Reflections on building – Teemu Lemetti, Untuvia
In this blog post, Startup Foundation grantee and founder Teemu Lemetti shares his experiences on his first year as a full-time entrepreneur. The text was originally written in October of 2024.
It’s been a year since I took the leap into full-time entrepreneurship, I didn’t think of it like that at the time, but it's true. Entrepreneurship has been a journey marked by personal growth, particularly in learning to commit. I often assessed my progress through objective metrics, but this time looking back, a deeper theme emerged: the courage to fully commit.
Teemu recovering from a knee injury in Lofoten, Norway. One month before the decision to wind down his previous venture, Matchmade.
The First Steps
Starting out, I faced a challenging year, recovering from knee surgery and running down Matchmade. Though I quickly found consulting opportunities, they left me unfulfilled and stagnant. To break through, I asked myself: What would I regret not having done? The answer: committing fully. Around the same time, a friend suggested we start something based on his thinking of how future startup ecosystems should be structured, which helped turn my thoughts into action.
During this period, I contributed to the project with my friend and explored other startup ideas aligned with my experience. In the end none felt quite right and I decided to join Antler’s Founder in Residence program, reassured by its three-month timeline that allowed me to test the waters without long-term pressure.
“I applied for a Startup Foundation grant with clear goals in mind: to find a co-founding team/co-founder, design and validate a potential VC-ready idea, and secure initial funding. ”
Untuvia’s two co-founders. From left, Heikki and Teemu. Photo credits: Lotta Lemetti
The Grant and a Clearer Path Forward
About seven months ago, during the Founder in Resicency, I applied for a Startup Foundation grant with clear goals in mind: to find a co-founding team/co-founder, design and validate a potential VC-ready idea, and secure initial funding.
At first, I considered ideas related to community building, urban mobility, and climate action. Mostly not leading anywhere. Then suddenly on the third or fourth week of the programme, a conversation with my future co-founder Heikki sparked the idea of exploring recycling materials streams - specifically down feathers and/or other natural materials. While this direction immediately resonated, I took a week to weigh it against other options.
In the end, the decision was less about finding the “perfect idea” and more about committing with intent. The decision was made easier again, by mutually agreeing upon a time-boxed commitment with the co-founding team. Ultimately, we moved past the set deadline without ever considering ending the project. With our minds set on validating a problem in this space, we began exploring technologies to address it - eventually creating the startup I co-founded, Untuvia. We have set our aim to unlock natural materials recycling, first focusing on down feathers.
A slide from early an version of the Untuvia pitch.
First Three Months
Within three months, Untuvia achieved the goals set for the grant: building a co-founding team around a promising idea and securing Antler’s investment to officially launch Untuvia. Reflecting on this phase, I see how crucial it is to validate both the team and the idea together. It is important to generate momentum around the idea, but also equally important to make sure the culture starts forming in a direction that is mutually agreed upon, and that the concrete action supports the vision. There should be plenty of time reserved in the early days of a startup on aligning the mutual vision, which will change on almost daily or weekly basis in the beginning.
While we succeeded in idea validation, our team struggled with alignment, and eventually reduced to two core members by the six-month mark.
Showcasing the Proof of Concept co-created with Joutsen at Performance Days 2024.
Looking Forward
Since receiving the Startup Foundation grant and Antler investment, Untuvia has successfully completed lab-scale pilots validating the selected technology, sourcing end-of-life down products, and working with Joutsen to create pillows made from 100% recycled down - while personally the grant has been really helpful in keeping personal finances not too deep in the red. At the start, we didn’t pay salaries, and even now we are below a living wage. Overall, I’m touched by the interest and support we’ve received from different parts of the ecosystem, and deeply grateful to our partners, especially Joutsen, for their commitment and belief in our mission. Finally, I want to extend a thank you to my family, especially my partner for being patient with my mental journey–and to my co-founder Heikki–with whom we’ll share many experiences in the future.
Today, Untuvia is ready for the next round of investment as we gear up for commercial piloting.
Reflecting on this year, I’m energized by the progress I’ve made. Though entrepreneurship once felt daunting, I’m now fully committed and excited about Untuvia’s future. Humbly, I believe we’re onto something big.
- Teemu Lemetti
