Grant Academy
Over 20 years of grant experience and €2.5M in funding awarded. Meet the team and learn why we built Grant Academy.
Why I founded Grant Academy
I started playing the piano at the age of six and later studied music and mathematics side by side. My path led me to work as an artist, a music pedagogue, a festival director and an entrepreneur in the creative field. All of it had one thing in common. Nothing happened without funding, and funding had to be applied for skilfully.
“A grant is not a lottery win. It is a process you can win.”
I applied for grants for myself and for others for years. During the first fifteen years I did reasonably well and received some tens of thousands of euros. The breakthrough came when I learned to look at my applications through the funder's eyes. Since then I have secured more than two million euros for myself and for the communities I represented, in about six years.
That is when I understood that success lies in the method. Grant Academy was born out of that insight. When the process is done right, your chances multiply. Our clients have been awarded 842,000 € in just ten months, because they could use a method that already worked.
Today we help artists, researchers and organisations both with our tool and in person.
The people behind the work
CEO · coaching and training
Teemu has worked as an artist, festival director and music pedagogue since 2003, and as a creative-sector entrepreneur since 2019. He knows the everyday life of artists and researchers from the inside. At the Academy he coaches applicants, teaches and develops services that turn grant writing into a learnable skill. He is especially interested in the moment when a good idea is translated into the funder's language.
Founding engineer · technical design and build
Reko has worked as a software developer since 2019, building production systems in health, energy and marketing. In recent years he has specialised in AI agents and their reliable use. Off duty he plays keyboards in the post-rock band Ghosts on TV and sings in Seim Ensemble. He has also seen the grant process from the applicant's side as secretary of the Academic Choral Society (YL).
We also work with several freelancers who help clients on a project basis.
Apuraha Akatemia Oy, Aallontie 3, 50670 Otava, Suomi · info@apuraha-akatemia.fi