Every summer there is a gathering at the city of Pori called SuomiAreena, where Finland’s politicians and other influencers gather for public debates on the state of Finnish society. And it is televised and and streamed live to the internet. As one of the main themes for this year is “Finnish Labor”, today startups have gotten their own slice of the action and public discussions.
Day started with NASDAQ bell ringing session and was followed by “Behind The Scenes: Startups Share Their Stories” session organized by Aaltoes. Various topics for discussions for the day are:
“Why top10 most promising growth companies could not be born in Finland?”
“School of Startup – Stories from Aaltoes and fresh companies from the Summer of Startups program”
“Behind the Buzz – startups and counter phenomenon”
“Are startups led better?”
“Entrepreneurship back to the companies”
And the day closes with a pitching competition “Solve for Finland” where startups get to pitch for solutions to help Finland and get instant feedback from experienced coaches and mentors
Some of the speakers include:
Otto Hilska, VP of engineering at Smartly.io
Pia Henrietta Kekäläinen CEO of Mehackit
Juhani Mykkänen Founder and COO at Wolt
Annu Nieminen, CEO of Growth Collective Finland
Aape Pohjavirta, founder of Funzi
Kasper Suomalainen, Captain, COO at Startup Sauna
Marianne Vikkula, CEO of Slush
You can follow the broadcasting via this link.