We believe entrepreneurship is the most effective way to change the world, at scale. That’s why everything we curate is based on founders’ current needs—aiming to create the most founder-focused event on earth.
Every year, Slush irresistibly attracts thousands of startups, compelling them to pack their winter coats, hats, and boots, and journey to the oh-so-tempting, dark, and cold Helsinki. But how do you justify this seemingly mad behaviour? Well, we’ve got plenty of rock-solid reasons.
If you’ve been to Slush before, you already know the thrill, and we welcome you back with open arms.
If this is your first time, read on and get even more excited.
Slush is the world’s largest gathering of venture capital
How does $3 trillion in assets under management sound?
You can sense it vividly when you lay your eyes on the 3,300 global investors, including VCs, LPs, and angel investors.
Our in-house matchmaking tool enables you to reach the unreachable and book meetings with them before you even arrive in Helsinki, leading to over 7,500 meetings in just 48 hours.
Our mantra when organizing Slush is relevance over scale. Every fourth person you meet at the event is an investor, all screened by the Slush Team to ensure they have a proven track record of actively investing in startups.
Top VCs like Sequoia, Accel, Index, a16z, and Kleiner Perkins join Slush every year—all here to meet the next generation of early-stage startups.
There’s no other place where you can randomly bump into a Midas List investor and strike up a conversation.
Don’t believe us? The proof is in the pudding:
- IVP led a $40M Series B round in Aiven
- ICONIQ led a $88M series C in Pigment
- Cherry led a $6M seed round in Carbo Culture
- General Catalyst led a $5.2M seed round in Huuva
- Northzone led a $14.5M Series A round in HappyOrNot
We give you the spotlight to showcase your product in many different ways
Imagine pitching your startup on the Founder Stage in front of 13,000 people, securing a €1 million equity investment from the world’s top VCs.
That’s the potential of the Slush 100 Startup Competition. On the other side of the Slush venue, your startup could be showcased among the most promising early-stage companies on the Startup Stage—where future unicorns like Kahoot and Pleo once stood.
Slush 100 Startup Competition:
At Slush 2024, the winner of Slush 100 gets an equity investment from the leading early-stage funds in Europe: General Catalyst and Cherry Ventures.
These world-class funds have backed exceptional companies like Stripe, Airbnb, Flix, and Auto1.
If your startup was founded in 2021 or later, has raised less than €2 million in equity funding, and is based in Europe or North America.
Apply by Sep 9 for a chance to compete in the most coveted startup competition in the world.
Apply here.
Startup Booth:
A Startup Booth is the perfect chance for you to be in the midst of our 13,000-person crowd, big enough to get a large amount of eyeballs on your startup, but small enough to have real conversations and develop high-quality relationships for your startup with investors and other businesses. This is your chance to win over investors and future customers at the heart of the Slush venue.
Apply for a Startup Booth here. You’ll need to create a profile, we’ll approve it, and then you’ll be able to apply for a booth.
Stage Program & Mentoring Concepts:
Our program and mentoring sessions deliver unparalleled insights from iconic founders, focused entirely on company-building. No matter the topic, we promise to deliver insights and concrete advice that you can put into practice the moment that you’re back at the office.
Check out our first 100 speakers here, and stay tuned for the launch of our mentoring concepts in October.
Founder-to-founder experiences you can't find anywhere else
At the Slush main event, founders are all in for investors’ attention, but we know that’s not the whole story of being a founder.
Building your own company can be lonely, which is why finding peers to connect with is crucial—after all, they’re the ones that fully understand what you’re going through.
Founders Day:
Imagine a laid-back setting on a beach, mingling with your peers with a drink in your hand, while savoring stage program tailored for startup founders. All of a sudden, lights go out, the DJ turns on the deck, and the venue turns into a massive beach party. This is what Founders Day is all about—creating memories with old and new connections—while enjoying the night as royals of Slush.
Founder Experience Events:
To set the tone for Founders Day, how does a sauna session and ice dip to wash away travel fatigue sound? Or perhaps a tour of the offices of Finland’s most exciting scaleups? While getting to know your peers from pre-seed to Series A, you’ll create truly memorable experiences in Helsinki.
Founder Re(DEI)fined, Female Founder Lunch, and other activities:
That’s not all. The entire Slush week will be packed with founder-focused gatherings, from Founder Re(DEI)fined to the Female Founder Lunch.
You can find all founder activities listed here.