The City of Riihimäki supports employment and entrepreneurship of foreigners with a new program

A new pilot program, Talent Acceleration Program Riihimäki or TAP:Riksu, was launched in Riihimäki in September 2025. Its goal is to strengthen the employment and entrepreneurship capabilities of foreigners. The pilot program will last nine months and is divided into the autumn and spring seasons. The city of Riihimäki is currently looking for new participants in the program as well as companies that have development ideas and challenges to offer to the program. The spring season starts in January and ends in April.

– In the autumn, a group of companies and start-ups joined us, offering development challenges to the participants. The participants have been able to solve real business challenges, utilize their own expertise and at the same time develop their capabilities in Finnish working life and entrepreneurship, says Juha Hiltunen, Integration Manager of the City of Riihimäki.

The pilot program is implemented by the start-up company Cogknit Oy. Its founders and the leaders of the pilot program are Nepalese immigrants themselves, who have personal experience of integrating into the Finnish labor market. The international services of the City of Riihimäki support the project by guiding foreign-language clients and local companies to participate in the activities. The City of Riihimäki also provides facilities for the program's coaching meetings, which are organized on site in Riihimäki.

Come and get to know the TAP:Riksu program and its creators

The City of Riihimäki and Cogknit Oy will organize the closing event of the autumn season, the TAP:Riksu Demo Day, at Punainen talo in Riihimäki on Thursday, the 11th of December from 16 to 19 p.m. At the event, participants in the program will present the business ideas and start-up concepts they have developed, as well as the solutions they have produced to the challenges of local companies. The event will also explain how the program will continue in early 2026 and how new participants can join the spring season activities.

– We especially welcome local companies and start-ups that want to develop their operations together with a diverse international network of experts to the Demo Day event, says Integration Manager Hiltunen.

The Demo Day event offers the opportunity to network with both foreign experts and companies that value internationality. Coffee and pizza will be served at the event.