Finnish PE-VC Summit 2026 – 35 years building the future

Startup Clinic — Creatives Edition, hosted with Business Helsinki A gathering for creative founders who are building. FiBAN Startup Clinics bring together founders and FiBAN investors for a session of open sparring, problem-sharing, and honest conversation. No presentations, no pitch competition — just a room where you can talk about what's actually hard right now and get real input from people who've seen it before. Around one third of the room are FiBAN member investors and experienced operators. The other two thirds are founders from creative industries at companies with early traction or active development. Business Helsinki will share a brief perspective from their work to open the evening. This is for you if: You're building a company in a creative field — design, media, fashion, gaming, culture, content, or beyond — and navigating real decisions around growth, funding, or team. You want direct, unfiltered input — not a lecture. You're ready to both share and help others in the room. There is no official program; just casual sparring around a cup of coffee between founders, FiBAN members, and other ecosystem partners. Start your journey to pitch at Pitch Finland here. Learn more: https://fiban.org/apply/ Spots are limited and registrations are reviewed.

Kevytyrittäjyys on helppo askel kohti omaa bisnestä. Sopisiko se juuri sinulle? 🫵🏻 Oletko kiinnostunut yrittäjyydestä, mutta sinulla ei ole juuri aikaa yrityksen perustamiselle tai et halua ottaa suurta riskiä? Kevytyrittäjänä voit johtaa työskentelyäsi joustavasti sekä riskittömästi, ja se antaa samalla hyvät eväät täyspäiväistä yrittäjyyttä varten! 💡 Tervetuloa kuulemaan OP Kevytyrittäjän esittely ja Helsinki Think Companyn tiimin parhaat tärpit koskien kevytyrittäjyyttä. OP Kevytyrittäjän palveluita saapuu esittelemään Business Developer Miikka Ihalainen. Tapahtuman järjestää Helsingin yliopiston yrittäjyysyhteisö Helsinki Think Company, joka auttaa opiskelijoita, tutkijoita ja asiantuntijoita viemään akateemisen osaamisensa käytäntöön. Tapahtuman kumppanina toimii OP Kevytyrittäjä. OP Kevytyrittäjän tarjoaa OP Palvelut Oy, joka on osa OP Pohjolaa. Tapahtuman kieli on englanti. *** Light entrepreneurship is an easy first step toward starting your own business. Could it be right for you? 🫵🏻 Are you interested in entrepreneurship, but don’t have much time to start a business or don’t want to take on a big risk? As a light entrepreneur, you can manage your work flexibly and without risk, while also gaining valuable experience for full-time entrepreneurship! 💡 Join us to hear a presentation on OP's Light Entrepreneur program and get the Helsinki Think Company team’s top tips on light entrepreneurship. Joining us to introduce OP Light Entrepreneur's services will be Business Developer Miikka Ihalainen. The event is organised by Helsinki Think Company, the University of Helsinki’s entrepreneurship community, which helps students, researchers, and experts put their academic expertise into practice. OP Light Entrepreneur is a partner of the event. The event is organised in English.

Watch the next generation of AI startups take the stage with Anthropic! For Maria 01 NEXT, Maria 01 and Anthropic are bringing together ten ambitious startups building bold, novel solutions with AI for a live pitching competition in Helsinki. These startups will take the Maria 01 NEXT stage to pitch their companies in front of Anthropic and Felix Capital. And there’s more at stake: the winning startups will have the opportunity to join Anthropic on stage at an exclusive Slush side event in November, alongside Claude credits and Anthropic startup benefits. 10 startups. 3 minutes. One stage. Each selected startup will have: 3-minute live pitch A sharp introduction to their company, product and vision. 3-minute Q&A Direct questions and feedback from the jury. The pitches will be evaluated by a jury featuring three representatives from Anthropic and one representative from Felix Capital. Come see what these startups are building, hear their pitches, and discover the companies shaping what’s next in AI. Pitching Startups Welltory Teamspective Artificialis Polycorp Tai.ga Retailgrid Supersight AIATELLA Tangently MultivisionDx Kaamos AI About Anthropic Anthropic is an AI research company focused on building reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. Its Claude family of AI models is designed to be helpful, honest and harmless. About Felix Capital Felix Capital is a venture capital firm for the Creative Class, managing over $1.2B of venture and growth capital. Based in London, Felix operates at the intersection of technology and creativity, with an investment focus in Europe and North America. Illustrative investments for Felix Capital include: Farfetch, Moonbug, Perk, Mirakl, and Voy. About Maria 01 NEXT Maria 01 NEXT is Maria 01’s flagship startup festival, bringing together founders, investors, operators and ecosystem leaders for two days of talks, networking, workshops and curated side events in Helsinki. The Maria 01 × Anthropic Pitching Competition is one of

The third and final evening of the Tech Founder Crash Course. We get into the hard questions around growth and funding. The evening 17:30 – Doors open 18:00 — Intro 18:05 — Demos: some participants show what they've built 18:30 — What to Do After Your First Users (hands-on) / Johan Jern, Realm & Anna Almeida, Advisor/Founder 19:45 — Break 19:55 — Find Funding / Samuli Pehkonen, Startup Foundation 20:30 — What I Wish I'd Known Earlier (fireside chat) / Monika Liikamaa, Builder & Investor 21:00 — Mingling 21:30 — Exit Snacks and beverages provided. Who is this for Developers and people with a technical background who want to build something of their own. You might have a concrete idea or just a strong feeling that it's time to build something yourself. Juniors welcomed. Leave with A realistic next-step plan and a network. Organised by Hive Helsinki, Slush, Aalto Founder School, and Startup Foundation. Getting there Type "Hive Helsinki" in your maps application to find the exact entrance. The campus is at Haapaniemenkatu 5A, Sörnäinen, Helsinki. Register Spots are limited and selected based on participant motivation and experience (remember, juniors welcomed). Selected participants will be informed in advance.

This Builders' Breakfast session is part of the Maria 01 NEXT Startup Festival. Explore the full 2-day program here. Sami Marttinen co-founded a company that most founders only talk about reaching: a centaur, meaning a private company generating over $100 million in annual revenue. Swappie crossed that threshold in 2023 and has held it since, closing 2025 with €234 million in revenue and, for the first time, a full year of EBITDA profitability. Getting there wasn't a straight line. Before Swappie, Sami and his co-founder ran through thirteen different business ideas under one company, pivoting quickly, taking no salary, and funding the process themselves through student loans and savings. The idea that eventually became Swappie came from a personal experience, being scammed while buying a used phone online, and a consumer survey the next day that suggested the market for used electronics could eventually rival the market for used cars. Sami is now building a new company, currently in stealth. This time, the environment is different. Swappie was built in a pre-AI era, with none of the tools founders now take for granted. His new venture is being built with AI shaping the process from the outset. At this Builders' Breakfast, Sami will share the story on what it took to grow Swappie into a centaur, and how building pre-AI compares to building now. If you find this session interesting, we invite you to explore the full Maria 01 NEXT Startup Festival Program.