Thursday was an exciting day for the participants of MAW Helsinki. After spending some time in the morning putting the final touches on their presentations, the companies were ready for “Demo Day” to begin. All 16 companies were given the chance to make a 5-10 minute presentation in front of a panel of judges and members of the Finnish press. Some companies demoed their apps they had developed this week, while others presented on their company and future app development. And, after much deliberation, the judges announced a winner and a runner-up.

Congratulations to Entetrainer, winner of MAW Helsinki!

Entetrainer-- Winners of MAW Helsinki

Hear what they have to say about their MAW experience:

A special congratulations also goes to Star Arcade who was the runner-up.

Star Arcade presenting

Find out more about the company and their MAW impressions:

After the awards ceremony which included an XBOX Kinect for the winning team and Nokia headsets for the runner-up, the companies went out for a final dinner and had a chance to unwind and reflect on the week. Friday was the closing event and final goodbyes. We discussed next steps for the companies and ongoing opportunities and benefits offered through MAW and the Bizspark program.

Overall, MAW Helsinki was a great success! With 16 companies, it was the largest event to date and held in one of the best, most creative venues we have seen. As our first event in the Nordics, Mobile Acceleration Week reinforced Microsoft’s commitment to helping Symbian developers build for Windows Phone. Nokia supported throughout the week by presenting on the new developer ecosystem, providing Lumia 800 Windows Phones, and participating in the final judging panel.

On a personal note, I was extremely impressed with the amount of innovation going on in the developer community in Finland.  Not only is there a strong pool of technical and business talent, but also the right ecosystem in place with the Aalto Venture Garage, Startup Sauna meet ups, and a tight, collaborative entrepreneurial community.  Rovio may have put the mobile startup community here on the map, but Angry Birds will certainly not be the last success we’ll see out of Finland.  Thanks to Microsoft’s Finland team, Nokia, Aalto Venture Garage, and of course our startups for making the week a big success!

Stay tuned to Twitter and the MAW website for more information on the upcoming events.