Slush 2026 is a Bet on Europe
What made us Europeans insecure? Leonardo Da Vinci, the great inventor in the late 1400’s, shares a similarity with today’s founders. He tried and failed many times before flying. Yet, we celebrate him as someone who built great things.
Europeans have always solved hard problems. We’re builders with ideas. Da Vinci wasn’t an exception. Our history is replete with examples from penicillin to the World Wide Web.
However, we’re done looking to the past. The world is entering a new era, and so is Europe. AI has made intelligence abundant, and deep tech is rebuilding entire industries from robotics to energy and space.
Da Vinci would be proud of European tech
European tech’s growth is exactly where North America was ten years ago, at the start of its exponential curve (Dealroom). A bit slow at first, but that’s how exponential growth begins.
Europe does not need to win by being the fastest. We can win by choosing the right questions and going deeper than anyone else. Our unfair advantage is producing twice as many science and engineering graduates as the US. In 2025, almost 80 European deep tech university spinouts reached €1B valuations or €100M in revenue (European Spinout report 2025).
The problem was never talent. There are many Da Vincis in Europe just waiting for their Ornithopters to take off. 42% of entrepreneurs say it is more attractive to be a founder in Europe today than a year ago, up from 25% in 2024 (State of European Tech Report 2025). Our common consciousness is rewiring.
The first European €1T company is inevitable
Da Vinci never waited for permission or ready-made circumstances, and neither do we. World, you don’t want to miss this:
Two of the ten most valuable companies in the world will be European tech by 2050. Our Golden Age of startups is only beginning.
Not someday. Not somewhere else. Here. Now.
And that’s why Slush 2026 is a Bet on Europe.
See you in Helsinki, Nov 18–19.
//Noora SaksaCEO of Slush