Horizons by VES
Horizon (VES) in a nutshell
Horizon is a year-round excursion program that sends small, high-responsibility teams (5–6 people) to top European and potentially global startup ecosystems. Unlike “ready-made” student trips, each team must earn access themselves by booking meetings, building the agenda, and running the trip, which makes the learning real.
Each excursion follows the same structure:
Bootcamp (pitch + networking + planning)
Immersion trip (5–7 days of company visits, investor meetings, events, daily debriefs)
Homecoming (workshop/presentation in Vaasa to share learnings with the wider community)
The program exists because Vaasa has world-class technical talent, but cultural barriers (fear of failure, passive networking, modesty) slow down entrepreneurial action. Horizon tackles this by immersing participants in faster, more ambitious environments and turning “global thinking” into “global doing.”
Who it’s for: Vaasa higher-education students (and entrepreneurial people in the region).
Community benefit: the value doesn’t stay with the travelers, it’s transferred back through public workshops and content.