Slush 100 explained: how the competition works and what the winner gets

Slush 100 is the startup competition at Slush, the Helsinki event on 18–19 November 2026. 1 This explainer covers how the 2026 competition runs, what the winner gets and how the prize has changed. For passes and prices, see our Slush 2026 guide. For the events around the main days, see our list of Slush side events.

Slush describes it on its own Slush 100 page as “The Most Coveted Startup Competition in the World”. Startups pitch live, and the winner returns to Slush 2027 as a main stage speaker. The page names General Catalyst, NEA, Cherry and ICONIQ as hosts. 1

The competition narrows in three steps. Out of more than 1,400 applicants, 100 startups were selected. Each of them is, in Slush's words, “a one-minute pitch away from the semifinals”. 1 The 20 semifinalists pitch at the Startup Stage on the morning of Day 1, in front of the four hosts. Slush 2026 then culminates in the Slush 100 finals, where one of three finalists wins. 1 Slush's FAQ says Slush 2026 takes place on 18–19 November, with 17 November as Day 0. 3

1. 100 startups selected from more than 1,400 applicants.
2. 20 semifinalists pitch on the Startup Stage on the morning of Day 1.
3. 3 finalists compete in the Slush 100 finals; one wins.

The winner gets €500,000 with 0% equity. Slush calls this “the largest equity-free amount in a startup competition, ever”. 1 In its article announcing the change, Slush says that for an early-stage startup this is “3-6 months of free runway”, and that a flat €1M at a fixed valuation and standard terms “no longer fits most startups”. 2 Slush's promotional video for 2026 also mentions the attention of 12,000 people for the finalists and mentoring from main stage speakers for the 100 selected founders.

A prize like this is not the only way to fund a young company. For the investors who do back Finnish startups, see our overview of venture capital firms in Finland.

Slush's own article lists the prize in four steps: €10k in 2011–2013, a €500k investment in 2014–2021, a €1M investment from top VCs in 2022–2025 and €500k equity-free in 2026.2 The table adds the winners we can name: for 2025 from Slush's own post, for 2024 from the winner's own website. For 2023 and 2022 we found no official page that names the winner, so those cells are empty on purpose.

Slush's own LinkedIn post announces Diffraqtion as the winner of the 2025 Slush 100, with a €1M equity funding prize from Cherry Ventures and General Catalyst.7 Diffraqtion's home page also shows the cheque and the year 2025.4 OASYS NOW's page carries the 2024 line, and Erasmus University Rotterdam announced on 22 November 2024 that its alumni startup had won the “€1 million grand prize” at Slush 2024.56

Three startups reached the Slush 100 final in 2025: Diffraqtion, Kinetic and Parsewise. In Slush's recording of the final, the host says the field had narrowed from more than a thousand startups to 100, then 50, then 20 in the semifinal and finally three. Each finalist had five minutes to pitch and five minutes of questions from a jury of partners from Cherry Ventures and General Catalyst.8

The jury's questions followed one theme: what makes each company hard to copy and how it grows. Diffraqtion was asked how it would become a platform rather than a component supplier, and how it would defend its patents. Kinetic was asked how it stands out from other marketing-technology companies and how it would raise its contract sizes. Parsewise was asked how it would hold off large AI labs, and how it deals with hallucinations and traceability.8

After the pitches, the Cherry Ventures and General Catalyst partners on the jury spoke on stage about the 2025 cohort. They said passion stood out across the whole top 100 and that they want to know why a founder is building a company. They also said the level of ambition rises every year, with harder problems being taken on, and that many companies were going after hard industries such as manufacturing, space, defence and robotics, which one of them linked to Europe's current challenges. Slush's recording of the winner announcement then names Diffraqtion as the winner.9

Slush's Slush 100 page lists the 100 selected startups under the heading “Meet the top 100”.1 The page gives names only, with no country, sector or website. The table follows the page's order, four names to a row, and was checked on 24 Oct 2026. Slush says 20 of the 100 pitch in the semifinals on the Startup Stage on the morning of Day 1; the page does not say which 20.

The 2026 page does not state who may apply, for example a founding year or a stage, and it shows no application link: it says that applications closed on 7 September. Questions go to startups@slush.org, the address the page gives. The page does not say when the 2027 call will open, so watch it and Slush's newsroom. 1