Eurovision Meets Shark Tank at Europe’s Premier Startup Conference
The saunas were hot and the money was flowing at Slush, which featured demos, DJs and a growing emphasis on defense technology.
Illustration: Maggie Cowles for Bloomberg
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The stage dims, music starts thumping, green lasers beam across the venue and dancers appear, twisting and twirling in silver glitter helmets. It’s not a pop star that emerges but Finland’s bespectacled president, Alexander Stubb, in a suit.
This is Slush, Europe’s premier startup conference — equal parts TED Talk, Eurovision and Shark Tank. Helsinki in the winter, mid-snowstorm, does not normally top getaway lists. Yet that’s where some 13,000 investors, entrepreneurs and techie rank-and-file arrived last week. No one whinged about the weather.