How HoloHouse Connects Students with Real-World Opportunities Through Podio Software

Turning Theory into Opportunity Without Losing the Details

HoloHouse exists to help students turn theory into practice. The Swedish nonprofit connects university students with companies, municipalities and other organizations through real assignments, including sustainability projects that can strengthen students’ prospects after graduation.

But coordinating those opportunities comes with challenges. HoloHouse works with about 400 university students, each with a different program, university, expected graduation date, interests and application history. Before the organization adopted Progress® Podio® software, applications were submitted by email and tracked manually in Excel spreadsheets. Keeping students, projects and external relationships aligned became difficult and unsustainable.

The challenge also extended beyond current applications. After nearly 30 years of activity, HoloHouse needed to preserve a long history of relationships with companies and partners. A contact might be new to the current team but already connected to former colleagues a decade earlier. Without an accessible record, that context could easily disappear.

Building a Connected Environment Around the Work

HoloHouse built a connected operating environment with the Podio work management platform, bringing student profiles, project applications, companies, contacts and project records together. This gives the team a clearer picture of how students, opportunities and external partners connect.

Students submit information through forms, including their university, languages, CV and personal letter. Each student profile connects to individual application records, allowing students to pursue multiple opportunities while HoloHouse maintains an organized history of their interests and applications. Companies can also express interest in working with students, while staff add project and partner details as needed.

Project records capture the assignment type, company contact, internal owner and applicants. The environment also supports student and company evaluations, project certificates and exports for reporting to universities and regional stakeholders. Internal comments and historical records give the team context before reaching out to a partner.

HoloHouse also shares application-form links through its WordPress website, allowing students to submit information directly into its Podio environment.

More Context for Every Student, Project and Partnership

Today, HoloHouse has a clearer, more connected way to coordinate work involving about 400 university students and many external stakeholders. Instead of relying on scattered email threads and spreadsheets, the team can follow a student from profile to application, connect that activity to a project and company and retain the history surrounding each relationship.

The difference is practical in everyday work. Staff can see whether evaluations have been completed and which students are still waiting for certificates. Forms reduce work that would otherwise involve sending requests to students individually. Exports make it easier to prepare statistics for universities and regional stakeholders. 

The shared history also helps HoloHouse approach relationships with more context. A team member can see previous contacts with a company, including interactions from roughly 10 years earlier, before starting a new conversation.