How do you turn a European company into a global player? Who could answer this question better than the Munich-based decacorn Celonis, which is steadily growing on both sides of the Atlantic and confidently leads the global process mining market? On the main stage of Slush, Martin Klenk, CO-Founder and CTO of Celonis, and Harry Nelis, Partner at Accel, discussed precisely this question. The discussion focused on the organization of internal processes and how to convince experienced developers of your company. What was particularly interesting for Nelis, however, was how – and why – Celonis globalized its development structures instead of just internationalizing sales. The entire discussion can be found on the Slush YouTube Channel Check it out at the beginning of the livestream for the second day of the fair.
About the Slush says Martin Klenk:
"Despite its size, Slush is a very nice and friendly event. You'll find many ambitious and creative ideas here. It's therefore a great place, especially for young companies, to meet investors, network, and learn."
But you didn't have to look far for Munich startups on other stages either. In the Startup Studio, the pitching stage at Slush, among others, Amelie Binder, CEO of Cargokite, and Ivor van Dartel, CEO and Cofounder of Vaeridion, in the Transportation & Logistics sector. And in the Energy Showcase, Sarah Fleischer, CEO and Cofounder of Tozero, present their solution.
At the Startup Champs booth
The Startup Champs Berlin Partner, Hamburg Invest, Cologne Business, and Munich Startup once again organized a booth at Slush this year. As part of the German booth of the AHK Finland, both the ecosystems themselves and various startups from the cities presented themselves. For Munich, these were Flow Eye, Exomatter, and Deepeye Medical, winners of this year's Startup Champs pitch competition. The startups not only had the opportunity to use the booth for half a day, but also performed on the German Pitching Stage.
Thomas Schinke, Founder and CEO of Flow Eye, says:
"The quality and number of participants, especially investors, is very good here at Slush. The participants are all very open and engaging with each other. They are very interested in the startups and in having good discussions."
Also Manuel Opitz, CEO and CO-Founder of Deepeye Medical, praises the investors who are active in Helsinki:
"I'm impressed by the response rate for investor inquiries we received at Slush: Seven out of ten responded to our request, we scheduled six meetings, and all of the investors showed up. We even had three more investor inquiries. I don't quite remember that from Bits & Pretzels. Secondly, I thought the side events and pre-events on Day 0 were fantastic; they're a great way to network with sector-specific investors and startups in a small setting."
Joshua Vieten, CO-Founder and CEO of Exomatter, sums up his time at Slush as follows:
"This is my first time at Slush, and it's very impressive. The entire startup ecosystem is here in one place, and you meet a lot of new people, including people you already know—it's a great way to continue building your connections."
Carsten Rudolph: “What I particularly like about Slush is that it is very startup-focused.”
Something to celebrate UnternehmerTUMThe official launch of the European Scaleup Navigator was announced at the Aalto University booth. The project, part of the Rise Europe initiative launched by UnternehmerTUM, offers a guide for startups seeking to conquer the European market. The navigator provides insights into the European innovation landscape, highlighting the specific characteristics of individual countries. It highlights various financing options and potential for industrial collaborations in the respective markets, and outlines individual regulatory frameworks.
Carsten Rudolph, Managing Director of Baystartup, summarizes the event as follows:
"What I particularly like about Slush is that it's very startup-focused, and I've also been able to take a lot away from the presentations. The startup presentations also showed a lot of substance and content."
