Connecting the dots: SHAPE & M.INC
How can collaborative research, emerging technologies and business development reinforce one another?
Mirka is involved in innovation on several fronts. Alongside SHAPE, Mirka leads M.INC, Mirka’s incubator for validating promising ideas, piloting emerging technologies and developing new business opportunities together with startups, partners and customers.
SHAPE and M.INC have different roles in the innovation journey. However, connecting them more systematically could create new opportunities for companies, researchers, startups and the wider manufacturing ecosystem.
Two roles in the innovation journey
SHAPE creates a space for collaborative research and innovation around circularity, remanufacturing, digitalisation, material innovation and intelligent value chains. Universities, Mirka and other companies, alongside other ecosystem partners come together around shared challenges that are often too broad, complex or early-stage for one organisation to address alone. Through co-innovation, knowledge sharing and practical collaboration, SHAPE helps explore solutions that can support manufacturing’s green and digital transition.
M.INC approaches innovation from another direction. It connects promising ideas and technologies with business opportunities — for example by validating an opportunity, piloting a solution with Mirka as a customer, or developing something new through joint collaboration. This is where the connection between SHAPE and M.INC becomes particularly interesting.
A bridge in both directions
When a startup or innovation project enters M.INC, Mirka is not the only relevant resource available. Through SHAPE, the project can potentially gain access to a broader network of industrial companies, researchers and other organisations.
This network could provide:
specialist expertise and new perspectives;
potential pilot environments and use cases;
connections to industrial partners and future customers; and
insights into shared challenges across manufacturing.
The value can work in both directions. Startups and emerging technology companies gain exposure to a broader industrial network, while SHAPE members gain access to new technologies, ideas and potential solutions.
The same applies to innovations emerging from SHAPE projects. When promising research results or technologies are ready to move closer to the market, M.INC could provide one possible pathway for further development. It could help validate the business opportunity, connect solutions with industrial needs and, in some cases, support pilots or joint development.
Creating clearer connection points
Today, SHAPE and M.INC are two strong initiatives with complementary roles. The next opportunity is to create more connection points between them.This could include a clearer pathway for promising ideas emerging from SHAPE projects to move towards business validation. It could also create more opportunities for companies and startups to benefit from the knowledge, expertise and network within the SHAPE ecosystem.
The model is not fully defined yet — and that is precisely why we want you to join the conversation!
If you are part of SHAPE, work closely with the ecosystem, or have experience of connecting collaborative research with commercialisation, we would like to hear your ideas. A good opportunity to continue the conversation is the SHAPE Event on 5 November 2026 at Epicenter in Helsinki.
You can also reach out through the M.INC contact page, or contact Henna Keränen or Viktor Sundholm directly.