TAMPERE, October 19th, 2023 – For the second consecutive year, a startup from Platform6 wins the Finnish round of the New Nordics Pitch Competition. This year, Commu, a social impact platform, clinched the top spot, showcasing its innovative solution to address major social issues, including an acute problem of loneliness in Europe.
By winning, Commu has secured its place in the Grand Final to be held on November 29th at Maria 01 during the Slush week in Helsinki. They will also benefit from tailored workshops on U.S. market entry and gain mentorship from Silicon Valley and New Nordic experts. Additionally, they have been awarded a ticket to the Slush conference.
The New Nordics Pitch Competition by Silicon Vikings aims to identify and promote the most promising startups across the Nordics and Baltics based on various criteria, including scalability, business plan, and real-world problem-solving capabilities. The competition was intense, with eight top-tier Finnish finalists, including BiopSense, FinnAdvance, Hookie Inc, Kodarit, Lincoln Method, No No No, and SeeTrue Technologies, competing at the regional event run by Platform6 on October 18th, 2023 at G Livelab Tampere.
Esteemed jury members for the event were Caroline Gattner (Maki VC), Jupe Arala (Vendep Capital), Reima Linnanvirta (Trind VC), and Ossi Numminen (FiBAN, Fiilgood). Over 100 participants, encompassing startups, investors, and ecosystem builders, graced the event, with an additional 200+ international viewers streaming via Platform6 YouTube channel.
Karoliina Kauhanen, the vibrant founder of Commu, expressed her elation, stating, “Commu is humbled to be representing Finland and social startups at the Silicon Vikings New Nordics Pitching competition. Helping is a universal language and it is great to have the opportunity to showcase our user stories and growth to an international audience. With more than 50,000 users, 10,000+ good deeds done and multiple international awards won, latest from the United Nations, we’re hoping to bring a positive vibe and stories to the thrilling finals!”
The grandeur of the Finland Final signals the start of an electrifying race to the New Nordics Grand Final during Slush week. The impending showdown at Maria 01, Helsinki will feature the crème de la crème from various regions, including Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, and the Baltics, all vying for the esteemed title of New Nordics Grand Champion.
About Commu:
Commu is a revolutionary social impact platform, which matches people who need help with people who want to help, at home and at work. We enable easy and safe ways to increase communality and reduce the biggest social issues of our lifetime, such as loneliness which costs €154B for employees in Europe. A free P2P platform for private users, nonprofit management platform for nonprofits and corporate social responsibility tool for corporations. In just a year, Commu has reached more than 50,000 users, raised two angel rounds with international and celebrity investors, won multiple awards and enabled +10,000 good deeds in Finland, Norway and Germany.
About Silicon Vikings:
Silicon Vikings is a 45,000+ network that connects Nordic and Baltic Innovation with Silicon Valley and vice versa. We are a non-profit organisation that has been headquartered in Silicon Valley since 1997 with nodes throughout the Nordic and Baltic region and we act as a bridge between regions.We organise approximately 20-25 events in the Bay Area each year in addition to cross-border events with our nodes and partners in the New Nordics to better connect the two regions. We organise networking events and pitching competitions in the Nordics/Baltics & in Silicon Valley. For more information visit www.siliconvikings.com/home
For media enquiries: Alexandra Santos, alexandra@platform6.fi, 040 824 36 35.
