Slush 2018

4 min readDec 8, 2018

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Slush in Helsinki, Finland on Dec 4–5, 2018

Slush press event in Kellohalli restaurant and bar on Dec 3.

Located at Teurastamo, Kelohalli is an old abattoir established in 1933, which in 2012 has been transformed in a food and event space.

There were two hundred and one journalists accredited at Slush, although mostly from Finland and Europe, few came from remote places as China, Japan and Singapore (where local Slush events are established) and other from Bangladesh, Canada, Hong Kong, Korea and Tunisia to attend the conference.

Sulapac products use a biodegradable and microplastic free material made of FSC certified wood chips and natural binders. They have all the benefits of plastic, yet they biodegrade completely and leave no microplastics behind.

Zoan presented their AR/VR solutions, while bugs appetizers were served by a German entomophagy startup.

The official Slush opening party was held on Dec 3 in the Old Student House (Vanha ylioppilastalo) right in the center of Helsinki.

More than 140 years old, the Old Student House is perhaps Helsinki’s most traditional party and events venue.

The breathtaking grand Banquet Hall and the historic Music Hall can accommodate up to 1,000 guests at any one time.

Messukeskus Helsinki, Expo and Convention Centre is the biggest and best-known convention center in Finland. Located in the district of Pasila, it is a short walk northwards from the Pasila railway station.

Slush is a non-profit event organized by a community of entrepreneurs, investors, students and festival organizers.

Slush has grown from a 300-person event to become one of the leading events of its kind in the world.

The philosophy behind it has remained the same: to help the next generation of great, world-conquering companies move forward.

Andreas Saari (Slush CEO) and Alexander Pihlainen (Slush President) open Slush 2018 and welcome the audience. Some figures and facts about the present edition: 3,100 startups / 1,800 investors / 450 executives / 20,000+ attendees expected/ 130 nationalities / 2,400 volunteers.

Three Nordic startup unicorns originated in Scandinavia: Skype, Supercell and Spotify. After discussing with many entrepreneurs around the world, Slush directors learnt that the main problems for startups can be addressed through more focused education: Slush Academy will open in Feb 2019 and will start by the end of the next year, offering free entrepreneurial courses online and offline.

Founder stage, the main presenting area of Slush.

Panoramic view of the Founder Stage and surrounding area.

Risto Siilasmaa (Nokia and F-Secure, Chairman) opening speech and Q&A with Julia Hartz (Eventbrite Cofounder).

Founder Stage during a break time.

Early morning Dec 5: Andreas Saari rehearsing on Founder Stage and image/light testing in Pink Stage.

There were several information desks in the venue with volunteers helping attendees for any issue. Four differently colored meeting points, where attendees, startups, investors and journalists could meet for discussions, were installed: the ceiling spot light reminding “Close encounters of the third kind”.

An indoor sauna and outdoor sauna village were available for attendees to rest and recharge their energies.

Towels, swimsuits and other accessories were available for rent in Sauna Village.

Porsche stand before Slush opening on Dec 5.

Aurora borealis inspired stand for Nordea, a Nordic financial services group.

Google for startups stand.

Samsung Electronics, Samsung Next, Samsung Ventures, Samsung Next Ventures and Samsung Catalyst Fund were in a stand next to the Founder Stage. Several funded startups were presenting their solutions, while guests could watch the Founder Stage presentations from the second floor.

Aalto University stand. In 2010 the faculties of architecture and design of the University of Art and Design Helsinki, engineering and science of the University of Technology and the Helsinki School of Economics decided to merge together, anticipating the convergence in different fields of knowledge. Multidisciplinary teams could be formed easily for instance over a coffee break or meal in the university canteens, where engineers, designers, architects, economists can brainstorm a joint research or even startup, discussing current impellent issues in their respective fields. Beyond any tangible result, the opportunities to interact and to network with students from different backgrounds may be invaluable later in working life, when for instance engineers versatile in economics, law or product designs may be ahead of their competition.

Moscow Export Center and Skolkovo Innovation Center stand.

Pink Cafe’.

Elisa Oy, a telecommunications, ICT and digital service company operating mainly in Finland and Estonia and providing environmentally sustainable services for communication and entertainment, and tools for organisations to digitalise their operations and improve productivity.

Helsinki Innovation Services (HIS), a fully owned subsidiary of the University of Helsinki Funds, helps researchers turn their academic studies and results into commercial successes, managing technology transfer, liaison with academics, asset evaluation, intellectual property (IP) protection and establishing spin out. At Slush the University of Helsinki introduced thirteen innovations based on scientific research in various stages of commercialisation.

“How does business benefit from science?” University of Helsinki YouTube video.

Wärtsilä, one of the main Slush partners in 2018, introduced “a lifeboat for buildings, a product that should never exist” to amplify the critical need to move climate change discourse to action. Wärtsilä technology group conceptualised and designed an autonomous lifeboat, powered by 100% renewables, like synthetic renewable fuels and solar energy, with world-class smart technologies such as autodocking, dynamic positioning and wireless charging.

In fact, the concept is not as unimaginable, because the boats would have been useful in the recent floods in Italy and Indonesia. According to Wärtsilä the time to act is now, together or the unthinkable will happen and the lifeboat will have to be built for real.

Korea Pavillion showcased several Korean startups selected by Kotra, a governmental trade and investment agency. In Slush matchmaking tool 181 Korean attendees registered their profile, representing 158 startups from Korea, the fourth largest country represented in 2018 edition according to Andreas Saari interview to Chosun Biz, an economic magazine of Korean leading newspaper Chosunilbo. Creative Contents Economy and Innovation (CCEI) center and Ulsan Technopark had also their own stands in Messukeskus.

Clean energy company Fortum operated during Slush a Pitchalong Shuttle, an exclusive and emission-free taxi service run on electric vehicles: during the ride startups get to pitch their business ideas directly to company executives. Fortum used this unconventional meeting room to attract the most promising startups before they even arrive to the event venue.

“Slush wants to leave the world better than we found it, and so sustainability is a core part of how we operate. To us, this means not only minimizing harm, but also maximizing the good we can do. We are constantly improving to make our events more environmentally friendly, our community socially inclusive, and above all, helping startups change the world for the better.”

Slush 2018 Day 1 — Founder Stage

Slush 2018 Day 2 — Founder Stage

Parallel 38°

Written by Parallel 38°

Stories from Korea. In pursuit of truth, impartial pov, fear/favorless, independent of party/sect/interests involved.

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