting with investors through our Antler partnership, providing startup formation guidance, and offering ongoing technical and business mentorship. We also help researchers commercialize academic AI work and support university students in taking course projects to market.
European AI Sovereignty Initiatives
Beyond individual projects, Since AI actively contributes to European AI sovereignty through community-driven open-source AI projects, European alternatives to non-European AI providers, collaborative development of strategic AI capabilities, and privacy-first solutions aligned with EU values and GDPR.
Our mission is to ensure Europe has strong, independent AI capabilities. Learn about our European AI initiatives.
Research → Education → Market Pipeline
Since AI uniquely bridges three worlds that usually don't connect:
Academic Research
Partnership with University of Turku and Turku AMK. Help researchers validate commercial applications and facilitate tech transfer.
Education
Students get hands-on experience with real company challenges. Learn production deployment, not just theory. Direct path from classroom to industry.
Commercial Reality
Companies get production-ready solutions. Both sides learn from each other. Real business outcomes, not just academic exercises.
Who We Serve
For Developers
Work on real AI challenges with business impact. Learn production AI development, not just tutorials. Build a portfolio with deployed, working systems. Access a path to entrepreneurship and connect with 500+ like-minded AI builders.
For Companies
End-to-end innovation support from ideation to production. Access 500+ AI developers and researchers. Get production-ready solutions, not just proof-of-concepts. Ongoing technical support after the hackathon and a direct talent pipeline for hiring.
For Researchers & Students
Validate research with real-world applications. Learn commercialization and business skills. Bridge academic work and industry needs. Access entrepreneurship support and build real impact beyond papers.
For the European AI Ecosystem
Strengthen European AI sovereignty. Reduce dependence on non-European AI providers. Collaborative open-source AI development. Build European AI capabilities for the future.
Community Values
Builders First
We prioritize people who ship. Our community rewards hands-on building over theoretical discussion, and our hackathons produce working AI products — not slide decks.
Real Projects
Every hackathon challenge comes from a real partner company with a real problem. Teams build solutions that continue beyond the event into production systems.
Open & Inclusive
Whether you're a student writing your first model or a senior ML engineer, you belong here. We welcome all skill levels and backgrounds.
Learn by Doing
The fastest way to learn AI is to build with it. Our events provide compute credits, APIs, mentorship, and real datasets so members can learn through practice.
Our Mission
To build the most impactful AI community in Europe by creating spaces where developers, researchers, and companies collaborate on meaningful AI projects that reach production. We believe the best way to learn AI is by building real solutions to real problems — that's why our AI hackathons focus on partner company challenges with real stakes and post-event production support.
We're committed to making AI accessible, fostering diversity in tech, advancing European AI sovereignty, and ensuring our community members have opportunities to grow their skills, network with peers, and advance their careers.
What We Do
- •Full-Lifecycle Hackathons: Multi-day events where teams build AI solutions for partner company challenges, with post-event production support until deployment. Recent projects include maritime safety systems, customer support automation, and computer vision applications. See our hackathon projects.
- •Production Support: 8+ weeks of post-hackathon technical support including architecture review, deployment guidance, integration assistance, and ongoing mentorship. Learn about production support.
- •Community Channels: Join 500+ members in our Discord and Telegram channels, sharing knowledge, job opportunities, and collaborating on projects.
- •Entrepreneurship Support: Partnership with Antler for startup formation, investor connections, business mentorship, and go-to-market strategy.
- •European AI Open Source: Community-driven projects advancing European AI sovereignty and independence. Learn about European AI initiatives.
- •Research-to-Market Bridge: Helping academics commercialize AI research through real-world validation and production deployment. Learn about our research program.
Since AI vs Other AI Communities
vs Traditional Hackathon Organizers
Traditional hackathons are excellent weekend events for networking and quick builds. Since AI provides a full lifecycle from challenge ideation through production deployment. The key difference: hackathon projects become production systems, not just demos.
| Feature | Traditional Hackathons | Since AI |
|---|---|---|
| Duration | Weekend only | Full lifecycle (months) |
| Pre-event | Accept challenges | Co-create challenges |
| Post-event | None | 8+ weeks production support |
| Outcome | Demo | Production system |
| Entrepreneurship | Variable | Active support + Antler partnership |
| Open source | Rare | European AI initiatives |
vs Online AI Communities
Online communities are great for learning, discussions, and networking. Since AI adds hands-on building with real companies, in-person events, production deployment support, and a path to entrepreneurship. We complement online learning with real-world impact.
vs Academic AI Groups
Academic groups focus on research and publications. Since AI complements them by providing the commercialization and production path. We don't replace academic groups — we provide the bridge from research to market through our research-to-market program.
Timeline
Location & Operations
Headquarters: Turku, Finland
Legal Entity: Since AI ry
Business ID: 3593920-2
Founded: 2025
Scope: Europe + Global
While our operations are based in Turku, our community is global. We have members across Finland and international participants from 10+ countries who join our events or travel to Turku for hackathons.
Why Turku, Finland?
Turku is Finland's oldest city and a growing tech hub with two major universities — the University of Turku and Turku University of Applied Sciences — producing strong engineering and AI research talent. The city's compact size makes it easy for the community to meet regularly, while its proximity to Helsinki (under 2 hours) and Stockholm connects us to the broader Nordic tech ecosystem.
Finland consistently ranks among the world's most innovative countries, with strong public investment in AI education and research. Since AI brings this national momentum to the local level, giving Turku-area builders and companies a high-signal community to accelerate their AI work.
Support & Partners
Since AI is supported by leading organizations including:
- • University of Turku
- • Turku University of Applied Sciences
- • City of Turku
- • Business Turku
- • Aalto AI
- • AI Mad Lab
Our partner companies include Valmet, Sandvik, Kongsberg, ElevenLabs, Featherless.ai, Skillio, Antler, Apelago, and Eisko. Learn about partnership opportunities.
Get Involved
Developers & Researchers: Join our Discord community to participate in hackathons, connect with peers, and access job opportunities.
Companies: Partner with us for end-to-end innovation support from challenge ideation to production deployment.
Researchers: Explore our research-to-market program to commercialize your AI innovations.
Questions? Check our FAQ or contact our team. View our impact statistics.
Stay Updated
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Last updated: February 2026