A GLOBAL NETWORK OF LOCAL EVENTS
SLUSH'D
Slush’D is a community-driven movement that empowers teams across the globe to create events for their local ecosystems – all in the spirit of Slush’s mission “to create and help founders that change the world”.
Apply to be an organizerYour hometown… Slush’D
Having piloted the concept in Trondheim, Norway in 2019 and 2021, we are on the lookout for 3–5 exceptional community-driven teams that want to create a Slush’D event for their local ecosystem in 2022.
THE BASICS
THIS ONE’S ON YOU
On top of our brand, organizers will receive tools, mentorship, and some loose guidelines that allow them to hit the ground running. Beyond that, only the sky’s the limit – Slush’D events are organized independently by local teams. They should also look the part! We envision gatherings ranging from 30-person cocktail events to 300-person conventions. Oh, and did we mention it’s all free?
THE IMPACT
LIGHT A SPARK IN YOUR LOCAL ECOSYSTEM
Over the past decade, Slush has helped propel Helsinki into one of the most thriving startup ecosystems in Europe. With Slush’D, we want to replicate that trajectory in nascent ecosystems around the globe.
Thus, in putting together a concept for their Slush’D events, organizers should predominantly answer the question: “right now, which bottleneck is most critically holding our local ecosystem back?”
For our pilot event in Trondheim this fall, the ecosystem gathered around the theme “from startup to scaleup” – unpacking how the university town’s budding entrepreneurial activity can blossom into enduring, important deeptech companies.
THE TEAMS
SPARKING GRASSROOTS MOVEMENTS
When we got going in 2008, we knew absolutely nothing about organizing events. However, what we did know was that Finland needs a new era of innovation – one in which people aspire to build the future rather than optimize the present.
This is the spark that we look for in Slush’D organizers as well. Any individual or team with a deep-rooted passion for entrepreneurship and an early hypothesis of the bottleneck that their event would address can qualify.
Oh and by the way, we’ve come to learn that onboarding someone who knows a little bit about events doesn’t hurt.
Importantly, Slush is a not-for-profit movement – and we’re aiming to make Slush’D one, too. While for-profit entities can qualify as organizers, Slush’D events should not be organized with the intention to turn a profit. In fact, we will require that any bottom line be reserved for subsequent events, or that it’s reinvested into the local ecosystem.
What’s more, government trade missions or corporate innovation programs do not fit the grassroots mentality of Slush’D.
OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE SOMETHING TO REMEMBER
Applications are open around the year. However, we will be reviewing them in batches – the first one after February 13.
What
Your idea, with the Slush brand and learnings, turned into an event for the ecosystem to get around the bottlenecks it’s facing.
Time
During 2022
Size
30–300 people – whichever feels just right for your ecosystem and concept.
QUESTIONS?
Drop us a line at [email protected].