From Dating App to Deep Tech: Iceland to Showcase Thriving Tech Start Up Scene at Slush 2024 with Business Iceland

From Dating App to Deep Tech: Iceland to Showcase Thriving Tech Start Up Scene at Slush 2024 with Business Iceland

A delegation of 33 Icelandic companies is set to bring Iceland’s spirit of innovation to Slush, the top tech startup festival running between 20th and 21st November 2024 in Helsinki, Finland. Led by Business Iceland, the group represents the breadth of Iceland’s thriving innovation ecosystem, inspired by the country’s unique natural environment.

Today, Iceland’s tech startups range across a variety of industries, from green energy to biotech, health and life sciences, gaming, and more. The businesses attending Slush offer a glimpse into this ecosystem, including:

  • DTE: Optimizing metal production and processing with in-line chemical composition analysis of molten metals to increase throughput, quality, and efficiency in the value chain.
  • Hefring Marine: Leveraging AI, sensor data, and edge computing to provide real time decision support that optimizes vessel safety, fuel efficiency, and sustainability.
  • PLAIO: A modern visual planning solution that uses AI and emerging technologies to improve the workflow of pharma planning processes and support decision-making.
  • Smitten: A dating app that makes the user journey fun and easy, with creative games, interactive profiles, and icebreakers.
  • Knittable: Offering interactive, customizable knitting patterns to match any knitter’s design vision. Winner of the Silicon Vikings competition at IIW 2024, now representing Iceland in the Nordic Vikings final at Slush.

“Attending a global tech platform like Slush not only gives startups a chance to connect with international investors and partners, but it also reinforces collaboration—in our case, across countries that share a similar spirit of innovation and resilience. I look forward to attending Slush,” said Helga Valfells, CEO at Crowberry Capital, an Icelandic female-founded venture capital firm.

Despite its small size, innovation has been thriving in Iceland. There are now over 18,000 people employed in IP-driven industries, the number having grown steadily in recent years. Icelandic startups have also secured more than €1.2bn in funding since 2019. The country’s strong culture of entrepreneurship, combined with government and industry support, has fostered a robust ecosystem where tech companies can grow, scale, and reach global markets.