Slush, one of the main European tech conferences, arrives in Italy. The date has already been set: September 3, 2024. The location too. Slush will be held at Bolzanohosted by NOI Techpark e Bolzano Fair. Slush was born in 2008 in Finland. It immediately established itself as one of the most important European conferences on innovation and startups. By leveraging a solid innovative entrepreneurial fabric, like the one that was already considered the Scandinavian one 15 years ago. The event has grown a lot. From the 300 participants of the first edition, the Finnish platform managed to expand to attract, in 2022, more than 20 thousand visitors, 5 thousand startups, 3 thousand investors and 300 accredited media.
Slush will be brought to Italy by a team of young professionals: Cristian Frigo, Serena Galli and Stefano Ceravolo. The three, after having trained in Italy and abroad, joined together with the shared objective of contributing positively to the entrepreneurial environment and innovation, both locally and nationally. Communication is instead entrusted to the Blum agency.
The goal is to achieve 500 companies involved between innovative startups, investors, business managers, venture capital funds, accelerators, incubators and institutional representatives. Slush’D (this is the name that the event will have in Italy) was born with the aim of promoting innovation and entrepreneurial ambition, creating a bridge between the main players of the local, national and international ecosystem, with particular focus on the Dach region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland).
The South Tyrolean capital will thus become the nerve center where ideas, projects and visions will compare, fueling the growth and development of new frontiers in the field of entrepreneurial innovation. The first Italian edition focuses on four: Climate & Greentech, Food & AgTech, Digital & Automation, Sport & Mountain Tech.
“We believe in the role of our country as an innovative ecosystem,” he explains Cristian Frigo, Co-founder and CEO of Bolzano Slush’D, “We are equally convinced that bringing an event already so deeply rooted at an international level to Italy for the first time could represent an important opportunity for startups, investors and companies. The choice to do it in Bolzano, a central crossroads at European level, will also allow us to put Italian realities in contact with those of the entire DACH region, thus comparing perhaps different points of view, but with a minimum common denominator: the desire to innovate”.
«We at Slush HQ are excited to attend the first Slush’D event in Italy and to delve deeper into the regional startup ecosystem of Northern Italy», he comments Stella Korkuusi, Expansion Lead at Slush HQ”. We have full confidence that the excellent Bolzano Slush’D team can deliver an experience to remember for founders and other ecosystem stakeholders, full of important learnings and connections.”