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Where European founders struggle, Slush is listening

You’d be forgiven for thinking that startup founders always worry about the same things. But that isn’t quite true, and shifts in thinking can prove illustrative of the broader landscape, especially when they are not subtle.

The second edition of Slush’s annual Startup Struggle Survey has recorded one such significant change — concerns around revenue growth skyrocketed among European founders this year. In answers collected during the first quarter of 2024, more than half of the respondents cited revenue growth as one of their top concerns, compared to 37% last year.

Founders are today being asked to do more than ever with even fewer resources. Grow revenue, but don’t spend too much, no matter the rising customer acquisition costs; retain users despite their budget concerns; operate in a fast-changing geopolitical environment that leaves some markets harder to sell to.

However, revenue growth was already one of the top three problems founders talked about last year, alongside fundraising and customer acquisition — all three concerns once again take the podium. 

Still, the surge in sentiment is notable, especially because the survey sample is substantial and more focused. Last year, Slush collected more than 1,000 answers from founders, as well as from investors and non-European founders; this year, it focused exclusively on hearing from over 600 European founders.

Nobody said it was easy

Well, at least for some it is easy right now: About  18% of founders answered that “it would be easy for them to raise funding right now if they wanted to.” Still, 57% of respondents actively disagreed with that sentiment — up 7.6% from 2024. 

As the organization behind one of Europe’s largest startup events, Slush is well placed to know that European investors now expect revenue growth even more than they used to, even though it’s become harder to achieve.

Attracting talent hasn’t become easier either, and Slush also highlighted that founders still face challenges unique to Europe, like aversion to risk, late-stage funding gaps and regulatory hurdles .

Yet, founders  remain hopeful both about their companies and about Europe. There are good reasons for this confidence, however, with a flywheel finally turning university talent into tech workers, first-time entrepreneurs into repeat entrepreneurs and smart investors, and operators into founders, Slush noted in its recap.

The outlook has changed, too, with more founders thinking globally from the get-go, but retaining a European mindset — one that is determined to persist despite the continent’s unnecessary hurdles.

From snapshot to roadmap

These are observations, but they also call for action from all sides, including from tech events. This survey is explicitly meant to help Slush serve its “core audience” in the best way possible; and no matter how many investors you bump into during the event in Helsinki, that core audience is still founders.

“The Startup Struggle Survey 2025 is not just a snapshot of founder pain; it’s a map of where support is needed most.” — Slush CEO Aino Bergius

In 2025, Slush once again expects VCs to account for a significant portion of the audience — 3,500 out of 13,000 attendees, to be precise. These investors’ collective $4 trillion in assets under management will undoubtedly help founders address their top concern — fundraising. Putting startups in the spotlight should help with customer acquisition, too, but their growing concerns around revenue growth will need to be addressed as well.

“As we build Slush 2025, our focus is clear: To tackle the real problems founders face and to curate an environment where breakthrough ideas get the momentum they deserve,” Slush wrote. 

It’s going to be interesting — for other event organizers, too — to see how the first half of this commitment unfolds in practice.

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