The First Slush Event in Italy, in Bolzano. With Blum
A strong start. Over 850 people attended the first edition of Slush’D in Italy—an event dedicated to key players in the national and international entrepreneurial ecosystem, held on Tuesday, September 3rd, in Bolzano, where Blum served as the communication partner. The day was filled with insights and visions for the future, led by more than 60 speakers who took the stage across various panels. The event brought together the experiences of entrepreneurs, investors—managing assets worth over €2.6 billion—and institutions not only from Italy but also from the DACH region. An innovative perspective on tomorrow’s challenges was also on display in the expo area, featuring 61 of the best startups from both the Italian and international scenes.
As the communication partner for the event, Blum supported media relations activities from the event’s announcement. This was a successful first experiment, which we supported by working on the engagement and strengthening of relationships between private and institutional actors within the Italian ecosystem.
The Event
During the event, Events.com announced its upcoming listing on the New York Stock Exchange. This was revealed by Paolo Privitera, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development at Events.com, who announced a merger agreement with Concord Acquisition Corp II. The new public company will retain the name Events.com and will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The merger values the company at $399 million, with an estimated equity value of $434 million at closing, based on 43.4 million shares outstanding, and $35 million in net cash.
Bolzano Slush’D gathered experts and innovators from around the world. On the Summit Stage, Privitera kicked off with a lecture on entrepreneurial strategies. Following this, Gianluca Dettori of Primo Venture and Laurens Groenendijk of Dutch Founders Fund discussed building global ecosystems. In the “Fresh Voices, Bold Moves” panel, young investors like Edgar Vicente of Enzo Ventures and Lucrezia Lucotti of 360 Capital shared their visions for the future of venture capital. In the afternoon, Silvia Corani, CCO of nCore, Victor Ranieri, COO of Casavo, and Andrea D’Amico, COO of WeRoad, analyzed the impact of Italian startups on the international scene.
On the Climber Stage, Fabio Mondini of Growth Capital explored the frontiers of innovation, followed by a discussion on FoodTech with Sara Guaglio of FUL Foods and Roberto Profera of Cortilia. The panel on sustainability and ClimateTech, featuring participants like Weronika Czaplewska of Envirly and Nick De La Forge of Planet A Ventures, also garnered significant interest.
Bolzano Slush’D offered two masterclasses: “From Zero to €200 Million in Revenue Without a Personal Assistant” by Claudio Erba, a fascinating journey through the challenges and successes that led Docebo, the company founded by Erba, to become an industry leader with a market capitalization of $1.6 billion. “Simplifying Investments with Legal Technology and Standardization” was the theme of the masterclass by Antonio Legrottaglie, partner at Dentons, which covered topics such as integrating legal technology into venture capital operations, the benefits of contract and legal document standardization, and how these practices can streamline and simplify the investment workflow.
The event concluded with a light dinner to connect corporates and investors, followed by an afterparty at Fiera Bolzano-Messe Bozen.
The Startup Competition
The winner of the Bolzano Slush’D startup competition was the Italian-Canadian startup SLY, which developed a sophisticated technology consisting of a sensor (shaped like a pine cone) placed in a forest or high-risk area, capable of selectively detecting the early stages of a fire and notifying the appropriate authorities.
SLY won participation in the international Slush event, held annually in Helsinki (in 2024, it will be on November 20th and 21st). The second place in the startup competition went to Cloov, an end-to-end technological solution for implementing a circular strategy through unsold inventory and buyback programs. Cloov received €2,500 in financial services offered by Sigma Squared. Other finalists included Guestnet, a platform that revolutionized guest management by making processes more efficient and maximizing revenue in the hotel and hospitality industry; Flowy, specializing in real-time passenger data management; and CAEMate, which developed innovative solutions for monitoring and proactively maintaining infrastructure through simulations using digital twins.