Good morning, tech reporter Beatrice Nolan here, filling in for Allie Garfinkle. I’ve just returned from Slush, one of Europe’s most startup-focused tech events. While the weather lived up to its name—temperatures dropped to a toasty 26°F—there was no shortage of founders and investors willing to brave the snow.
More than 13,000 people, including 3,500 investors and 6,000 startups and scaleups, descended on Helsinki. Of these, 80% came from European countries, mainly northern Europe, Germany and France, but also central and southern Europe.
The region has gotten a fair bit of flak over the last few years, both from investors and Big Tech companies that have taken issue with the EU’s harsher regulatory landscape, especially the commission’s AI Act, which has been blamed for stifling innovation and setting Europe back in the global AI race.
Still, European founders and investors are feeling confident—and that’s all down to talent.
“I’ve never been more bullish about Europe,” Creandum founder Staffan Helgesson said during a panel. “There are a lot of things we need to fix here, but we have great founders, investors, and talent. Europe has a talent advantage right now, with the U.S. cutting down on immigration.”
