Medicon Village at the SLUSH event in Helsinki

Last week, Medicon Village was present at SLUSH – the world’s most founder-focused startup event happening annually in Helsinki that brings together entrepreneurs, tech innovators, and a strong global investor community. This year’s edition attracted over 13 000 participants from 90 countries, representing more than 6 000 startups, 3 500 investors, and 1 700 partners and ecosystem builders like Medicon Village.

We were there to explore how our members can benefit from this platform, meet with investors, corporate innovation teams, and international partners to explore new pathways for collaboration, while highlighting the depth and potential of our life science community in the region. The discussions around global scaling, new market entry, data-driven decision-making, and international partnerships were especially inspiring. On this point, SLUSH truly showcases how collaboration fuels innovation.

A central part of our visit was Y Science, the flagship life science side event organised in connection with SLUSH. Y Science brings together researchers, startups, and industry leaders through pitch competitions, keynote sessions, and networking, and this year it focused on cutting-edge innovation across Health & Pharma, Food Systems, and Nature & Forest. The event is designed to inspire concrete action by bridging the scientific community with investors and business expertise — a mission closely aligned with our own.

Engaging in conferences such as SLUSH and Y Science supports our three strategic pillars of Commercialisation, Capital, and Competence. It allows us to identify emerging trends, connect with investors, and deepen opportunities for collaboration across borders. These interactions strengthen our ability to support members at every stage of their growth journey, from early-stage research to market-ready innovation.