Slush Impact Report Series — Volunteer to Founder

These four founders got inspired by volunteering at Slush

Helsinki · Released August 25, 2026
Executive summary

A human accelerator for future founders

Volunteers each year
2,000
Introduced to the startup ecosystem through Slush every year
Introduced since inception
17,000
Young people brought into the ecosystem via volunteering by 2026
Join for the ecosystem
50%
Volunteers who join out of interest in the startup ecosystem
Alumni founding rate
15%
Of Slush alumni have founded their own company

Slush’s mission is to help and create founders to change the world. According to its Founder Factory report published last year, 15% of Slush alumni have founded their own company. Every year, Slush introduces 2,000 volunteers to the startup ecosystem.

“Volunteering at Slush opens doors for young visionaries. It’s a human accelerator that shows how far you can run, independent of your age or prior experience,” Noora Saksa, CEO at Slush, describes.

By 2026, Slush has introduced 17,000 volunteers to the startup ecosystem. Here, four ex-volunteers share how volunteering at Slush influenced their decision to become tech entrepreneurs.

Portraits of four Slush volunteers who went on to become founders
Slush volunteers who became founders: Sami Marttinen (Swappie), Antonia Eneh (Elva), Olli Kangas (Intergrid), and Sanni Makkonen (Inspot).
Slush offers ecosystem exposure

Exposure to the whole ecosystem fuels the drive to start

Sami Marttinen founded Swappie in 2016. Swappie is Europe’s leading refurbisher of used iPhones, with an annual revenue of over €200 million. Sami, while remaining on Swappie’s board, has now stepped down from his full-time position to build his new startup.

“The biggest impact [of volunteering at Slush] at the time was exposure to the whole ecosystem, which fueled my drive to start a company right away instead of years later—my co-founder and I decided to start building Swappie already a couple of months after Slush.”
Sami Marttinen, founder of Swappie

For many Slush volunteers, the experience unlocks a belief in endless possibilities. Antonia Eneh, who founded Elva in 2025, recalls being inspired by the young team building Slush and wanting to get involved in the ecosystem as soon as possible.

“At Slush, people place infinite trust in you: that you can do absolutely anything if you just dare to go for it. I’ve utilized that same belief with my own team now as CEO.”
Antonia Eneh, founder & CEO of Elva

Elva has raised €1.3 million in funding to address a key bottleneck faced by European startups: moving talent across borders.

A community where age isn’t a measure of success

Where the most ambitious people get things done

Olli Kangas founded Intergrid in 2023 to accelerate the transition to renewable energy systems; the 40-person team now serves over a hundred industrial customers. Kangas highlights that volunteering at Slush in 2015 and 2017 lowered his threshold to becoming an entrepreneur.

“Slush is the one community where the most ambitious and curious people get things done, but with a twinkle in their eyes.”
Olli Kangas, founder of Intergrid

All the entrepreneurs interviewed by Slush share the experience of Slush accelerating their path to entrepreneurship. Sanni Makkonen even got her business idea for Inspot from Slush — the idea stemmed from a personal problem, the difficulty of finding her own photo among thousands of event photos. Now, Inspot matches every event photo to the right person in an instant. Although Makkonen’s startup idea came from Slush, her passion for entrepreneurship had already existed since childhood.

50% join out of interest in the startup ecosystem

Interest in the ecosystem is rising — fastest among first-timers

Interest in the startup ecosystem among volunteers has increased by 50% since 2022 and is strongest among first-timers and younger age groups.

Young people’s interest in becoming founders in Finland aged 18–25 has grown explosively: in the early 2000s, only 1% considered an entrepreneurial career — in 2025 that same number is over 50% (Yrittäjät 2025).

“We’re inspired to see the shift in the interest in entrepreneurship. We need more young people who set out to build a company even if the idea isn’t fully formed yet.”
Noora Saksa, CEO at Slush
Volunteer data

Who volunteers at Slush — and why

The charts below are drawn from Slush’s volunteer data across the 2023–2025 reference period. The largest single age group is 20–24-year-olds, gender distribution has stayed even, and about 85% of volunteers primarily live in Finland. Hover over any bar for the exact share.

Who volunteers
20–24 year olds are the biggest group
Volunteers by age group, share per year
Slush volunteer data · 2023–2025
Gender split has stayed almost even
Volunteers by gender, share per year
Slush volunteer data · 2023–2025
85% of Slush volunteers are based in Finland
Volunteers by location, share per year
Slush volunteer data · 2023–2025
Why they volunteer
Ecosystem interest up nearly 50% since 2022
Primary motivation to volunteer, share per year
Slush volunteer data · 2022–2025
Networking interest grows with age
Primary motivation to volunteer, by age group
Slush volunteer data · reference period 2023–2025
Ecosystem interest is rising across the board
Top motivation for first-time volunteers
Primary motivation among first-timers, share per year
Slush volunteer data · 2023–2025
Rising among returning volunteers too
Primary motivation among returners, share per year
Slush volunteer data · 2023–2025
Volunteers interviewed by Slush

From the cloak room to the cap table

Methodology

Methodology and volunteer statistics

The largest single age group among Slush volunteers is 20–24-year-olds, who make up roughly 41–47% of volunteers depending on the year. Gender distribution among volunteers has been very even in the 2020s; around 51% are women. About 85% of Slush’s volunteers primarily live in Finland. The reference period is 2023–2025. Interviewees were selected for this piece from Slush’s networks.

The alumni founding rate of 15% is drawn from the Slush Alumni Founder Factory Report (2025). The comparison on young people’s interest in entrepreneurship in Finland references Yrittäjät (2025).