Slush’s new €500,000 bet: Slush 100 revamped
Slush 100 is the world’s most coveted startup competition. The Tournament style competition selects the top 100 based on formal applications and Top 20 are selected by a top jury. The competition culminates to a final of three pitching on Slush’s Founder stage in front of thousands of attendees.
The new program for under 20 year-olds, Slush 20U20, puts a spotlight on the most exceptional outliers of our generation.
Slush is making its biggest bet of the decade: one startup will win €500,000, equity free. That's the largest equity-free amount in a startup competition. For an early-stage startup this is 3-6 months of free runway, money to experiment, with no strings attached. The winner also has a guaranteed speaking slot on the main stage next year.
Slush 100 has been the culmination of the whole Slush event since the beginning: it’s the longest running concept, all the way from the founding year of 2008. Over the decades it has seen many iterations:
- 2008–2010 → Slush seven
- 2011-2013 → Slush 100 introduced, winner gets a €10k investment
- 2014–2021 → €500k investment to the Slush 100 winner
- 2022-2025 → €1M investment from top VCs
- 2026 → €500k equity-free for the winning team
"Founders are building across a wider, more complex range of technology than ever. A flat €1M at a fixed valuation and standard terms no longer fits most startups. €500,000, equity-free, is the bold bet the ecosystem needs now” Slush CEO Noora Saksa breaks down the news.
The change in Slush 100 makes the competition more accessible: it opens the competition to participants coming from outside the Europe and US. The previous VC investment model limited the participant pool due to their own investment limitations.
Forbes 30U30 gets a new competitor — Introducing Slush 20U20
Alongside the revamped Slush 100 competition, Slush is introducing a new program for the most exceptional outliers of our generation: Slush 20 Under 20.
“Some of the most influential builders haven’t even turned twenty yet. As a student-run event, Slush wants to put a spotlight on young prodigies and help them get ahead. We essentially built a concept we wish existed when we were 20”, Noora Saksa explains.
The twenty extraordinary supertalents are flown to Helsinki, accommodated together and connected with top European founders & investors throughout the Slush Week.
Know an outlier? Nominations are open here.