Two icy days. 13k people. Record investor density. AI takes the wheel. A €1M pitch win. And Helsinki proves (again) that a startup conference can feel like a festival and a spreadsheet at the same time.
The Vibe Check
If Coachella had a baby with a data room, you’d get Slush 2024. The whole thing went down Nov 20–21 at Messukeskus (Helsinki Expo & Convention Center)—neon rigs, fog, and a crowd that runs equally on coffee and cap tables.
This year’s headline stats were loud: ~13,000 attendees, including 5,500+ startups and 3,300 investors with $3T+ AUM prowling the aisles. Slush keeps calling itself the world’s biggest VC gathering—and honestly, the investor-per-founder density backs the brag.
Theme? “Metamorphosis — a call for radical transformation.” Translation: less pontificating, more evolving. The official line from Slush’s new CEO Aino Bergius: founders are in a hard market; tech-led change is how you break out. Mood matched the weather: crisp, focused, zero fluff.
What actually happened (aka: the feed you’d send your investor)
1) AI isn’t a feature anymore; it’s a business model smell test
Founders pitching “AI-powered X” got polite nods; founders showing validated performance, data rights, and unit economics got investor calendars. Macro-wise, people were cautiously optimistic that the funding bottleneck eases in 2025, with AI still the magnet. (Bergius told Reuters the quiet part out loud; the optimism is real but measured.)
2) Speed dating, but make it enterprise
Slush’s Matchmaking Tool did numbers—20,000+ pre-booked 1:1s across two days. If you landed in Helsinki with a clean deck and a calendar, you left with a pipeline (and probably a sauna slot).
3) The €1,000,000 mic drop
OASYS NOW took home Slush 100, the marquee pitch crown, with a €1M equity investment from Cherry Ventures + General Catalyst. They’re attacking clinical-trial matching and patient engagement—one of those “boring, giant” problems that VCs secretly love. (If you’re entering next year: Slush 100’s timeline & rules are public—read them.)
4) Big-brain keynotes, minimal cringe
NVIDIA co-founder Chris Malachowsky went full “30-year roadmap” on how compute shifts make new markets inevitable. Figma’s Dylan Field traced the meme-to-platform arc and why design velocity is the new moat. Vinted co-founder Milda Mitkutė served marketplace truths (and wardrobe chaos). These weren’t vanity slots; they were builder clinics.
Field notes: how Slush 2024 was different
Helsinki is the main character. The city leans all the way in: logistics behave, trams show up, and even the airport feels like it ships product. There’s a reason teams keep calling this the founder-focused event.
Operator core > celebrity panels. Fewer “thought leadership” panels, more how-to: GTM in a recession, CFO-level metrics at seed, COGS discipline in AI infra. Founders came to do meetings, not collect lanyards. (Numbers check out: investor/startup ratio stayed intense.)
Side events became a second conference. From LP/GP breakfasts to climate tracks and corporate venture open days, Slush Week is now a city-wide mesh of micro-summits. If you didn’t plan, you watched the best rooms fill up on X in real time.
The money angle (because your runway cares)
Reuters’ read on the ground: founders + funds are aligned on cautious momentum, with a clear eye on election-driven policy risk. Translation: terms are still terms, but if you’ve got real traction (and not just “AI pixie dust”), doors opened. Reuters
If you’re building:
- Bring data rooms, not demos. Investors chased evidence—clean metrics, customer references, minimal fluff.
- Own your data rights. Training on borrowed datasets? Investors will ding you.
- Know your infra bill. If you’re on foundation models, show pricing resilience when usage pops. (And yes, everyone asked about margins.)
The Slush 100 cheat sheet (bookmark this for 2025)
- Prize: €1,000,000 equity (Cherry Ventures + General Catalyst).
- Eligibility: Young companies (2022+), < €2M raised, Europe or North America focus.
- Timeline: Openings in August, finals on Day 2 at Slush.
- Perks: Hands-on mentoring (think 20VC deck workshop, Slack co-founder Q&A—last year’s flavor).
That €1M check isn’t an outlier; it’s a signal. Slush 100 is now the seed-stage Olympics for Europe. Start prepping in summer, not November. slush.org
Screenshots or it didn’t happen (speaker gems)
- Malachowsky (NVIDIA): Chips aren’t just faster; they rewrite what’s buildable—so your category might not exist yet. Build like it will. YouTube
- Dylan Field (Figma): The moat isn’t features; it’s how fast teams go from idea to shipped. Design velocity > design vanity. YouTube
- Milda Mitkutė (Vinted): Marketplaces grow when one side has an overwhelming reason to show up every day. Start there, then earn the other side. YouTube
Practical intel for founders (steal this playbook)
- Land with a calendar, not vibes. Use the Matchmaking Tool before your flight. Aim for 12–16 short meetings/day, then triage at night. That’s how 20k+ meetings happen. Vendelux
- Rotate two decks. A 5-slide “walk-and-talk” for the floor; a 15-slide version for quiet tables.
- Treat Helsinki like a campus. The best convos often happen at side events within walking distance of Messukeskus. Pack boots and battery packs. Nefco
- If you’re pitching Slush 100 next year: ship a crisp 90-sec video, rehearse timers, and get a dry run with someone who will roast you. (Judges did.) slush.org
Why Slush still slaps
Because it merges founder energy with operator discipline. The production is festival-level, but the content is spreadsheet-serious. It’s also run by people who clearly care about mechanics: logistics, curation, and density. That’s why the investor math is insane, and why a November show in sub-zero Finland keeps outranking sunny conferences elsewhere.
Receipts (for your boss, your LPs, or your skeptic co-founder)
Macro read: cautious optimism for 2025 dealmaking. Reuters
When/where: Nov 20–21, 2024, Messukeskus, Helsinki. InvestEU Nefco
Scale: ~13k attendees; 5,500+ startups; 3,300 investors; record density. Helsingin kaupunki Suomi ulkomailla
Theme: Metamorphosis—a call for radical transformation. Helsingin kaupunki
Investor AUM: ~$3T cited by media roundups. Tech Funding News
Slush 100 winner: OASYS NOW—€1M equity from Cherry + General Catalyst. Tech.eu
Speakers: Chris Malachowsky (NVIDIA), Dylan Field (Figma), Milda Mitkutė (Vinted)—talks published by Slush. YouTube+2YouTube+2
See you next November. Bring warm socks, a tight pitch, and a calendar that can take a beating.
