Slush is a global student-driven movement on a mission to help world-changing founders.
Originally founded to change attitudes toward entrepreneurship in 2008, Slush has grown from a single gathering in Helsinki to a series of events organized all around the world. Slush throws bigger events in Finland and China, and smaller get-togethers around the globe, from Singapore to NYC.
Think of Slush as the “SXSW” of Europe and of course, the main event is in early December in the “Slush” of Helsinki Finland. In 2019 the main event gathered 25,000 curious minds, including 4,000 startups and 2,000 investors in Helsinki. The 2021 “comeback” #Slush included 1,500 investors ranging from VCs to angels, CVCs, and LPs, all looking for the next big thing. Even though the event was about a third of the size of 2019, it nevertheless was an incredible group of founders and investors working to reimagine the future with deep tech applications spanning nuclear fusion, quantum computing, and general AI.
In the spirit of invention the companies demonstrate missions well beyond the typical “digital” economy that typically is focused on incremental, repetitive innovation. Slush reminds us that we must be truly ambitious. After all, startups exist to take extraordinary risks that, if successful, change the future beyond recognition. Azafran is grateful to belong to the community of investors encouraging our next generation of founders to build a better world. Change is inevitable, and progress is exponential.
For more information on Slush, click here.