Slush supports Founders House and FR8: “GDP growth requires taking bets”
Slush supports bold ecosystem initiatives, FR8 and the recently launched Founders House Helsinki. These next generation startup projects create a foundation that supports the earliest stages of company building. Slush wants to walk the talk and put focus on concrete initiatives that increase the chances of creating global success stories in Europe.
“Startups are our best bet for GDP growth. We can’t afford to stand around and wait for future technologies to be built and scaled elsewhere. Getting European tech companies in the global top 10 requires active grassroots growth—exactly what FR8 and Founders House are focusing on”, Slush CEO Noora Saksa describes the significance of the startup initiatives.
Grassroots initiatives build the economy upwards
Slush is the largest gathering of venture capital that brings together the global startup ecosystem each November in Helsinki. Its main mission is to help and create founders to change the world. To grasp the weight of Slush’s mission, it’s essential to understand how important startups are for the whole economy: In the world’s largest economy, US, startups account for 77% of market capitalization (Pitchbook 2022) and are valued over 6 times higher than the EU counterparts, boasting a combined value of $2.2 trillion higher (McAfee, 2024). Startups not only create economic growth but have an outsized impact on the job market and tax revenue needed to sustain nordic welfare states.
As part of Slush’s mission to create more founders, it inspires nearly 2,000 young volunteers building the event to become entrepreneurs in the future. It’s important that inspiration is also turned into action.
“In the earliest stage of company building you only have a vague idea of the product, no money to show for it and a whole lot of uncertainty. FR8 and Founders House bridge the gap between inspiration and building a company and in that way coincide with our mission”, Noora summarizes.
Hacker hotel FR8 brings international talent to Finland
For over a year, FR8 has succeeded in attracting the world’s brightest minds from leading universities and institutions to Finland to work on their passion projects. Sometimes labeled as a “hacker hotel”, FR8 aims to facilitate the next transistor-like technological breakthroughs and success stories like Google. The three month residence program offers an environment of absolute concentration without the usual pressures of corporate life. Demo Day organized at the end of the program continuously brings leading VCs to Finland. FR8 is located on Aalto University campus, a technical university in the Finnish capital area.
“FR8 is the modern day Los Alamos for the crazy visionaries and smartest young technical mavericks who are not afraid to take risks and pursue groundbreaking innovations. We’re a hacker hotel, startup incubator, and research lab all molded into one”, Nantte Kivinen, one of FR8’s founders explains.
FR8 is currently hosting its history’s 3rd cohort with 30 young talents. The first official cohort organized during summer 2025 has already been valued at €100 million.
Founders House is assembling Finland’s national team of builders
Launched in February 2026, Founders House Helsinki is placing its bet on the earliest stages of company building. Based on the concept behind Stockholm’s Lovable-scale success stories, Founders House Helsinki is aiming to create a new wave of exceptional companies in Finland. The highly competitive, application based startup hub selects only the 0,1% of the most promising builders. For them, Founders House offers a free working space, mentoring and support networks. The not-for-profit doesn’t take stakes from its residents, but the Next Generation VC Wave Ventures residing in the same office space offers a close proximity to investor prospects.
“We want to enable the building of success stories similar to Wolt, Oura and Supercell—companies that directly contribute to European GDP growth. We equip our residents with all the necessary resources and an environment so ambitious that success is a deliberate consequence. GDP growth starts here”, Kia Kanninen, the Operational lead of Founders House Helsinki says.
Together, Founders House and FR8 strengthen the grassroots growth of the Finnish ecosystem and Slush aims to accelerate their impact by supporting these initiatives.
During 2026, Founders House, Slush and Wave Ventures will move to the same office building in the Helsinki city center to ensure closer knit collaboration between the local startup ecosystem. The aim is to create a stronger funnel from inspiring young people to build companies, to supporting early stage founders and investing in next generation companies.
Read more about Founders House Helsinki and FR8 here.