ISSUE 01
2017 SLUSH
Partially melted snow or ice: ‘the snow on the ground was turning into brown slush’
An energetic gathering of world-conquering founders:
‘Despite the crazy weather, I made it to Slush and met my future Co-founder.’ PHOTO BY KAI KUUSISTO KAI BY PHOTO
NOBODY IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD COME TO HELSINKI IN NOVEMBER
That’s where it all started. Slush grew from the and Shanghai join this movement with the same idea of cultural change: creating a grassroots mindset: for startup community by the community. movement to serve the next generation of founders Not all Slushes are alike though. And now I’m not and an environment that strongly supports talking about the weather. Each city and each entrepreneurship. We wanted to create something community adds its own local flavor to the global authentic and frantic. So Slush was born, amidst network. Be it the cherry blossoms of Japan or the the dark and slushy Nordics. rhythms of Jamaica, we always like to throw some Over the past seven years, Slush has grown spices into the mix of entrepreneurs and tech. from a 300-person gathering to become a global This magazine was created to fulfill the times of community organizing more than 40 events with anticipation as we are waiting for the next Slush +30,000 attendees all around the world from to fall. I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed Singapore to South Africa. It’s truly humbling writing it. to see the next generation in cities like Tokyo
Marianne CEO, Slush
— 4 — — 5 — TABLE OF CONTENTS PHOTO BY JUSSI RATILAINEN JUSSI BY PHOTO 08Slush Globally 2016 Startups32 & Investors The46 Next Track in Music
Hustling Near and Far Touring in Europe Behind the Energy of Slush The Founder Blossom in Japan WINDOW TO THE FUTURE. 12 34 48 — BBC
Hustling Near and Far The Most Humid14 Slush Season in Singapore Column:38 Niklas Zennström 50This is Talkoot
Hustling Near and Far The State of European Tech The Slush Flight Chasing16 Shanghai Knights 40 52
Hustling Near and Far Column: Ela Madej Partners Welcome18 to the North 42 54 22On stage at Slush Slush44 Global Impact Accelerator
— 6 — — 7 — SLUSH GLOBALLY
ICELAND NORWAY SWEDEN FINLAND IN 2016 DENMARK ENGLAND NETHERLANDS GERMANY USA SERBIA JAPAN TUNISIA LEBANON CHINA NEPAL PAKISTAN MEXICO BANGLADESH JAMAICA SENEGAL INDIA VIETNAM ETHIOPIA NIGERIA SRI LANKA KENYA TANZANIA SINGAPORE BRAZIL ZAMBIA MOZAMBIQUE
SOUTH AFRICA
— 8 — — 9 — PHOTO BY PETRI ANTTILA BY PHOTO IT’S MIND BLOWING, ABSOLUTELY MIND BLOWING. — Riccardo Zacconi, Founder & CEO of King
— 10 — — 11 — HUSTLING NEAR AND FAR THE FOUNDER BLOSSOM IN JAPAN TOKYO 2016 4,000 ATTENDEES 100 INVESTORS 360 STARTUPS 200 JOURNALISTS PHOTOS BY PETRI ANTTILA BY PHOTOS
Organized for the first time in 2015, over 3,000 entrepreneurs, investors, journalists, and youth from almost 40 countries came together in Tokyo. This marked a new chapter of sparking dialogues between startup communities across Asia and the world. Founding a startup is still a rare I FEEL THAT THE PEOPLE career choice in Japan, and Slush Tokyo wants to change that by building new role models, a community of support, and HERE WILL FURTHER maintaining a high level of ambition.
CHANGE SOCIETY WITH In 2017, Slush Tokyo will be grander than ever, as over 5,000 visitors along with 500 OLDIE BUT GOLDIE ENTREPRENEURSHIP. startups, 200 investors, media and tech This is where it all started talent from around the world are expected to – Slush Tokyo was the first DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU — Akie Abe, attend during March 29–30, 2017. global event of Slush. First lady of Japan
— 12 — — 13 — HUSTLING NEAR AND FAR IT HAS NEVER BEEN A BETTER THE MOST TIME TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR.
— Nikesh Arora, HUMID SLUSH Former President & COO at SoftBank Group Corp. SEASON IN SINGAPORE
In 2016, Slush made its debut in Southeast Asia as the first ever Slush Singapore was organized in September. In only 101 days 200 volunteers built an event that gathered over 2,000 attendees from Southeast Asia and beyond.
