Slush revokes pitching competition win over winner’s ties to Russia

Helsinki-based start-up conference Slush revokes the one-million-euro prize awarded to Immigram. Immigrams seeks to facilitate the immigration process for knowledge workers looking to enter the United Kingdom. Critics say the company’s operations focus exclusively specifically on assisting experts leaving Russia. Both Mirolyubova and Sharonov are Russian nationals but long-time residents of the UK, according to Helsingin Sanomat. Slush on Monday said it has asked the investment firms that were to make the investment to pull the prize from the investment, saying it has decided to revoke the win “after receiving new information” on the scope of the Russian operations. The winner of the contest was selected by the same five investment firms. . . .