Demola Global · Co-creation operator

The operating layer for industry, universities, and startups working together.

We run the co-creation that turns four kinds of organisations — companies, universities, startups, and the public sector — into one working network. Anchored in Finland, operating internationally.

Companies

Universities

Startups

Public Sector

DemolaOperating layer

RAIDE · National AI ecosystem

RAIDE is live. Finland's national AI ecosystem for turning AI into products and services.

Anchored by Wärtsilä, Danfoss, Kempower, and Business Finland. Co-created with universities and startups.

Visit RAIDE website

Why we run it

Co-creation isn't a workshop format. It's an operation.

Most “open innovation” attempts stall in the same places: who runs the project, who owns the IPR, how do partners actually meet, where do insights live between rounds. We've spent eighteen years operating those parts so partners don't have to.

Senior craft

Professional facilitation

Most people treat facilitation as junior work: note-taking, agenda-running, room-booking. We treat it as a senior craft built on long experience. The visible part is running the project well. The harder part, and where the most value gets created, is interpreting what comes out: spotting the IPR worth pursuing, reading which findings will accelerate further R&D and commercialisation, knowing which co-creation results matter and why. That judgement is built across thousands of projects, not borrowed from a framework.

Win-win, in practice

IPR & contract management

“Win-win” is an overused phrase in collaboration. We operate the machinery that makes it actually win-win: modular IPR management that drops into new partnerships in days rather than months, even in complex multi-stakeholder collaboration setups. Fair trade, by design. Every party’s interests sit in the framework from the start, and partners adopt it instead of negotiating it from scratch every time.

Network intelligence

Cumulative knowledge & dealflow

Across thousands of projects worldwide, we’ve built data and digital platforms (Iris and Demola Dealflow) that turn operating history into compounding insight. Cumulative IPR and findings get reused to accelerate new development. Cross-programme intelligence curates the right discussions between the right people at the right time. Idea combinations surface that no single partner could see, because the same operator sits across companies, universities, and startups. This is the operational superpower that makes every programme stronger than the last.

Four operation layers

Our Core Operation Layers

Each programme serves a different commissioning client and a different network of partners. The operating model is the same. The compounding between them — the cross-programme pathways shown below — is what makes Demola more than the sum of its programmes.

Four independent layers, one operating system

01Layer

National AI ecosystem · Finland

RAIDE — Radical AI Deployment Ecosystem

Launching 26 May 2026 · with Business Finland

Our flagship operating layer and a national platform in Finland. Launched with Business Finland and industry partner network.

Turning what AI makes possible into new products, services, and customer value — through cross-industry collaboration. Co-created with universities and startups.

Who this is for

CorporationsUniversity CommunityStartups

Visit RAIDE website

02Layer

Regional Finland programme

Partner Cities Programme

Active in 4 cities · with regional development agencies

Multi-city co-creation across Oulu, Jyväskylä, Vantaa, and Riihimäki. Connecting talent, regional companies and startups and operated together with cities and regional economic development agencies.

Who this is for

CitiesPublic OrganisationsCorporationsUniversity CommunityStartups

03Layer

National ecosystem · in inception phase

Czechia

In operation · ecosystem inception phase

A national co-creation ecosystem for the Czech Republic, building on key lessons learned in Finland and around the world.

Demola innovation projects are already running, with talents and professors from most of the key universities in Czechia. Active collaboration with TACR and CzechInvest, alongside a growing corporate network.

Who this is for

CorporationsUniversity CommunityStartups

04Layer

Partner programmes

International Partner Programmes

Glasgow · Budapest · Bragança · Windhoek · Delhi · Tokyo

Our partner programmes with universities, ecosystem operators, and cities internationally — building new innovation culture and accelerating creative renewal.

Who this is for

University CommunityCitiesPublic OrganisationsStartups

With whom we work

Who Do the Operating Layers Connect?

Industry leaders, universities, startups, and public organisations are each strong on their own. The value compounds when they work as network — when a thesis student at a university actually shapes a corporate roadmap, when a regional startup wins a national pre-pilot, when a public-sector challenge becomes the brief a top new venture team picks up.

That doesn't happen by accident. Demola operates the layer that makes it routine.

Companies

What they bring

Real challenges, R&D investment, talent demand, market access.

