Nordic Startup News Early Stage Startup News From The Nordics
Part one: AI, SaaS + Sauna panel @ SXSW, the heat is on
(“Löyly” [Finnish] meaning the heavenly steam of real Sauna)
Monday at SXSW took a different turn as Finns took over Bathe Austin, the new (and first) bathhouse in Austin. The program combined two things that don’t usually meet at tech conferences, especially outside Finland: tech and sauna. In Finland, where 5.5 Million people have altogether over 3 Milion Saunas, this happens almost everyday, or at every conference. But not normal in Texas (although we did practice this with Harvia, the Finnish Sauna heater manufacturer (also Bathe heater provider, and sponsor in the Sauna like a Finn event) at SXSW 2017.
Part one of the event was a focused panel on AI and SaaS, hosted by Softlandia and led by Founder, CEO Ilmo Lounasmaa. The discussion was moderated by Hugh Forrest, who kept the conversation sharp and grounded, with panelists Josh Liberson, Markus Hoefinger, Anand Arivukkarasu and Liz Bacelar.
The discussion cut through a lot of the week’s AI noise.
A few themes stood out:
- AI is already here — but most companies are still figuring out how to use it properly
- Speed is no longer the advantage — clarity and direction are
- Many teams are experimenting, fewer are actually integrating AI into real workflows
- The gap between “AI talk” and “AI use” is still wide
The tone stayed practical. Less hype, more honesty. For many in the room, this made it one of the most relevant panels of SXSW.
Part two: SAUNA LIKE A FINN
After the panel, things shifted.
SAUNA LIKE A FINN @SXSW turned the venue into a Finnish sauna experience — heat, cold, and conversations.
The sauna session was hosted by Pia Hytönen / Sunny Way, together with Audicin / Laura Avonius, Kristian Valkama from the Sauna Capital of the World, city of Tampere, Finland, bringing a distinctly Finnish layer into the middle of SXSW.
No slides. No pitching.
Just:
- sauna
- cold exposure
- and people talking
Conversations continued naturally from the panel. Titles mattered less. Discussions became more direct.
This is where the Sauna format works differently. Not about scale, all about connection.
A format that fits SXSW
The combination of AI panel and Sauna captured something essential about this year’s SXSW:
- smaller, more curated gatherings
- experience over visibility
- real interaction over staged presence
While there was no Nordic house in 2026, this kind of activation filled that gap in a different way.
Not by being bigger, but by being more memorable.
There is an excellent LinkedIn write about the event by Austin local Kim Brushaber – Cannot wait what kind of Sauna events there will be in the upcoming SXSW events!
The Sauna event was made possible by these great companies:
