Slush has long since ceased to be an insider tip: Organized by students at the University of Helsinki, the event has been bringing together founders and investors since 2008. Last year, the event declared itself the "largest gathering of venture capital on the planet." Around three trillion dollars in assets under management were gathered in the exhibition hall. A figure that the organizers significantly exceeded this year: At the opening of the event, Slush CEO Aino Bergius and Slush President Elin Dölker announced that four trillion dollars had been gathered at their event this year.
But Slush continued to grow in other areas. Last year, around 5,000 startups and 3,000 investors came together, while this year's event attracted a good 5,500 startups and 3,300 investors, according to the organizers. Both parties again arranged over 20,000 meetings via the event platform.
But it's not just these impressive figures that make Slush stand out from other events of its kind. Hardly any other event succeeds so well in painting an optimistic and positive picture of the future. This year, Alexander Stubb, former Prime Minister and President of Finland since March of this year, was responsible for this. In his keynote speech, he spoke about the current challenges of the digital world. He began by outlining the contradictions that societies currently seem to be facing: digital democracy versus digital dictatorship; spreading hope or stirring up hatred; empathetic people versus calculating AI. But the people who will decide on these possible versions of the future, according to Stubb, are the techies gathered at Slush. And he is certain that they will ensure that empathetic people always remain in the driver's seat. The fact that Google had its booth directly opposite the stage where Stubb was speaking can probably be seen as an ironic coincidence.
Tips from the Nvidia co-founder
But of course, the Slush stages belonged to the founders, not to politicians. The Impact Stage, therefore, was all about technology and its impact on society. From Fittech and Climate Tech to protection against fraudsters, everything that can influence the lives of individuals and entire societies was discussed. The Builder Stage, in turn, offered concrete tips for founders. Whether it was about validating a problem, developing an MVP, or closing a seed round – startups, agencies, and investors offered tips for success. And on the Startup Stage, the startups themselves presented themselves – sorted by topic, founders from Finland, Europe, and the rest of the world pitched here for two days.
Chris Malachowsky, one of the founders of chip manufacturer Nvidia, also received special attention. In a conversation with Etosha Cave, co-founder and CSO of Twelve, he explained his company's development. It was anything but a given that Nvidia would one day set out to revolutionize the AI world with its chips – after all, the founders only learned with the second generation of their chips that they were missing the market's expectations. But as we all know, mistakes teach us, and Malachowsky summarized his learnings as follows:
“Don’t try to outsmart your competitors, outengineer them.”
He also delivered two other important messages: First, founders should think twice about accepting his advice—after all, he's only founded one company in his entire life, and that was over 30 years ago. And second, he believes it's important for founders to have a certain amount of naiveté:
“Naivety is good for founders, you gotta believe!”
“The Slush is a super cool event”
Startups from Germany also had their own stage: The German Pitching Stage at the Germany booth gave founders the opportunity to present themselves and their ideas. The Startup Champs, representing Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne, were also part of the booth this year. Four Munich startups, ESG-X, Peak Quantum, Roundpeg, and Sub Capitals, also graced the booth.
Jean Bauer, Co-Founder and Co-Managing Director of ESG-X summarizes the fair as follows:
"Slush is a super cool, flashy event where a lot of action is taken. The trade fair – I think it has the highest concentration of investors – is great for meeting investors. It's very easy to start a conversation with them, and international investors, in particular, want to help you grow in other markets. For example, I spoke with an investor from Bulgaria. We hadn't had the country on our agenda before – that's changed now."
Thomas Luschmann, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Peak Quantum, added:
"Slush is really well organized; the organizers make it very easy to find investors with relevant profiles. They may not write a check on a beer mat right away, but I've found many relevant contacts over the last two days that I can build on."
And Oliver Krieg, CEO and Co-Founder of Roundpeg, says:
"I've never been to an event where I've interacted with investors so much. The only thing missing is a beer carousel."