What they get

Cross-industry use cases, fresh perspectives, validated startup partners, next-generation talent visibility.

University Community

What they bring

Research depth, faculty expertise, multidisciplinary student talent, long horizons.

What they get

Industry-relevant project topics, joint R&D consortia, employability outcomes, applied research data.

Startups

What they bring

Specialist solutions, founder velocity, willingness to experiment, fresh technical approaches.

What they get

Validated enterprise needs, structured pre-pilot pathways, decision-maker access, scaling partners.

Government & public sector

What they bring

Strategic priorities, public funding, regulatory perspective, civic challenges.

What they get

Innovation activity in their region, talent retention, evidence for policy, ecosystem renewal.

Where we operate

Deep international operations.

Demola Global is headquartered in Finland, where our centre of gravity sits. Connected to our operations in Finland, we run a network of ecosystems and partner programmes designed to compound.

Finland

RAIDE national ecosystem and 4-city Partner Cities Programme. Headquarters.

Czechia

National ecosystem in inception phase. Demola innovation projects already running with TACR and CzechInvest.

Glasgow

University of the West of Scotland — partner-university programme.

Budapest

Óbuda University — partner-university programme.

Bragança

Polytechnic University of Bragança — partner-university programme.

Windhoek

Namibia University of Science and Technology — partner-university programme.

Delhi

IIT Delhi (design school) — partner-university programme.

Tokyo

Tokyo Metropolitan Government — partner programme.

Why we run it

What rewiring the ecosystem actually delivers.

Operating co-creation continuously — across companies, universities, startups, and the public sector — isn't an end in itself. It's how four outcomes we believe in stop being slogans and start showing up in practice.

Pathways that make this real

Examples of Cross-Layer Interactions

01Shared challenge → mobilised network

The signal

Corporate + public-sector partner spot a shared opportunity to build data-driven services.

The layer

Demola operates the layer — framing the brief, IPR, contracts, project rhythm.

The outcome

University and startup teams mobilise to deliver against the brief.

02Cross-border insight → reframed strategy

The signal

A RAIDE corporate partner opens a growth-strategy question with us.

The layer

A relevant insight surfaces from our IIT Delhi programme.

The outcome

The insight becomes eye-opening input for the partner's growth-strategy work.

03Startup signal → committed partners

The signal

A startup from the Czech ecosystem enters with a specialist solution.

The layer

They join a Deep Dive day in Helsinki — structured exposure to Finnish anchors.

The outcome

They leave with committed enterprise partners, with no cold-pitch tax.

When this scales

When intellectual interactions like these are scaled across the ecosystem and continued over time, they stop being one-off wins. They compound into the four kinds of tangible value below — the outcomes Demola exists to deliver.

Accelerating creative renewal of companies and the economy.

Renewal becomes a continuous practice — multidisciplinary teams, cross-industry use cases, and structured experimentation embedded in corporate decision-making.

Cultivating the next talent generation, with universities.

Industry-relevant briefs and applied research embedded in coursework. Students leave with proven skills; universities gain durable industry pathways.

Working with startups to contextualise and connect.

Validated need, structured pre-pilot, decision-maker access. Specialist startups land inside real enterprise problems — without the usual cold-pitch tax.

Breaking silos and unleashing the power of collaboration.

The biggest opportunities sit between organisations. Our operating model makes multi-stakeholder work routine, so the things one organisation can’t do get done.

Our ecosystem partners

TACR

IIT Delhi

UWS Glasgow

Óbuda University

IP Bragança

NUST Namibia

Tokyo Metro Gov

+ many more

Who runs this

Operated by the team that founded it.

Demola was initially established in 2008 as a Nokia-driven initiative in Finland. In 2011, Demola Global was initiated as an international innovation catalyst working at the intersection of leading companies, universities, and startups.

Our core team has built deep global experience in innovation, startup, and ecosystem development across more than 40 countries.

In 2024, we made a strategic decision to focus on a smaller number of ecosystems — to build a stronger next-generation collaboration platform that drives economic and creative renewal of Finland, Europe, and our partner regions. Finland as our home base is the first implementation of this, with RAIDE and the Partner Cities Programme.

7,000+

Co-creation projects operated since 2008

40+

Countries we've run programmes in

18 years of operating co-creation. The team that founded Demola is still running it.