Slush 2019 Over and Done With! What’s Left on our Table?
This year, Combient Foundry hosted The Next 100 at Slush 2019. Now that the 350 people strong event is done with, what happens next?
What happened?
The Next 100 was created to be the leading industry gathering at Slush 2019. It was created by Combient Foundry and six Combient companies, namely Husqvarna Group, KONE, Saab, Scania, Stora Enso and Wärtsilä. A first of a kind concept where an Official Slush Side Event was the ground for pre-screened meetings between startup and corporate teams. The goal for the teams was to scope potential collaboration possibilities and agree on the next steps to get fledgeling partnership talks off the ground.
What were the results?
350 people attended, among them representatives from 118 startups. The teams had a total of 150 meetings together, and a lot of them stayed to watch the stage program too, and mingle with all the attendees afterwards.
The Combient companies on site have reported that they are continuing discussions with dozens of startups. Impressive rate, but the work is far from done. The next stage is scoping potential pilot projects between the companies, starting the work on them, and if successful results are reported, a long-term partnership built on collaboration and co-creation.
What’s next?
We will continue checking in with how the discussions are going. Who knows, maybe in the coming months we’ll hear collaboration announcements and even tell stories of them more broadly. This was definitely the cherry on top of a delicious sundae; the Foundry team is eager to move into 2020 with many promising things simmering below the surface!
In the meantime, leave your email with us and you’ll be the first to hear about stuff happening in 2020!