Today, Southeast Asia is attracting a huge amount of funding and top tech talent to its rapidly developing markets. Singapore is a perfect launchpad for connecting the Western tech scene and businesses with regional ones. The purpose of Slush Singapore is to encourage local founders, raise questions and show inspiring examples of SINGAPORE 2016 entrepreneurship. Slush wants to unite the next generation of game-changers and invite everyone 2,000 ATTENDEES in the local startup community to participate. 215 INVESTORS 150 STARTUPS 60 JOURNALISTS In 2017, Slush Singapore will grow and see exciting new verticals as the event returns on 19 September 2017 at Marina Bay Sands Expo, during the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology.
— 14 — — 15 — THIS IS THE PLACE WHERE THINGS HAPPEN. — Mengqiu Wang, Founder & CEO of Zero Zero Robotics
HUSTLING NEAR AND FAR
CHASING SHANGHAI 2016 5,000 ATTENDEES 360 INVESTORS SHANGHAI 270 STARTUPS KNIGHTS 120 JOURNALISTS
Slush Shanghai was another launch in 2016. It was the second Slush event in China as we packed our bags and moved from Beijing to a new city. The country offers an intriguing setting for PHOTOS BY PETRI ANTTILA BY PHOTOS the event as the startup scene in the country is thriving. Moreover, it’s the place that giants such as Alibaba, Tencent, and Weibo call home.
With over 5,000 attendees from 48 different countries, Slush Shanghai was the most international startup and technology event to date in China. This fall, the celebration of great minds reaches China again in October, heating the spirit up to its new potential.
— 16 — — 17 — PHOTO BY JUSSI HELLSTEN JUSSI BY PHOTO HUSTLING NEAR AND FAR WELCOME TO THE NORTH
Roughly nine years ago, Slush was born and raised in Helsinki by a group of entrepreneurs who realized that there was nothing that supported the local entrepreneurs in what they did. Slush started out as a 300-person IT’S CRAZY. event. The focus was on bringing the founders together and attracting venture capitalists to the region to help the next generation of world- IT’S BIG. conquering entrepreneurs succeed.
Today, Slush in Helsinki is a two-day startup and investor event organized IT’S AWESOME. every November, accompanied by hundreds of side events. Described by many as “Burning Man meets TED”, the event has grown in just a few — Daniel Ek, short years to 17,500 attendees, bringing together the leading actors of the Founder of Spotify global tech scene to Helsinki for something very special. This year, for the 10th time, Slush opens its doors to a Nordic tech wonderland.
HELSINKI 2016
PHOTO BY SAMULI PENTTI SAMULI BY PHOTO 17,500 ATTENDEES 1,140 INVESTORS 2,330 STARTUPS 610 JOURNALISTS PHOTO BY KAI KUUSISTO KAI BY PHOTO PHOTO BY JUSSI HELLSTEN JUSSI BY PHOTO HELLSTEN JUSSI BY PHOTO
— 18 — — 19 — PHOTO BY KAI KUUSISTO KAI BY PHOTO I’VE SPOKEN ON A LOT OF STAGES. BUT NONE OF THEM HAVE EVER BEEN ON FIRE. WHOA.
— Chris Sacca, Founder of Lowercase Capital
— 20 — — 21 — CHRIS SACCA AKIKO NAKA Founder & Chairman of Lowercase Capital
PHOTO BY JUSSI RATILAINEN JUSSI BY PHOTO Founder of Wantedly PHOTO BY SAMI HEISKANEN SAMI BY PHOTO PHOTO BY MERI BJORN BY PHOTO PHOTO BY SAMI HEISKANEN SAMI BY PHOTO
JIAN WANG Chairman of technology steering committee, Alibaba Group DANAE RINGELMANN Co-founder of Indiegogo PHOTO BY KAI KUUSISTO KAI BY PHOTO ON STAGE KUUSISTO KAI BY PHOTO AT SLUSH ILKKA PAANANEN DANIEL EK NIKLAS ZENNSTRÖM CEO & Co-Founder of Supercell Founder of Spotify Co-Founder of Skype & Atomico
ARIELLE ZUCKERBERG Partner at Kleiner Perkins
— 22 — — 23 — PHOTO BY JUSSI RATILAINEN JUSSI BY PHOTO PHOTO BY KAI KUUSISTO KAI BY PHOTO
CATERINA FAKE Co-founder of Flickr & Hunch STEVE JURVETSON Partner at DFJ PHOTO BY KAI KUUSISTO KAI BY PHOTO
DI-ANN EISNOR Director of Growth at Waze PHOTO BY SAMULI PENTTI SAMULI BY PHOTO UMA VALETI CEO & Co-founder of Memphis Meats
