This report will tell you what was going on so that next year you can decide for yourself if you join this spectacle of a platform for startups and investors to meet and for people in the tech industries to network at.
First of all, SLUSH is a global event and all together 12,000 guests and 1,500 volunteers were present. Altogether 300 Health & Wellbeing, MedTech & Pharma companies were attending this year.
Key Takeaways
1) The networking possibilities are almost limitless at SLUSH if you really put your mind to it. It's a big event but also, it's small enough to meet people more than once by accident as everyone's moving around all the time. Great networking is also possible because of the smooth online platform and 3 types of meetings you were able to arrange through it. You get more out of the event if you spend maybe a whole working day or two beforehand getting to know who else is coming.
2) Keynote speakers have a big role at SLUSH as they share sometimes very personal and inspiring stories about their journeys. The keynotes roles for your business might be huge as they really give you food for thought. There are also a lot of interviews and pitching competitions going around the 4 different stages and some of the booths as well.
3) SLUSH is not just 2 days, it's a whole week of side events and a buzz around the city of Helsinki. There is something for each industry and interest and many fun activities where you can meet new people easily and see some of the outside of the SLUSH venue; the beautiful Helsinki* I call my home.
Who did I meet?
The Netherlands Embassy in Helsinki together with a startup ecosystem, Novel-T from Enschede/Twente and #NLatslush team created a joint delegation to SLUSH for around 70 startups around the Netherlands. More info here.
It’s easy to organize your own side event. The 4TU Impact Challenge had their finale, between 8 competing startups the winner was chosen and last year’s successes were celebrated! Congrats to CryoCop from Delft! Here are some vibes from the event.
On day 1 I was glad to catch up at a session with Joris Harbers from the Twente University’s Student Union, responsible for innovation and entrepreneurship. We went to listen Mikko Mäntyjä (president of SLUSH) and Adam Chekroud (Co-Founder of Spring Health) talk about creating a founding team. Dave Verweg from Healthway invited me over to Rebeca Tristan’s* 5 tips for customer love which was amazing.
A couple more of the many startups in the Dutch delegation to mention: Hable One is a device for blind people to use their phone with and to type in Braille. SenseWURk invented a biosensor for sepsis diagnostics. Flux Robotics is designing surgical robots.
*Innokas Medical is a Finnish MedTech industry leader in the Nordics specialized in designing and contract manufacturing of medical devices.
Health Valley and Innokas started the co-operation earlier this fall and this is also our introduction to the rest of the ecosystem. We hope to bring value and new international perspectives to the partners and the whole Dutch MedTech and Digital Health arena.
About the Author: I am telling you about SLUSH because…? My name’s Emmi and I'm responsible for looking into the Dutch market at Innokas. I'm a third-generation marketing professional and an events enthusiast and this year was the third year I have volunteered at SLUSH.
For a longer introduction to Innokas Medical please contact:
Emmi Pesonen
Email: emilia.pesonen@innokasmedical.fi
Phone: +358 40 677 0661
