A VC firm is investigating after a man allegedly performed a Nazi salute at a party the company hosted last week.
London-based Backed VC held its annual afterparty at Kaiku Club, a club in Helsinki, following the opening day of Finland’s flagship tech conference Slush.
According to two attendees, three men entered the party and made their way to the dancefloor. One of the men is alleged to have drawn a swastika on a piece of paper, with the caption “Sieg Heil”, before performing a Nazi salute while his friend enthusiastically filmed the behaviour on his phone.
Sieg Heil, a German phrase which translates as “hail victory” in English, refers to a salute historically used by Nazis at political rallies.
“He did a Nazi salute with his whole arm and chest. His friend was filming,” said one of the attendees. Several party guests told the man and his friends to leave, the person said.
A spokesperson for Backed said it was “shocked” to hear about the alleged incident and was investigating. The firm does not know the individual involved, it said.
“The reported actions of this isolated incident would go directly against what we stand for at Backed,” they said. “We have a zero tolerance policy for any form of discrimination or hatred. We vehemently oppose any behaviour that makes anyone feel uncomfortable.”
"This is our 8th year hosting a party at Slush, part of a series of more than 40 events we organise each year. We are proud to consistently provide a safe environment for our attendees," said the spokesperson.
Backed told Sifted that organisers had taken steps to ensure the safety of everyone at the party, including sending an email to guests beforehand to spell out expected conduct and hiring professional security guards.
Nelli Sillanpää, head of PR and media for Slush emphasised that, while the event took place in the same week as Slush, it wasn’t organised by the event itself.
“That, said: we want to be crystal clear: there is absolutely no place for hate symbols, hate speech or discriminatory behaviour in the Slush community, or in the startup ecosystem at large.”
This article was updated on 25th November to clarify that Backed does not know the individual involved.
