Current topics | Collaboration

Student startups and commercialisation teams heading to Slush

Published on 20.10.2026

Tampere University

Hämyisä violetin sävyillä valaistu tapahtumahalli, jossa tummanpuhuvia ihmishahmoja.

Slush is the world's leading startup event, bringing together international growth entrepreneurs, venture capital investors, corporations and other key ecosystem players at the Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre.Photo: Vertti Luoma

Commercialising research results enables scientific innovations to develop into impactful and sustainable solutions for society. Tampere University produces world-class research that gives rise to research-based spin-off companies each year. International events such as Slush provide important opportunities for networking with investors, partners and other key stakeholders.

Tampere University will attend Slush as part of the Startup.Tampere delegation. The Startup.Tampere ecosystem brings together regional startup founders, investors, corporate partners and support organisations. Coordinated by the City of Tampere, the ecosystem also benefits from the university's strong involvement.

Nine Research to Business (R2B) teams from Tampere University are attending Slush, along with four startups from TRES (Tampere Entrepreneurship Society).

Investor meetings open doors to international growth

"Slush provides an opportunity to network and build relationships with potential international partners and investors. That is why it is extremely important to be actively present at events such as Slush from the earliest stages," says Juho Väisänen, Innovation Services Manager at Tampere University.

Raising investment can take several months. Before finding the right investor, teams often need to meet dozens or even hundreds of potential financiers. Slush attracts around 13,000 participants annually, including approximately 3,500 investors. The event brings together a significant concentration of capital under one roof, with venture capital firms and their limited partners managing a combined portfolio worth around four trillion US dollars.

Ecosystem collaboration increases visibility and momentum

Tampere University conducts world-class research, and new technological innovations are a key part of its societal impact.

For Slush, Startup.Tampere has reserved a Partner Pod where four themed events will take place over two days. The themes are industrial technology and energy, semiconductors and advanced manufacturing, health and life sciences, and AI and physical AI.

The participating R2B teams and startups will pitch their solutions directly to investors specialising in these fields, providing a window into the latest innovations emerging from Tampere.

"Being part of the Startup.Tampere delegation increases the visibility of our teams. Our collaboration enables broader promotion and helps us reach audiences that individual teams, or even the university delegation alone, would not otherwise reach," says Väisänen.