Terkko Health Hub is a community and co-working space that houses many health and life sciences startups. We believe in building a strong startup community to help drive Healthtech innovations. Here is a story about the meeting of three passionate individuals through the Terkko community, which resulted in founding a startup- HammTek Oy.
Javad Maleki, the current CEO and Sanaz Naderi, CQO of HammTek Oy, are from Iran. Soon after graduating from his master’s with a specialisation in bioelectronics, Javad realised his passion for running a business. This motivated him to start his first company, Phonolyzer, together with Sanaz in their home country of Iran. Their startup focused on detecting early-stage congenital heart diseases for general practitioners and paediatricians. They felt the need to grow their business not just in Iran but also in Europe and decided to come to Finland.
“I work in the field of medical devices, so I chose Finland. It’s not related to chance. It’s kind of a smart choice for expanding my business,” says Javad when asked about his decision to move to Finland.
They applied for a startup permit from Business Finland and moved to Helsinki in 2021. Finnish Startup Permit from Business Finland, which is issued for a maximum of two years, is for international growth entrepreneurs outside the EU looking to build a startup in Finland.
“The entire application process was easy. Before I came to Finland, I was worried about what people would be like and whether it would be difficult to make connections. But when I was here, I never felt like a foreign person. It was easy to form new connections here, and it was easy also because everyone here spoke English,” Javad recalls when asked about his early days after moving to Finland.
Unfortunately, their first company failed in Finland due to unpredictable markets. But this didn’t stop Javad and Sanaz from innovating and thinking about their next business innovation.
Around the same time, they crossed paths with their future teammate, Dina Nystorm, the current CSO of HammTek Oy. Dina, originally from Egypt, studied dentistry there for four years. Despite her dentistry studies, running a business had always been her passion. Hence, once in Finland, Dina herself started working towards building a company related to cosmetics. While looking for an office for her new company, she heard about Terkko Health Hub.
Sanaz Naderi (left), Javad Maleki (middle) and Dina Nyström (right).
While working at Terkko, she met Javad and Sanaz, who were already Terkko Health Hub members. “When I was working on my own company, I saw Javad and Sanaz here in Terkko many times. But we didn’t talk. And sometimes, it was just like, hi or hey. But I am glad we got in touch later,” says Dina when asked about her meeting with future teammates.
While talking with Dina, who at the time had decided to continue with her dentistry training in Finland, Javad learned about the many dental health complications, and that’s when an idea was born.
Founded in 2022, HammTek Oy then set out to build a device to analyse the pictures from the user scans of their teeth and provide accurate and detailed diagnoses using AI. Soon after, Javad reached out to Dina, a dentist who luckily happened to be part of the Terkko community, to ask if she would be interested in joining his new startup, HammTek Oy. Dina immediately said yes.
The HammTek Device.
While designing the device and building the product, The HammTek team participated in many entrepreneurship-related events hosted by Terkko Health Hub, including the Terkko Health X program, now rebranded as HealthX. HealthX was an ambitious six-week pre-incubator for health tech and life science teams to take their concepts into the market.
“It was a wonderful experience and a good practice for me to start networking with people. At that time, we were in the early stage of startup. The program helped me to make a pitch deck and covered different topics and materials about running a startup and business. Workshop about making a pitch deck was my favourite,” says Javad when asked about his HealthX experience.
Javad and Sanaz attending one of the HealthX workshops in 2022.
At Terkko Health Hub, we support the growth of startups by arranging various workshops, community events, mentoring and networking opportunities. Our Community Get-Togethers aim to create relaxed occasions where our members can get to know one another, broaden their networks, or learn about new opportunities. Terkko Workshops are hosted by experts on various topics related to entrepreneurship and growing the business. CxO Meetups bring together our member companies’ C-level executives and allow them to share experiences and learn from their peers in a supporting environment.
Since its inception in 2021, HammTek Oy has been steadily growing. They received Tempo funding in 2022 from Business Finland. In 2023, they launched their HammTek application and perfected their 3D device model. The HammTek team also conducted their first clinical trial in Terkko Health Hub to add to their success.
Meanwhile, Javad, Sanaz, and Dina continue to be active members of the Terkko community and continue learning about many aspects of running a successful business by attending many Terkko in-house workshops, participating in conferences, actively networking, and, of course, working hard!
Text by: Usha Mohanraj
Banner illustration: Usha Mohanraj
Photos: HammTek Oy
USEFUL LINKS
- Read more about the HammTek device at https://terkko.fi/hammteks-quest-towards-building-a-unique-smart-dental-device/
- Read more about Terkko Health Hub at https://terkko.fi/the-biggest-health-and-life-science-startup-hub-in-the-nordics-is-in-meilahti/
- Programmes and events at Terkko Health Hub – https://terkko.fi/programmes-events/
- Terkko Health Hub’s membership options – https://terkko.fi/membership/