More than 1,000 builders, 72 hours, and 15 real-world challenges from companies and public organizations are coming to the Finnish city from November 6-8. We spoke with Riku Lauttia, Chair of Since AI, about why this event aims to be the beginning of a product, not the end of a weekend.
Andrea Herrera
The first edition of the Finnish competition received 148 applications from 21 countries. SisuSemi secured 25,000 euros and will represent Turku at the Startup World Cup Grand Finale in Silicon Valley, while Sealev盲 received 10,000 euros to advance the development of biomaterials made from seaweed waste.
Finnish cities participating in the European Unions Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission are also gathering in Turku.
These topics will be explored at the ninth edition of the Europe Forum in Turku, taking place from August 2628, 2026.
The activity featured Pekka Salmi, the CEO of the city of Tampere, who shared the experience of a city that, without being the capital, managed to establish itself as a technological, productive, and talent hub.
The initiative is part of a broader effort led by Turku Startup Hub, which brings together startups, investors, universities, and companies under one ecosystem to support growth from idea to international scale.