— 24 — — 25 — PHOTO BY KAI KUUSISTO KAI BY PHOTO PHOTO BY SAMI VÄLIKANGAS SAMI BY PHOTO
SANGU DELLE Founder & CEO of Golden Palm Investments
SEBASTIAN SIEMIATKOWSKI Co-founder of Klarna PHOTO BY MAIJA ASTIKAINEN MAIJA BY PHOTO PHOTO BY SAMI HEISKANEN SAMI BY PHOTO
JULIET DE BAUBIGNY Partner at Kleiner Perkins MOOD ROWGHANI General Partner at Kleiner Perkins
NAVEEN JAIN VÄLIKANGAS SAMI BY PHOTO
PHOTO BY SAMI VÄLIKANGAS SAMI BY PHOTO Founder of Moon Express
BEEZER CLARKSON Managing Director at Sapphire Ventures
— 26 — — 27 — PHOTO BY PETRI ANTTILA BY PHOTO MIX OF FANTASTIC NETWORKING, SPEAKERS AND STARTUPS. — TechCrunch
— 28 — — 29 — TAKING COMPANIES OJALA JOONAS BY PHOTO TO THE NEXT LEVEL
Slush is built for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs. The event is designed for industries and growing companies at all stages. Whether you are looking for investors, customers, media exposure or mentoring, Slush offers a unique opportunity to reach a global audience and engage with the tech community.
INSTEAD OF TRAVELLING AROUND EUROPE AND THE U.S. MEETING INVESTORS, THEY ARE HERE. — Patrik Berglund, Co-founder & CEO of Xeneta
— 30 — — 31 — PHOTO BY SAMULI PENTTI SAMULI BY PHOTO GLOBALLY HELLSTEN JUSSI BY PHOTO
3,110 1,815 STARTUPS INVESTORS FROM 85 COUNTRIES 49% VENTURE CAPITALISTS 35% ANGELS 11% CVC 5% M&A
WORKING 6,314 OR 1,82 YEARS INVESTOR-STARTUP WORTH OF VC MEETINGS MEETINGS IN 5 DAYS
76% OF INVESTORS FOUND STARTUPS WORTH INVESTING IN.
Facilitating meetings between investors and startups is THE SLUSH at the very core of Slush. In 2016 alone, there were 1.82 working years of VC meetings during the Slush global events. Behind these numbers is the Slush Matchmaking MATCHMAKING Tool – a database built in-house where investors, startups, executives and media can propose and book TOOL meetings at the Meeting Area at Slush.
— 32 — The data was gathered from the Slush main events in Helsinki, Singapore, Shanghai and Tokyo. — 33 — PHOTO BY PETRI ANTTILA BY PHOTO OUR THE NORDIC HUSTLE IS NORDIC TRANSATLANTIC
In 2016, Slush hosted over 20 Nordic events around the world. Nordic Showcases and YEAR various #NordicMade events took place in cities including New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Shanghai, Copenhagen and Helsinki. Slush has together with a dozen other Nordic startup organizations brought #NordicMade delegations, including 100 founders and tech influencers to its global events. I’VE NEVER SEEN THE AMOUNT OF REGIONAL The purpose has been to showcase the Nordic tech scene and introduce the most prominent PRIDE AND INTENT TO GROW STARTUP TIES Nordic entrepreneurs to local networks. THAT I SENSED AMONG THE NORDICS. Cities events hosted: New York, Tokyo, — Erica Swallow, Huffington Post Singapore, Shanghai, Stockholm, Trondheim, Malmö, Gothenburg, Reykjavik, Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki.
2017 HAS BEEN A GREAT YEAR FOR OUR NORDIC SHOWCASERS:
INTRODUCING - Fast Company named Iris.ai as one of the 10 Most Innovative AI THE VIKINGS Companies in the world. - Xeneta closed a $12M Series B Funding Round. Slush is determined to strengthen the cohesion - Acast closed a major partnership between the Nordic startup communities in order with NOVA Entertainment. DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU to build traction in the Nordics globally. People - Naava raised $3.2M to open a around the world are turning their eyes to the production facility in the USA. North for the next world-changing ideas and - Fintech startup Pleo topped up a founders. The Nordics are currently producing
PHOTO BY JOONAS LINKOLA JOONAS BY PHOTO seed round of $3.25M. the most billion-dollar companies per capita after Silicon Valley*. Since 2005, 9 percent of all global - Soundtrack Your Brand raised $22M to expand its business billion dollar exits came from Sweden, Denmark, globally. Norway and Finland.
