Real connections, real results: What happens when people meet at Hub Panostamo
Hub Panostamo is a place not just for coworking. It’s where paths cross, where startups meet mentors, SMEs find advisors, and quick chats over coffee sometimes turn into real collaborations.
That last part is exactly what happened to Patrick Halford.
Patrick is co-founder of Fjord Qudra Ltd., a British-Nordic advisory firm that helps leadership teams and boards understand how AI will impact their business, beyond just using tools like ChatGPT. They run workshops that explore strategy, future-of-work scenarios, and where to focus investment as capabilities evolve. These sessions help companies identify new capacity, align on priorities, and make smarter decisions about how to move forward in a rapidly changing environment.
Patrick splits his time between Kuopio and London, with projects taking him as far as the UAE, Brazil and the US. He’s spent decades helping companies understand how to lead with technology. He’s led large international R&D projects, worked with AI long before it hit the mainstream, and served as a trusted advisor to boards and executive teams across Europe.
It says something that someone with Patrick’s background chooses to be part of this community.
“It’s welcoming, it’s well located, and all kinds of people come through. You’ve got startups, universities, and businesses all in one place. That creates new things,” Patrick says.
Bringing startups, SMEs, and universities together
Patrick sees a unique advantage in the Kuopio region: the natural closeness between startups, small businesses, and academic institutions. In his view, this creates fertile ground for fast collaboration.
“In a small company, when something works, everyone sees it. That makes it easier to spread innovation across the whole organisation. That’s harder in big corporates.”
Through Hub Panostamo, these different players actually meet. It’s a setup that encourages experimentation, speeds up learning, and breaks down silos.
From coffee to collaboration
“I came to one of your events and happened to meet Maarit Sinikangas. That one conversation turned into a real collaboration. Now we’re working together to run activities with healthcare, water, and hopefully energy organisations across different parts of Finland” Patrick says.
It wasn’t planned. Just a good talk with the right person at the right time. That kind of thing happens often at the Hub.
Mentoring that moves things forward
Patrick is also an active mentor in Hub Panostamo’s Kipinä program. He is mentoring one of the program’s participating founders, whose team operates internationally across multiple countries. Their session focused on strategy and practical scale.
“I told him to stop chasing small customers one by one. Go for supercustomers instead. One great partnership can do the work of a hundred sales calls.”
At Hub Panostamo, mentorship is close by. So are other founders who’ve been through similar challenges. You never know what a conversation might unlock.
Join us for Afternoon Coffee with Patrick Halford on the 11th of September at 2 PM!
Building a startup and looking for support? Learn more and apply to the Hub Panostamo Kipinä program.