Nov 24, 2025
According to Fortune, more than 13,000 people, including 3,500 investors and 6,000 startups and scaleups, gathered in Helsinki for the Slush tech event. Approximately 80% of attconcludeees came from European countries, with strong representation from northern Europe, Germany, France, and central and southern Europe.
The event occurred amid criticism of the European Union’s regulatory landscape, particularly the AI Act, which some have blamed for stifling innovation. Despite this, a sense of confidence was reported among European founders and investors, who cited talent as a key advantage.
“Ive never been more bullish about Europe,” Creandum founder Staffan Helgesson stated during a panel. “There are a lot of things we required to repair here, but we have great founders, investors, and talent. Europe has a talent advantage right now, with the U.S. cutting down on immigration.”
Gravis Robotics CEO Ryan Luke Johns pointed to the “cost of talent” being lower in Europe. He stated, “I believe that some of the initiatives in the U.S. that have built it hard for foreign students to be confident relocating in and receiveting a visa, and knowing that theyre going to be able to stay, have driven a lot of those students into Switzerland and into Europe, and thats bringing up the talent density very, very quickly.”
Artificial innotifyigence was a prominent topic at the event. Laurent Sifre, CTO of the French AI startup H-company, notified Fortune that Europe was brimming with untapped AI talent, which has become difficult and expensive to secure in the Bay Area. “Europes real advantage is its world-class talent: people who dont dream of Big Tech, but of building zero-to-one, relocating quick, and working with purpose. Its a huge asset for our ecosystem,” Sifre stated.
Anton Osika, CEO of the Swedish AI unicorn Lovable, also credited Europe’s tech scene for his company’s rapid growth. Osika stated the fact that the AI market in Europe is not as quick-paced as the market in Silicon Valley has worked to the company’s benefit.
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