Aarhus Slush’D was organized by the team at Startup Aarhus, aiming to make Aarhus, primarily a student town, the center of the Danish startup ecosystem – and they succeeded at it, creating immense traction around their event.

The organization process was led by Lasse Chor, Line Breckling, and Mette Hoberg Tønnesen along with an amazing group of volunteers, and since the beginning, the team wanted to build an event around startups and pitching. For the one day, Aarhus gathered 700 startups, investors, and students together and I can tell you, what a ride it was – at least from the Slush point of view. 

If you’re still wondering what the team in Aarhus thought about the organization process, what they thought was the absolute best, and the worst part of the process: you’ll be hearing that directly from the source!

BECOMING PART OF THE SLUSH’D COMMUNITY

Aarhus as a startup community has been building with momentum for the past few years. We  see incredible companies grow from the area, attracting international investors and attention. Slush’D was a unique opportunity to capitalize on that momentum. It gave us the opportunity to gather the Danish startup community, celebrate recent achievements, and connect us even stronger together and to the international scene.

We expected, that having the Slush brand behind us would not only open doors for collaborations and partnerships, but also force us to up our game. We wanted to create the  best startup event Aarhus has ever seen by mixing the famous Slush madness with the incredible people of Aarhus. Aarhus Slush’D far succeeded our expectations.

THE HIGHS AND LOWS

The most difficult part of organizing Aarhus Slush’D was keeping an eye on what really matters at an event like this. We had big dreams, crazy ideas, and picking the few best ones, that actually made a difference for the participants was tough. But seeing how it all played together, how our choices we’re noticed by the participants, and how it all came to life was by far the most rewarding part of organizing the event. The most valuable resource we got from Slush was definitely the brand. Having the Slush story as a backbone of creating and building our own Aarhus Slush’D story made attracting partners, creating hype, and getting the right people to come much easier. 

LEARNINGS

Something we would’ve done differently is renting a bigger venue. The +300 on the waitlist for our 700 people event was on one hand a massive pat on the back. But meant we also had to turn away amazing founders and investors, simply because we ran out of space.

The impact of this event that we see, from the hundreds of posts on social media about Aarhus Slush’D, is that it gave us a sense of pride. It reflected the momentum we all felt and made us all proud of our community. It also gave founders, investors, and community builders a chance to connect, give back, share opportunities, knowledge, and support. 

If you want to organize a Slush’D event, gather the right team. Like any startup, the team is insanely important when building something new. You need to complement each other’s competences and knowledge, understand, and respect the startup community deeply, and not the least, be able to have fun together – even on the late nights, as at the end of the day, it’s the fun of it!

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When we got to the venue for the first time was the exact moment we knew that this event would become something extremely special and valuable for the local startup ecosystem. And that’s what it was – the team definitely brought the Slush’D magic to Aarhus with style. I don’t think I am the only one waiting for what they still have in store for 2023!