*Creandum’s Nordic Tech Exit Report from 2016
— 34 — — 35 — PHOTO BY JOONAS LINKOLA JOONAS BY PHOTO AROUND EUROPE TOURING IN EUROPE
In 2016, Slush took over Europe in various warm- up events that gathered together actors in the local startup communities, paving the way for the main Slush event in Helsinki in November. The warm-ups were kicked off in the summer in Berlin PHOTO BY SANNI RIIHIMÄKI SANNI BY PHOTO where, in conjunction with Tech Open Air, Slush and Jobspotting organized a tech festival for 3,000 people, featuring 25 DJs and six stages. The tour continued in September-October as local warm-up events were organized in four cities, London, Munich, Amsterdam and Berlin, for prominent actors in the startup scene.
This year, Slush will join forces with Startup Sauna to tour in even a bigger number of buzzing European startup hubs. Slush folks can be spotted in at least Tallinn, Budapest, Minsk, Warsaw, Berlin, London and Barcelona, bridging the communities across the continent. WE ARE HERE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT’S GOING TO BE BIG. — Mike Chalfen, Co-Founder at Mosaic Ventures
— 36 — — 37 — PHOTO BY JUSSI HELLSTEN JUSSI BY PHOTO PHOTO BY ESA-PEKKA MATTILA ESA-PEKKA BY PHOTO
NIKLAS ZENNSTRÖM Co-Founder of Skype & Atomico
THE SLUSH EXPLOSION
In the early years of Slush I remember being shows that the most promising, innovative and struck by the energy, passion, and ambition of game-changing technologies are being harnessed its attendees but very few people back then in Europe, from Lisbon to Tallinn, and we have would have predicted what a huge event it would every reason to believe that we’ll see more become. After all, those were the days when category leading companies being unearthed at people laughed at the idea of multiple billion- Slush in the future. dollar companies coming from Europe.
If you have any doubt that Europe is producing In the intervening seven years, Slush has some of the greatest technology companies in the exploded, and Europe has produced a succession world, I’d suggest you go to Slush, or at the very IT SEEMS TO BE THE CENTER of billion dollar companies. European technology least, read the report on the State of European has proven its point, and Slush is a celebration Tech. Nowadays, when I attend Slush it feels like of its success. This can be seen in the annual Helinski is the centre of the tech universe, even report Slush and Atomico co-author on the if just for a few magical days. The future is being OF THE UNIVERSE IN State of European Tech. The most recent edition invented in Europe, and I’d suggest you go to demonstrated that Europe has carved out a Slush to see this for yourself. TECHNOLOGY RIGHT NOW. speciality in deep technology. The evidence — Niklas Zennström, Co-Founder of Skype & Atomico
— 38 — — 39 — THE STATE OF EUROPEAN TECH 2016: THE FUTURE IS BEING SLUSH TRULY IS THE INVENTED IN EUROPE EMBODIMENT OF Following the success of its 2015 inaugural State of European Tech report, Atomico teamed up with Slush once again to produce an in- EUROPE IN 2020. depth look at what’s going on in the European tech ecosystem. — CNN
With thanks to this year’s data partners – 3. Traditional industries are awakening to tech. LinkedIn, Meetup, Stack Overflow, Dealroom.co, Two thirds of Europe’s largest corporates by and the London Stock Exchange among others market cap have made a direct investment in a – we identified three major trends underlying the tech company while one third has acquired a tech growing influence and success of the European company since the beginning of 2015. technology industry:
2016 has been another record-breaking year for 1. Deep tech is thriving and diversifying. European tech. By celebrating how far we’ve come Since 2011, the number of deep tech startups while also highlighting the barriers in our way, we founded in Europe has grown 3.5x. Nearly $2.3B hope the State of European Tech report 2016 will has been invested in deep tech in Europe since help European founders, investors, developers and PHOTO BY JUSSI HELLSTEN JUSSI BY PHOTO 2015 compared to the $1.7B that was invested policymakers to focus on the challenges that need over the four year period between 2011 and 2014. to be overcome in order to continue to build the 2016 was a bumper year with $88B in deep tech future in Europe. M&A, while more U.S. and Asian tech giants as well as European corporates and investors are investing into, or acquiring, deep tech companies and tapping into a growing deep tech talent pool.
