In two weeks from now, a delegation of no less than 10 Northern Dutch startups will be traveling to the world’s leading startup event in Helsinki, Finland. On November 17 and 18, Slush will bring together 4,600 startup founders and operators, accompanied by 2,600 investors, representing €1 trillion in assets under management.
Since 10 startups is a pretty impressive amount, this is going to be a two-part series of articles. So without further ado, let’s get to know the first five joining the delegation!
TAEM.io
TAEM.io is a self-service SaaS (software-as-a-service) HR tech platform with an engaging mobile app and talent dashboard. It’s very easy to implement and your team is able to use it right away. Within 10-minutes, you’ll have access to real-time data and insights about your team’s talents, potential and success. The AI can boost your teams and gives data-driven answers and actionable results. With TAEM.io, you can select, build, and analyze your teams wherever they work. It’s the ultimate future of work tool in a hybrid working world.
Some teams are more successful than others. But why is that? Founders Geertje Dam, Schelte Meinsma and Leo Wijnsma discovered a certain pattern and decided to create an algorithm and software around it. What are they hoping to get out of Slush this year? “We’re looking for funding and marketing, but we also really wanted to experience the energy of all these great minds coming together.”
Young Heroes Europe
Young Heroes is a coaching & career program for young professionals in the marketing, communication, data and sales space. On their platform, they match young talent with expert coaches, provide field-relevant training and workshops and share uncanny advice on career and development-related topics. In short: they make career growth and employee development easy.
At her first job, founder Eva van Leeuwen noticed the tremendous difference between what companies offered young professionals for guidance, growth and development and what they actually needed, fueling frustrations on all sides. She took matters into her own hands and Young Heroes Europe was the result. What does she look forward to in Helsinki? “The main reasons to join Slush 2022 are to find investors, build an international network, find potential clients and make great contacts that share our mission: empowering young professionals. I am most looking forward to the exciting and unique networking formats that Slush and Helsinki have to offer. Taking an ice bath while networking with potential investors?! Don’t mind if I do!”
Protyon
Protyon aims to change the way cancer is treated by providing science–based therapy advice for hospital clinicians. The startup offers a software solution for hospital oncology boards to provide crucial advice on the best personalized treatment options for each individual patient, to enhance the quality of life of cancer patients and give them another chance through better treatment.
Founders Josef Melcr and Matthew Groves joined the Slush delegation for a number of important reasons: “We’re looking for a seed investment and possible collaborations with software development companies. We would also like to spread our network to healthcare providers across Europe and to pharma companies. And lastly, we want to hire the best talent to support our mission, so we hope to find helpful contacts at Slush. Of course, we also look forward to getting some fresh ideas on how to best shape our business.”
Bypoint
In The Netherlands alone, there are around 50.000 one-sided cycling accidents per year. That’s why Bypoint fall detection was developed; A compact phone/app independent system attached to the bicycle that automatically notifies medical services after a bicycle accident.In addition, anonymous bicycle accident data is collected to provide more insight into the nature of the accidents and for example, help improve bicycle lanes and crossings.
Founder Joris Koops is joining Slush to grow and learn. “Slush will allow our network to grow both nationally and internationally. There is also a full program in which we can learn from other entrepreneurs, learn about the latest technologies and interact with interesting organizations, among other things. Slush is a unique event for startups to get exposure to a wider audience and we aim to do just that by talking about our product with other entrepreneurs, organizations and potential customers.
Flow
Flow builds financial tools for everyday people, helping freelancers, households, and individuals to live a debt-free life where you don't have to worry about spending €5 on your latte. Instead, the startup helps you focus on your future and build a sustainable future for yourself.
As product-minded founders, Daan van Klinken and Niels Mulder looked for one of the biggest problems to solve in the world: financial stress. “We saw that banks were lacking in this department, that personal finance management apps only looked "back" at how you spent in the past. Flow was born as idea to help people look ahead and take action, like what should happen when your salary comes in. Last year we missed out on Slush. We heard it was great so we can't miss it this time! We’re really looking forward to learning new things, and meeting other founders and investors!”