Entrepreneurs

This piece is part of the Slush Chronicles series, “Founders Unplugged,” where we interview founders and key personnel of innovative companies, to hear their thoughts on the event we’re attending or dive into other spontaneously chosen topics. Slush 2024 founder: Timo Poijärvi SaluStim Group Got a message from Timo saying he is onto something amazing, and wanted to share their …

This piece is part of the Slush Chronicles series, “Founders Unplugged,” where we interview founders and key personnel of innovative companies, to hear their thoughts on the event we’re attending or dive into other spontaneously chosen topics. Slush 2024 founder: Jukka Tuhkanen, HIIL I ran into Jukka Tuhkanen, Director of Sales and Partnerships from Hiil, a wood “startup” transforming waste …

Wow, what an event it’s been. And officially just half way done So, the annual Slush Side Event, the Singa karaoke Chaos, finished the day1 of Slush 2024. In traditional Day1 afterparty. Bur before all the chaos, here’s a quick wrap up: The day 1 of Slush 2024 in Helsinki delivered a vibrant mix of innovation, networking, and forward-looking discussions. …

This year, Slush 2024 introduces an exciting, official side event: #musictech at Slush 2024. Music has always been an integral part of the Slush experience. Over the years, many big names have taken the stage at the Slush Afterparty, among a whirlwind of artists and performers, one of the most popular side events returning this year is the highly anticipated …

In the era of AI, Hunome talks mostly about HI   So, at Arctic15 we met many AI companies, and then we met Hunome, more into Human Intelligence, HI, and especially for Collective Sensemaking.  With that, and a bit wider purpose statement of “helping humanity make sense of itself”, I had a pleasure to talk to Dominique  & Mika  from …

Oulu, Finland — The Arctic startup event, Polar Bear Pitching, marked its live return after a hiatus of four years. A sizable crowd gathered at Oulu Market Square, while online viewers from around the globe tuned in to witness ten selected startups take the plunge into the Avanto (Finnish for ice hole), each aiming to impress the panel of judges …

At a sizable booth, Samar Malik was promoting SAP for startups, emphasizing the company’s wealth of knowledge and expertise. It marked her inaugural attendance at Slush, where she commended the event and its arrangements. However, the genuine slush and sleet outdoors left the London resident a bit hesitant. Sami Vuorenmaa recently established his consultancy, Clarinum Insights, which focuses on helping …

Slush mainstage acted as a platform for company launches and product announcements, and the Media Area right behind the stage had instant Q&A session with the launchers and announcers. What a great concept, hoping this would cover even more of the speakers. One of the launches was Starstuff, that came out of the stealth mode with bells, whistles, Hanna and …

  At the Slush startup event in Helsinki, Nico Rosberg, the 2016 Formula 1 World Champion, revealed what led him to pass by a lucrative contract extension in the pinnacle of motorsport and transition into an investor. – Nice to be back to my roots, said the 38-year-old to the extensive audience. By a fireside chat with Robert Lacher, the …

Arctic15 Health Track: Insights from Arctic15’s Health Track: Exploring Digital Health Arctic15’s Health Track, curated by Aki Koivistoinen, delved into the state of digital health. This article provides an overview of the track, including key insights from an interview with Aki, the Startup Health ambassador, and highlights from the panels and keynote presentation. Key Points: Digital health presents unique challenges …

Arctic15 2023 was again a great showcase of innovations.  Panu Kuosmanen, Aalto University’s Innovation Advisor, highlights the University’s Commitment to Entrepreneurship. Aalto University has been a regular participant at the Arctic15 event since its inception in 2007. and we met with Panu to discuss the innovations at the University, emphasizing the university’s deep involvement in fostering entrepreneurship and its contribution …

As an event, Slush succeeds to impress all the attendees, even those Teflon-surfaced veterans, who have many previous Slushes on their belt. So it is no wonder, that the first-timers are generally astonished what comes to the atmosphere, solid arrangements, and the solid flux of meeting interesting people, especially  new ones. Deirdre Mc Gettrick from U.K. was attending Slush to …

Few years ago the tagline (and the hashtag) for #Arctic15 was #FindTheOne. Nowadays it has evolved to #ActionMatters, and at this years LIVE comeback, it was really in the center of the activities. Arctic15 happened in the beginning of June in Helsinki, Finland, where the sun was shining, and a decent groups of over 1000 likeminded souls gathered again at …

Oslo-based SNÖ Ventures has launched its second fund to  invest in visionary Nordic entrepreneurs and connect the Nordics  with the US and broader Europe. The new fund targets $100M to invest  in early stage, high-growth Nordic tech companies with the potential to disrupt,  create or capture large markets through transformative technology or  solutions.  By Kremena Tosheva  SNÖ Ventures is led …

Summer of 2021 is closing in, and as the world is seeing a surge in optimism with the influx of vaccines, Kiuas, the #1 startup accelerator in Finland, brings exciting news about expansion. Kiuas today revolves around the startup accelerator programs, and with the changing world, it makes to evolve the flagship program, Kiuas Accelerator, to the next level as …

Getting through the Nordic winter is trying at the best of times. The previous months have provided few hours of sunshine but an infinite amount of “recommendations” (it is to date not legal for the Swedish government to e.g. enforce a lockdown) formulated in almost as many ways as there are media outlets. The Nordics are the societies in the …

Since launching its report on who funds whom in the Nordics, together with partners like Startup Sweden and NVCA, the team at Unconventional Ventures have been busy. They recently launched the UV Syndicate, giving everyone the opportunity to co-invest in, by UV vetted, startups at pre-seed and seed stages. Today they announce the first digital accelerator targeting underrepresented founders based …

Mbegu Solar AB was founded in 2020 and its team is based in Stockholm, Lund and Nairobi. They bring solar products in a completely new format to the East African market and target micro-entrepreneurs as opposed to the end consumer. Solar products are already widely available all over the world for off grid electricity, but Mbegu Solar states this is …

Statistics show we have collectively stigmatized randomly phoning someone up and as a result, over the past decade, the number of texts sent monthly have increased with 7,700% and US smartphones users allegedly receive and respond to 5x more texts than phone calls. We have built handheld walls against direct interactions at the same time as social platforms have moved …

More than ever we need strong role models and entrepreneurs who can inspire others and actively help put focus on growth and innovation. For 25 years, EY has paid tribute to Denmark’s best growth creators, and this year they want to engage the business community and the participating companies in the fight to defy the crisis we are in and to see opportunities in adversity. …