2. New tech hubs are emerging
beyond the traditional order of London, Berlin, and Stockholm. The report suggests Munich, Zurich, Lisbon, Madrid, and Copenhagen will be ones to watch over the coming years. Paris is starting to watch over the coming years. Paris is starting to seriously challenge London and Berlin in terms of the number of VC-financed deals and You can find the full report at deal volume. http://www.atomico.com/state- of-european-tech/2016. DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU
— 40 — — 41 — I FELT AN ENERGY AT SLUSH ELA MADEJ THAT I HAVE NEVER FELT Founding Partner at Fifty Years ANYWHERE ELSE. — Loic Le Meur, Founder & CEO of Leade.rs THE IMPACT OF TECH
PHOTO BY KAI KUUSISTO KAI BY PHOTO Solving the climate crisis. Defeating disease. Feeding the world. Educating everyone. These are the problems we increasingly cannot rely on governments to solve. But, luckily, technology is uniquely positioned to do all these things! In fact, technology entrepreneurship can be the most efficient way of eliminating entire categories of systemic problems.
Why? For-profit tech startups are built for scale, so when they tie social impact into their business models, that impact scales with them. There already are exciting companies that are improving health, helping humanity transition away from fossil fuels, alleviating poverty and literally saving lives — and making a lot of money when they do! Because they “have it all”, these companies are able to hire the best people, the press loves them, and everyone cheers for their success.
I encourage all entrepreneurs to look at the biggest problems as the biggest opportunities. I think over the next decade, we’ll see more and more “impact unicorns”. Billions will benefit as a result.
— 42 — — 43 — GIA IN NUMBERS
1,300 APPLICATIONS SLUSH 21 COUNTRIES 40 STARTUPS GLOBAL IMPACT ONE 10-DAY LONG BOOTCAMP IN HELSINKI ACCELERATOR
The story of the Slush Global Impact Accelerator (GIA) originated in 2014 when Slush introduced its ‘Impact track’. The purpose was to emphasize a new form of purpose-driven entrepreneurship: one that combines scalable business models with positive impact on the environment or society. Now, three years later, Slush Impact track has grown into GIA: an annual program that connects the actors within the global impact ecosystem and SERBIA introduces founders solving the most pressing global challenges. TUNISIA LEBANON CHINA NEPAL PAKISTAN Together with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of MEXICO BANGLADESH JAMAICA SENEGAL Finland and global partners, GIA has provided INDIA VIETNAM ETHIOPIA international exposure for startups and NIGERIA SRI LANKA accelerators from emerging markets. In 2016, KENYA During 2017, GIA will further strengthen the GIA brought 40 entrepreneurs from 21 countries impact network, engaging the Nordic community TANZANIA to Helsinki for a 10-day BootCamp. In addition, and enhancing the mobilization of capital towards BRAZIL Slush organized an Impact Day that gathered impact startups. Highlighting the exciting ZAMBIA over 400 participants from across the world to business opportunities in emerging markets is discuss how inventions and entrepreneurship MOZAMBIQUE crucial for implementing the Agenda 2030 and can have a positive impact towards meeting solving complex challenges. sustainable development goals, and thus improve SOUTH AFRICA the wellbeing of people and societies.
The baseline for this task could not be more encouraging. Startups as the forerunners of sustainable development have already been acknowledged and the number of impact startups has been rapidly growing. The path for purpose- 2015 2016 driven entrepreneurship looks more promising Mexico, Jamaica, Brazil, Senegal, Ghana, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Ethiopia, Jamaica, India, Kenya, Lebanon, than ever. South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mexico, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Serbia, Serbia, Armenia, Pakistan, China, Vietnam South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Tunisia, Vietnam, Zambia
— 44 — — 45 — SLUSH MUSIC SLUSH MUSIC IN NUMBERS
1,500 SLUSH MUSIC ATTENDEES 200 JOURNALISTS WELCOME TO 200 VOLUNTEERS 75 SPEAKERS 40 NATIONALITIES PLAY THE NEXT TRACK IN MUSIC
Organized for the first time in 2016, Slush Music brought music and tech industries together to uncover how the multi-billion industry can reach its full potential. More than 1,500 visitors from 40 nationalities celebrated music, tech and entrepreneurship and participated in discussions between the prominent influencers from the industry.
