Brightlifen tiimi Slushin tapahtumapaikalla, taustalla Slush-valokirjaimet

Stories > Visiting Slush on HUBS scholarship

Visiting Slush on HUBS scholarship

13.3.2023 | Entrepreneurial journey, Grant Experiments, Student experience

To celebrate HUBS’ 10th anniversary and in the spirit of our Be good, Do good principle, we awarded five scholarships to promote entrepreneurship alongside studies in the year 2022. One of the scholarship recipients was the multidisciplinary Brightlife Oy, which wants to make treating mental health issues more effective and accessible. With the scholarship, it was possible for Brightlife to participate in Slush in November 2022 – read what their experience was like!

A team’s journey to Slush 2022

We participated in the 2022 Slush event with the entire Brightlife team. The event provided a unique opportunity to network, meet industry leaders, and hear talks by successful entrepreneurs. Our goal at the event was to meet investors, find partners in information technology and business, and enjoy the atmosphere of one of Europe’s leading growth company events.

Experiencing the event and sharing our story

Slush, held in November, brought together 12 000 visitors, including nearly 5000 startup entrepreneurs and 2500 investors. In addition to the two-day main event, Slush’s “side events” were held in different parts of Helsinki, where you could participate based on your interests. The Brightlife team got a chance to visit a few of them to talk about our journey so far.

The event area was spectacular. Innovative companies from all over the world had gathered in the exhibition hall, and various spaces were divided into their own sectors with interesting interior elements. The stages were scattered over the event area and each stage had its own “theme”. On the stages, there were plenty of talks on various topics throughout, which you could listen to according to your interests.

New contacts through networking

The main reason for us to attend the event was to meet with early-stage venture capitalists. Slush is a great way to network with new people, so we strove to make the most of the event. We went to over twenty meetings during the two days, which is naturally mentally challenging, but there aren’t too many similar opportunities.

Two Brigtlife team members inside a hot-air balloon at the Slush event. — Photo: Brightlife team members at Slush in Autumn 2022.

New partners

In addition to contacts in the financial world, we found, among the exhibitors, service providers to help with our product development. Starting a collaboration is much simpler when you can talk about your needs and product right away, and you don’t have to call or book a demo first.

The moments when there were no scheduled meetings, we filled with panel discussions and pitching competitions. I recommend those interested in the startup world to participate in the event as a visitor or volunteer, as the atmosphere at the event was truly inspiring and engaging. It is difficult to find something similar in Finland!

Negotiation skills and inspiration

Thinking about the event in retrospect, it brought valuable experience in tight negotiation situations, inspiration from other ingenious companies and perspective on how fierce the competition on a global scale is. Our participation was made possible by the support of HUBS, SPARK Finland and TRE.ES.

With the help of our partners, we were able to tell people around the world about our company. We got a bunch of great contacts that we will utilize in the future in business development, financing needs and product development. 2023 will be the most important year for Brightlife to date, so it holds high expectations.