Vietnamese trailblazer powers startups from top Finland innovation hub

Tran Chi Tai, 28, is a coordinator at the Aalto Startup Center at Aalto University, which has worked with startups worth a combined 600 million euros (US$675 million).

The center describes itself as "a sustainability-driven hybrid accelerator offering its own incubator and accelerator services, as well as several partnership programs. Our focus is on research-based and innovative deep-tech startups with a sustainable impact."

Tai has appeared at nearly all events supporting Finland's startup ecosystem as a speaker.

His main role is to provide information and build connections between startups, universities and other stakeholders.

The innovation program at his workplace was ranked among the top three in the world in 2022 by UBI Global, an organization that evaluates university-affiliated business incubators.

Tran Chi Tai (6th, L) with investors at the Balkan economic cooperation forum, December 2024. Photo courtesy of Tai

Studying abroad or working in startups were not part of Tai's original plan.

After he graduated from high school in HCMC in 2015, his family encouraged him to continue studying in Vietnam.

However, just two weeks into a program at a city university, he deferred enrollment as he wanted more hands-on learning and a clearer direction for his future career path.

He spent a year working and seeking study-abroad opportunities.

"I like studying, but I learn better through practice than theory," he explains.

He took a part-time job at an international fashion retailer, and it was then that he diligently improved his sales skills and English.

He enjoyed the job because it allowed him to understand each customer's needs through conversation. He also gained practical insights into store operations, sales support and customer relationship management.

At the same time he was finding out about scholarships and overseas study programs online and through friends and getting needed application materials ready.

He then applied for all available opportunities since he could not afford to fund his education.

In 2016 he was accepted to two schools and chose Lahti University of Applied Sciences in Finland.

He was among the last international students to be eligible for tuition waivers and housing, public transport and meal subsidies before the city's policies changed.

He enrolled in international business, one of only two programs taught in English at the university.

"I basically had no other choice," he recalls.

Tai still remembers clearly his arrival in Lahti in early 2017.

It was a snowy night with the temperature at minus 20 degrees Celsius. The streets were deserted. His home was a forest cabin provided by the university, where he saw more deer and squirrels than people.

The shock of the harsh weather and lifestyle, a complete contrast with HCMC, was "overwhelming."

"I don't remember how many times I called my mom saying it was too cold and I wanted to return home," he says.

"But I had to keep going since, eventually, it was a choice I had made."

A few months later, he moved to Finland's capital, Helsinki to enjoy a more vibrant life, even if it meant a three-hour daily commute by train.

He says the best part of studying at the university was the hands-on experience, which allowed students to join competitions, academic projects or cultural exchanges at real companies.

While most of his peers went to other European countries on exchange programs, Tai chose to compete in a business idea contest held by Samsung in South Korea in 2019, and won first prize.

That same year, he led the marketing for a student startup job fair. It was then that he first learned what "startup" really meant, though he had studied economics for over a year.

Tran Chi Tai in Finland. Photo courtesy of Tai

In addition to managing communications, he helped students access startup support resources and connected them with entrepreneurs for mentorship. This sparked his interest in supporting startups as a career.

Tai noticed that many Finnish startup support programs were not accessible to foreigners.

Therefore, during his internship, he started his own business to explore the challenges foreigners face and made policy recommendations for improving startup support in Finland.

He described that six-month period as a whirlwind of navigating Finnish-language guides, legal documents and data. He went through every step: registering a company, getting a tax ID, designing a website, and managing e-commerce operations.

"I did it to learn everything I wanted to know and realized how difficult it is for foreigners to start a business here," he says.

After graduation, he worked in marketing for several organizations before returning to startup support.

In 2023 he became the global operations lead for Junction, a Finnish tech innovation organization that runs Europe's largest hackathon, an event where people engage in rapid and collaborative engineering over a short period of time such as 24 or 48 hours.

From just four domestic branches, he helped expand Junction hackathons to over 10 international locations, attracting more than 20,000 participants.

His efforts earned him a nomination for Forbes Europe's 30 Under 30 in the Social Impact category.

Tran Chi Tai introduces Junction hackathon event at the Embassy of Finland in Hanoi in 2023. Photo courtesy of Tai

These days, in addition to co-founding and advising a Balkan-European economic cooperation forum, his main role is as a coordinator at Aalto Startup Center, which he began in early 2024.

He is the first person to hold this position.

"The best part is having the creative freedom to shape the role, though sometimes I did feel a bit lost," he reflects.

Le Van Anh, a talent manager at Business Finland, describes Tai as "a confident, dynamic and meticulous colleague."

"He is very proactive, quick to grasp problems and creates a fun, collaborative atmosphere.

"Whenever there is a program involving the startup ecosystems of Finland and Vietnam, Tai is the first person I think of."

Tai is fluent in English and Finnish and has dual Vietnamese-Finnish citizenship.

Looking back he says much of his inspiration came from his mother, who opened her own restaurant after decades in the service industry.

He hopes to one day contribute to the development of Vietnam's startup ecosystem.