MY IMPRESSION IS: RATILAINEN JUSSI BY PHOTOS In 2017, Slush Music – the music and tech vertical of Slush – will take on where it left off to help entrepreneurs in the music industry even further by ‘WOW! AMAZING! introducing novel ideas and new connections. This year 3,000 international industry professionals, media and high level speakers will continue discussing the solutions for major challenges in the LOOKS BEAUTIFUL!’ music industry in Helsinki in November. — Imogean Heap
— 46 — — 47 — PHOTO BY SAMI VÄLIKANGAS SAMI BY PHOTO I DON’T KNOW HOW YOU PULL IT OFF! — Andreas Liffgarden, CEO & Co-Founder of Soundtrack Your Brand PHOTO BY MELVIN BY PHOTO
BEHIND THE ENERGY OF SLUSH PHOTO BY PETRI ANTTILA BY PHOTO
Every year at the global events of Slush, over 3,000 volunteers join the hustle and help in various tasks that include everything from pre-registration to organizing a private flight for our visitors. The majority of volunteers are local students, but the number of international volunteers is on the rise. For many volunteers, helping at Slush has become a life-changing experience. THROWBACK
In 2011, we had 50 volunteers at Slush.
The willingness to help and find a solution in each case is KNOW? DID YOU distinctive to the spirit of Slush volunteers. Money can’t buy the attitude, smile and enthusiasm our volunteers have, and year after year, what visitors love the most about Slush is the energy of our volunteers. Slush would not be the same without them.
— 48 — — 49 — ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES THIS IS SLUSH TALKOOT
The Finnish expression ‘talkoot’ means a gathering of friends or neighbors to accomplish a task. Since the early days of Slush our mindset has been exactly that: getting things done together. Talkoot plays a crucial role in the Slush event production as every year people with an interest in Slush get together to build visual elements for the event. PHOTOS BY JOONAS & KONSTA LINKOLA & KONSTA JOONAS BY PHOTOS
— 50 — — 51 — I CAME IN A PLANE ENTIRELY FULL OF GEEKS LIKE ME. THE SLUSH FLIGHT — Steve Jurvetson, Partner at DFJ THE 300-SEATED “NERD BIRD” FROM SF TO THE NORTH
For some time, aspiring entrepreneurs around the world have traveled to the mecca of startups – Silicon Valley. We thought it would be a nice change to do the opposite – and bring people from the Bay Area to visit us. Thus, we ended up organizing a direct flight to Slush from San Francisco on a brand new A350 hot off the production line.
The flight brought 300 founders, investors and speakers for the first time ever to visit Slush and experience the Nordic startup scene. This group of Silicon Valley based tech stars included Steve Jurvetson, Managing Director at DFJ, Arielle Zuckerberg, Partner at KPCB, and Chris Barton, Co-founder of Shazam, to name a few.
Our goal was to create something unforgettable, an experience with a capital E. The flight featured a VR Boarding Lounge, a mannequin challenge for the whole plane, Santa Claus serving drinks and a 15-meter high burning Slush logo at the airport welcoming our guests. It truly was the flight of a lifetime. Let’s see if this “Nerd Bird”, nicknamed by the passengers, will conquer the skies again in 2017.
— 52 — — 53 — PHOTO BY JOONAS LINKOLA JOONAS BY PHOTO DON’T VÄLIKANGAS SAMI BY PHOTO JUST ATTEND
Slush is all about helping founders. We have quickly learned in the past few years that startups have a lot to gain from working with more established companies, not only vice versa. That is why it is essential for us to collaborate and partner with larger enterprises. Startup collaboration and corporate venturing are already considered a must-do throughout the world. However, many companies face similar challenges when entering the tech scene: what is it that specifically our company should do with startups? What can we gain out of this? Slush thrives to solve these challenges together with our partners.
Slush collaborates globally with selected companies. Together with our global partners we:
• Change culture and create grassroots movements that support the next generation of founders.
• Grow a one-of-a-kind global community that builds bridges between technology hubs and brings together entrepreneurs from all around the world.
• Grow the unique group of +4000 startup companies in the Slush community and bring them together with the leading executives and investors of the world.
• Help our partner, its employees and key stakeholders to see where the world is going and how that affects their current businesses. EVERYONE’S HERE. GLOBAL — Ilkka Paananen, PARTNERS CEO & Co-Founder of Supercell
— 54 — — 55 — PHOTO BY SAMULI PENTTI SAMULI BY PHOTO
ONE OF THE BEST ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND TECH-FOCUSED CONFERENCES IN THE WORLD.
— Tech.eu
— 56 — — 57 — CONTACT SLUSH
HELSINKI SINGAPORE [email protected] [email protected]
TOKYO SHANGHAI [email protected] [email protected]
— 58 — — 59 — WWW.SLUSH.ORG