Up, up and finaway! – finleap spends the weekend in Milan
The finleap team (our Milan Travellers)
One of finleap’s core values is diversity. We are already active through our portfolio company’s offerings in 15 countries, and 60+ countries are represented in our finleap team. This past weekend, we got the chance to experience our diversity firsthand, namely through our finleap team and fintech Hub in Milan.
Organized by both the Berlin and Milan Events & Communications teams, this finaway’s program was packed to the brim. After arriving in Milan on Friday afternoon, the two finleap teams met for the first time in the lobby of the Hotel NYX. Together, we walked to the Daniel Ristorante, in Milan’s Porta Garibaldi Quarter, where we took a cooking class from Master Chef Daniel Canzian and his team.
Our VP Studio, Daniel, in front of the Daniel Ristorante
Over the course of the evening, our entire team learned all about Mise en Place (setting the table), serving wine and preparing and cooking traditional Italian dishes. Our Italian team members used their chance to teach the rest of the team about traditional Italian cuisine (and how to eat it).
Learning about the science of taste with Master Chef Daniel Canzian
After a five-course dinner, we moved to the fintech hub Milano, where a DJ, a bar and more food awaited us, and where we saw the fruits of 2 years of work to build the team and office in Milan.
The ground floor of the fintech Hub Milan
The next morning, we met our tour guides at Centrale (Central Station), where we were divided into our groups for our treasure hunt in Milan’s historical city center. The objective was to answer all 12 questions and meet the guides in the Parco Sempione once finished, requiring us to use another one of our finleap values, collaboration.
finleap in front of the iconic Duomo di Milano
After about 3 hours, all 11 teams eventually made it to the meeting point, where the first, second and third place prizes were distributed. In first place was Team Naviglio Grande, who not only got to the meeting point first, but also got all of the questions correct and completed all of the bonus activities. Once the prizes were distributed, everyone had about 3 hours of free time to further explore Milan before dinner.
Team Naviglio Grande poses with their first place prizes
In an abandoned factory hall resides the Spirit de Milan, our final destination for Saturday evening. A dance floor, a theater, a restaurant, a meeting point and a place where 40’s swing meets the 21st century – Spirit de Milan really has it all. After our dinner, some of our team members took to the dance floor and participated in an on-the-spot swing dance demonstration. The party lasted long into the evening…
The team enjoying the meal at Spirit de Milan
This finaway was an amazing opportunity to finally meet our finleap Milan team, explore Milan and strengthen our collaboration. finleap is rapidly expanding, and we are proud to say that we hire new fins every week. This weekend gave the new fins the chance to get to know their own team members, as well as get to know everyone outside of their teams. After all, we are one big family!