Slush is one of the world’s most famous start-up events – organized annually in Helsinki. For several years, the creators have also held smaller versions of the event in different places under the name Slush’D. Among other places, Slush’Ds were created in Busan, Zagreb, Liverpool, Nairobi, Leuven, Heilbron, and New Delhi. Enschede may also join that list as of this week, thanks to the efforts of Novel-T, the Twente University-affiliated startup advocacy group. The event was completely sold out.
- Slush, the world-renowned start-up event, has organized sub-events in several places worldwide.
- Enschede had the first for the Netherlands this week.
- Slush’D Twente had all the elements of the big Slush, but on a smaller scale.
Slush in Helsinki is known for its open atmosphere. “We wanted to bring that to Enschede here as well,” says initiator and MT member Mike Verkouter. Whether that was successful? Ilona Jääskeläinen of the Dutch Embassy in Finland thinks so. “Novel-T and their partners succeeded in creating that same unique atmosphere. This is a perfect example of how a Slush’D should be executed.” In addition to the sessions with speakers such as Kees Koolen, Anke Huiskes, and Cees Links, other elements contributed to the atmosphere. Signs with playful texts, flashy visual effects, and open spaces to easily bump into each other.
Start-up prizes
For pitching start-ups, there was also something to win. Matter of Facts and ColorTones won a ticket to Slush in Helsinki after their pitches on the start-up stage. But the main prize (€10,000) was for J58, which is developing a stand-up wheelchair. They plan to use the prize money for their marketing.
Twente is the only place in the Netherlands with its own Slush’D. Start-ups were put in touch with investors, and at the same time, it became clear what Twente has to offer as an innovation ecosystem. Twente calls itself the birthplace of many groundbreaking innovations such as wifi and Bluetooth (thanks to UT alumnus Cees Links and UT professor Bram Nauta, respectively), and companies such as Booking.com and Thuisbezorgd have their origins here. “Actually, we’re sitting on a gold mine of innovation here, but we don’t show it enough,” says initiator Mike Verkouter. “So that’s what we want to propagate with this event: that Twente has all the ingredients to start a successful business here.”
That innovation foundation Novel-T was allowed to organize the event in Twente is no coincidence, says Verkouter. “In recent years, we have invested heavily in the innovation ecosystem here in Twente. We have also made ourselves heard abroad during international trade missions, including to Slush in Helsinki. This helped us, as a result of which Enschede is now in the list of Slush’D organizers, between world cities such as New Delhi, Liverpool and Nairobi.” To organize Enschede Slush’D, Novel-T joined forces with several partners, including REACH (Münster), Rabobank, and RVO.
