Nordea Bank : and Slush to launch new speed-dating format for Nordic startups and global investors

At this year's Slush, startups from all over the Nordics can choose between meeting our selection of global investors in person or online and get mentoring from Nordea professionals.

slush-stage-interview

"Together with Slush weconnect founders and potential investors, business opportunities and financing options. Through mentoring our four Startup & Growth units across the Nordics also encourage founders and future founders to build sustainable and purpose-driven companies that can change the world. It's a privilege for us to continue the good collaboration with Slush," says Nina Arkilahti, Head of Business Banking at Nordea.

"Year after year, I'm increasingly impressed by Nordea's ability to help startups. They have raised the bar high and built strong networks. In addition, it's always a pleasure to work with a team that shares our mission to create and help founders change the world. We're extremely happy to continue working with Nordea again this year," says Miika Huttunen, CEO of Slush.

What is investor speed dating?

Nordea's investor speed dating is a matchmaking event bringing together growth companies and investors. The first Nordea investor speed-dating event was launched at Slush in 2018. Due to COVID-19, the year 2020 became a game changer as the investor speed-dating event was transformed into several virtual dating sessions, while in-person investor and startup meetings were being cancelled worldwide.

"It was clear to us that we wanted to continue as a main partner at Slush, even when the physical event was cancelled, and investor speed dating was our solution to support growth companies during challenging times. This proved to be a success story, and we broke all records with our matchmaking sessions both in terms of quantity and quality. At our latest event we had 200 meetings - and our most popular startup company had 18 meetings," Vesa Riihimäki explains.

New hybrid format at this year's Slush

Nordea's key activity at Slush is called investor speed dating: a matchmaking event where Nordic pre-seed and seed companies and scaleups can meet global investors.

As a next step in the development of the format, the Nordea investor speed-dating event this year will be the first ever hybrid version. With the new hybrid format for investor speed dating, investors and startups can choose whether they want to attend the event in person or join online.

In 2021 Nordea professionals across the Nordics will also host Slush mentoring sessions, focusing on hands-on advice on building companies.

"We know that mentoring can help startups grow faster. Mentoring provides fresh insights and offers an external perspective to support you in your decision-making. A mentor can help you find new sparring partners and contacts who can help you grow your business or connect you with relevant partners and service providers," says Vesa Riihimäki, Head of Startup & Growth at Nordea in Finland.

In addition to matchmaking and mentoring services at the core event, Nordea will also be the main partner for the Investor Day, an official pre-event organised by Slush. Also, each year several Nordea employees join Slush's volunteer programme using employer-supported volunteering time.

Are you, or do you know, a startup, business angel or venture company that could benefit from Nordea's speed-dating events?

The speed-dating events are open to startups from all over the Nordics - and investors from all over the world. Please get in touch with one of our local units.

Nordea Startup & Growth

Mikkel Rørvig, Head of Startup & Growth Denmark

E-mail: [e-mail]

Håvard Lindtvedt, Head of Startup & Growth Norway

E-mail: [e-mail]

Vesa Riihimäki, Head of Startup & Growth Finland

E-mail: [e-mail]

Oskar Kihlmark, Head of Startup & Growth Sweden

E-mail: [e-mail]