How far would you go to fund your startup?
If you’re in Scandinavia, you might be taking a polar bear plunge to secure that funding. For the second year, Polar Bear Pitching is back. Ten lucky startups will get to deliver their “coolest” pitch at the event in Oulu, Finland on Feb. 25 — they will have to look into the cold, dark waters of the Oulujoki River and dive in.
According to the event’s website, “The startups get to pitch as long as they can in freezing cold water while they are being filmed and broadcast to the widest audiences all over the world.”
This year’s startups making the plunge include: Haltian, Volundeer, Braci, Optomed, SportID, PintPlease, ComFee, Tinitell, Netsono and Breaking Ice. Collectively, they represent Finland, Norway, Estonia and the UK.
“The idea is to handpick startups that have most potential with scalable and international business models. More startups will be announced in the following weeks,” states the Polar Bear Pitching release.
Last year’s event garnered international attention. Event organizers report that more than 60 percent of the 30 startups that jumped in last year are now funded. The pitchfest is courtesy of a nonprofit, Midnight Pitch Fest, which has volunteers hailing from local companies, universities and business development teams coming together to make the Polar Bear Pitching event happen.
Can’t make the coolest pitching event in Europe? You can follow the action online through live streaming.
Makes our Startup Demo Zone look like a piece of cake, doesn’t it?
Here’s a video from 2014’s plunge:
