Dates: November 19-22, 2024       Ask: 112,078 USDT (Budget)

Full proposal: Polkadot at Slush 2024       Discussion: Polkadot Forum

Problem: Polkadot has a notable lack of exposure in the entrepreneur and investor networks outside the blockchain circles and marginal recognition among those startup founders who would benefit from building their solutions on Web3 rails.

Solution: Located in Helsinki, Finland, Slush is Europe’s premier startup event and the largest concentration of VC money, offering a unique opportunity to connect with a broad audience of tech entrepreneurs and investors, enhancing Polkadot’s visibility and reach.

Approach: A high-profile team of Polkadot networkers (Lucy, Six, Gábo, Luuu, Zoé, Strindbergman, Polkadot Agent, Jimmy, Max, Filippo and Bill) will find the most promising people among the founders and investors that gather at Slush. To support their efforts, a digital marketing campaign is carried out beforehand and two events are arranged. Half of the networkers will host a Polkadot-exclusive Web3 panel for people interested in emerging tech (AI, XR, Web3). The other half hosts a Finnish-style sauna event for international investors, highlighting the benefits of Web3 and Polkadot. Active networking continues for three days, with the goal of reaching 100 high-potential, qualified leads.

This initiative is a new way to boost Polkadot visibility outside our ecosystem. It happens during an event but it’s not only promotion, sales or plain relationship building. This can be seen as:

• A marketing initiative to create awareness and increase interest among the 13,000 Slush participants, portraying Polkadot as one of the official partners.
• A business development initiative to create new opportunities for the existing ecosystem teams and help new teams enter the Web3 space.
• An investor relations initiative attracting new capital in-flows into the ecosystem.

Ecosystem engagement: Investment opportunities from within the Polkadot ecosystem are pre-collected and shared with interested investors. The lasting relationships we build will increase the capital in-flows, media exposure, teams of builders and new tech talent within the Polkadot ecosystem. The most Web3 curious founders and investors are directed to a shared Telegram group where the ecosystem teams can directly engage with them already during the event. The networkers will organize follow-up meetings with those who give their consent through a sign-up form.

A new beginning: We will share all our materials, tools and learning points with the community so that others can benefit from our work and develop the networking approach further. This is also the first project for the newly founded Polkadot Community Foundation to support.

Full proposal: Polkadot at Slush 2024       Discussion: Polkadot Forum