Standing at the epicenter of one of the most dynamic startup ecosystems on the planet, Slush takes place on November 13-14th, 2013 in Helsinki, Finland. In six years, the conference has grown from a local 300-person gathering to the technology startup showcase in Europe, and it’s still expanding rapidly: over 1,000 startups and 5,000 attendees are expected to arrive in Helsinki in exactly three months’ time.
WORLD’S LEADING INVESTMENT FUNDS
Represented venture capital funding will top €60 billion, as Slush draws top-tier companies,investors and media from around the globe. “Already last year we were honored to host 30 billion euros worth of venture capital from over 50 international VC funds. Based on the initial response we’ve gotten this year, we’re expecting the number of arriving funds to more than double — there’s now a lot of top talent looking for funding here”, says Miki Kuusi, the main organizer of Slush.
Released today, the initial list of attending investors includes Rich Wong of Accel Partners, John Lindfors of Digital Sky Technologies, andFrancesco de Rubertis of Index Ventures, among others.
FROM HELSINKI TO THE WORLD
In previous years, Slush has been the focal point for the Northern European and Russian technology ecosystem, while now its reach is expanding to Asia as well. “We’re honored to welcome pioneers from the Asian markets like Taizo Son, founder of GungHo and Tomoko Namba, founder of DeNA to Finland for the first time”, Kuusi explains.
“On top of our core region of Northern Europe and Russia, over one hundred startups have already reached out to us to come to Slush from South America, China and from the far reaches of Europe”, Kuusi continues.
“International interest in Northern Europe has grown immensely, and Helsinki is at the very center of it all. From the perspective of international investors and the global media, local startups have never been in such a strong position to succeed”, says Peter Vesterbacka, CMO at Rovio and cofounder of Slush.
Slush is non-profit event organized by Startup Sauna, the Helsinki-based community of startups, serial entrepreneurs and investors. In 2012, Slush hosted more than 3,500 attendees, 300 investors and some of the world’s top media, including The Wall Street Journal, BBC and TechCrunch.
Event website: http://www.slush.fi
More information
Miki Kuusi, Main Organizer
+358 40 351 3931
miki.kuusi (at) slush.fi
Interview requests
Tiina Liukkonen
Communications
media (at) slush.fi