Side Events are perhaps even more important than the SLUSH itself in terms of networking. Nataliia Varhich from TRMNL4, and our Startup Kitchen Partner, hand-picked the most relevant ones that shouldn’t miss while travelling to freezy Finland.
HV Kick-off Drinks
- Date & Time: November 18, 4:00-7:00 PM
- Entrance Requirement: Slush ticket not required,
- Description: Hosted by HV Capital, one of Europe’s leading early-stage and growth investors with €2.8bn in managed assets and a portfolio including Zalando, Delivery Hero, and Flixbus. Some drinks and talks in a company of like-minded professionals, and nothing superfluous.
- RSVP link: https://luma.com/wvt3f02b?tk=Pi7c7D
Expanding & Winning in the US
- Date & Time: November 19, 12:00-1:30 PM,
- Entrance Requirement: Slush ticket not required,
- Description: A side-event by a16z, Operators & Friends, and Extraordinary. Join Fireside chat with Sigil Wen (Founder, Extraordinary and Thiel Fellow) who has helped hundreds of top founders including Andrej Karpathy (ex-OpenAI), Anton Osika (Lovable), and Guillermo Rauch (Vercel) secure O-1 visas and launch in the US, and Gorkem Yurtseven (co-founder and CTO of fal) who scaled the company from $2M to over $100M in ARR in less than 2 years, to unpack what it truly takes to expand and win in the US market.
- RSVP link: https://partiful.com/e/w8NT2sOJbTWj3K6wv5Dc?
Scaling Startups from Japan to the World
- Date & Time: November 19, 2:00-4:00 PM,
- Entrance Requirement: for Slush 2025 ticket holders,
- Description: Visit this event for pitches from Japan’s most promising startups in healthcare, AI, biotech, and new materials. With ~120 curated participants, including entrepreneurs, VCs, CVCs, and corporate partners, organized by the City of Kyoto and Plug and Play Japan.
- Register here: RSVP link
VENTURE SPEAK EASY: Podcast & Drinks
- Date & Time: November 19, 4:30-8:00 PM,
- Entrance Requirement: Slush ticket not required,
- Description: Live podcast recording with builders from Zalando, Wolt, Lovable, Headway, and BetterMe alongside investors from Accel, Creandum, Felix Capital, TRUE, and Cherry VC. The event features 10 consumer tech founders from TRMNL4 x Meta’s 5th batch, flying in from the US, UK, and beyond, as well as guests from Atomico, Redpoint, DN Capital, and Speedinvest.
- RSVP link: https://luma.com/hl8hc324
Accelerate with AI: From Zero to Scale
- Date & Time: November 19, 4:45-6:00 PM,
- Entrance Requirement: for Slush 2025 ticket holders ,
- Description: 500 Global is hosting a session on how early-stage founders utilize AI to scale their businesses 10 times faster, covering topics such as fundraising, customer acquisition, and operations. Panel format with founders and VCs from 500 Global’s portfolio sharing what’s actually working and what’s not.
- Register here: RSVP link
EWOR Fellows X Merantix Capital Networking Hour
- Date & Time: November 20, 12:00-1:15 PM,
- Entrance Requirement: for Slush 2025 ticket holders,
- Description: Join an exclusive networking hour with EWOR Fellows and investors who back the top 0.1% of founders from 40,000+ applicants, and Merantix Capital investing in category-defining AI ventures at pre-seed and seed stage, over drinks and food.
- Register here: RSVP link
CEE VC Backstage
- Date & Time: November 20, 4:00-6:00 PM,
- Entrance Requirement: for Slush 2025 ticket holders, registration by the link,
- Description: Join top VCs from Central & Eastern Europe for exclusive networking and deal-flow exchange. This intimate event brings together fund managers, LPs, and ecosystem builders to discuss collaboration, co-investment opportunities, and building bridges between CEE and global markets.
- Register here: RSVP link.
AI Rising: Europe’s Next Hub
- Date & Time: November 18, 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM.
- Entrance Requirement: for Slush 2025 ticket holders, registration by the link,
Description: Discover how the Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence (IPAI) is building one of Europe’s largest AI ecosystems — a place where cutting-edge research meets scalable business. Learn how Heilbronn, together with Campus Founders, is becoming a magnet for founders and investors shaping the future of human-centered AI. Meet our inspiring Campus Founders Community members and discover how great startups are emerging from Heilbronn.
- Register here: RSVP link,
Register early as spots are limited. Make the most of your Slush week by connecting with the people shaping Europe’s tech future.
