#dc comics#dc#batman#tim drake#batfam#dick grayson#dc fanart#bruce wayne#batfamily
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Last 15 minutes of #slush15 #beinthemoment #slush #party #dance #jouk #joukapp #breaktheice #moment #encounter
Slush was established in 2008 in Helsinki, Finland if I recall it right. It was a modest event in the beginning. Citynomadi participated with a demo stand on 2010 and 2011 - when the event seemed t...
Slush engines. New kind of revolution.
Slush is exactly what is needed in this turbulent world!
I’ve been blogging about Slush since 2011 and participating in Slush from its start. As a jury member years back I've seen great development in pitches! If you would like to turn back time, check boardman2020.fi (in Finnish) and search for “Slush”. In 2011 there were 1000 attendees. This year there were 15 000 attendees! In 2010 it was all about Rovio, thinking BIG and about being different in a positive way. There was even a cute reindeer in a logo that time! The basic idea like Peter Vesterbacka at this year’s Slush stated is still there: “It’s no Silicon Valley here. It’s dark, ugly, wet and cold. Still so much energy inside the building!” Huge amount of student volunteers make this event again something to talk about!
However it feels like today we are living in a much larger disruption compared to 2011. We can see large corporations, high schools, universities, public organizations, investors, industry specific organizations, accelerators, embassies, politicians…all attending Slush and looking for partnerships with start-ups. There’s a stronger need for change than ever. To keep the society and businesses running, it’s evident that completely new approaches are needed. If you were at Slush you probably noticed the engine decorations. There was even an engineroom. Remember industrial revolution? I think this is exactly a similar kind of revolution we are living in. Change doesn’t affect only large corporations. It affects everyone, personally and business wise.
What is the meaning of Slush to Finland’s economy then? It’s clear that new jobs will be created in growth companies. Slush is a good base for attracting talent. Also there have lately been examples of foreign companies setting up their data (Google) or technology center (Zalando) in Finland because of safe and favorable infrastructure or available engineering talent. As former Nokia executive and currently a Venture Capital investor Roman Kikta put it: “Finland is a country of innovation and education and it all started with Nokia”. This year there were 800 investors and most of the large VC’s were hanging around and looking for the next Supercell. It didn’t come as a surprise when Prime minister of Finland Juha Sipilä (not wearing hoodie by the way) stated in his opening speech: “Investors, remember to spend a lot of money here in Finland!” It seems that especially gaming and digital health companies are attracting investors to Finland. But this is not all about Finland’s show. About 1700 start-ups from all around the world are at Slush. This year’s winner is Care Monkey from Australia. They have automatic emergency data available and secured on mobile devices. The service is for sports clubs, scouts, businesses, schools etc. Finland for them became a stepping stone for global market. Slush brings together people from all over the world who would like to change the world.
What is really interesting is that indoor navigation is finally becoming reality. At least the technology is there waiting to be commercialized. There are two interesting ones from Finland: Indoor Atlas and Nimble devices (Steerbath). Without Steerbath navigation in my Slush app it would had been quite difficult to find specific startups I wanted to meet onsite. Steerbath uses Bluetooth spots of the building and Indoor Atlas magnetic positioning. Indoor Atlas just recently received $10 million investment from Baidu, China’s top search company. These kinds of innovations are just a few examples of those that will change retail experience in the near future completely.
Revolution is on its way already and it’s arising from start-ups. What we need now is the legislation in Europe to follow these developments. It should not only be fast to set up your company but also there should be freedom to be able to agree locally different terms of employment for example or having more flexible labor laws (overtime, weekends, holidays etc.). Access to talent is also easier when there’s more flexibility in recruiting across different countries in Europe. European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen mentioned at Slush that new financial instruments like risk financing are needed to boost growth. Horizon2020 by European Commission has nearly €80 billion in funding to help European start-ups in their growth paths. So at least there’s a strong will in European, national and local level to help start-ups grow. At the end companies will establish their offices where there’s talent available, excellent structures meaning easiness to do business and markets for growth. Slush proves that in Finland there’s impressive pool of start-ups than can easily become global success just like Rovio or Supercell. Slush is exactly what Finland and rest of the world needs in this turbulent world!
#slush15 !!! #home #aaltoes #amazing #greenstage #pool Credit: Sami Heiskanen (at Slush 2015)
