PHAROS AI Factory, Greece’s national ecosystem for accelerating Artificial Intelligence innovation, participated in SLUSH 2025, one of the world’s most prominent founder-focused technology and innovation events, held on 19-20 November 2025 in Helsinki, Finland.
Bringing together more than 13,000 founders, investors and innovation leaders each year, SLUSH provides a global platform for exploring new ideas, fostering partnerships and shaping the future of AI, deep-tech and digital transformation.
PHAROS’ Consortium representatives, Dr. V. Karkaletsis, Director of NCSR Demokritos and PHAROS Project Technical Coordinator, and Prof. D. Katsianis, Deputy Chairman of GRNET and Assistant Professor at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), joined the Greek delegation led by Endeavor Greece, participating in targeted sessions and high-level meetings focused on emerging technologies and research-industry collaboration.
Throughout the visit, both representatives showcased the project’s vision for a unified, human-centric and industry-driven European AI ecosystem. Discussions centred on how PHAROS, as one of Europe’s pioneering AI Factories, accelerates the development of trustworthy and scalable AI solutions by bringing together advanced computing capabilities, sector-specific expertise and an environment that supports research, entrepreneurship and industrial innovation. They also engaged with technology leaders, founders and investors from across the globe, underscoring the project’s commitment to responsible and impactful AI development in Europe.
The delegation further deepened its mission through strategic visits to leading Finnish innovation organisations, including including Sitra, Finland’s Innovation Fund and leading strategy institute, CSC – IT Center for Science, home of LUMI, one of the world’s fastest supercomputers and a major hub for quantum and next-generation technologies, and ICEYE, the SpaceTech pioneer operating the world’s largest SAR microsatellite constellation and an investor with significant activity in Greece.
During the visit to CSC, discussions highlighted the complementary roles of LUMI and PHAROS as two of the European Union’s first AI Factories, each contributing critical capabilities to Europe’s emerging AI infrastructure. The PHAROS representatives emphasised the importance of strong cross-border collaboration in shaping a unified, trustworthy and competitive European AI ecosystem, noting that the shared vision between the two AI Factories reinforces Europe’s technological sovereignty and accelerates the development of impactful, high-performance AI solutions.
PHAROS’ participation demonstrated its commitment to advancing Europe’s technological leadership and expanding international cooperation in Artificial Intelligence. By contributing to an open, competitive and innovation-driven AI landscape, PHAROS continues to support the development of impactful technologies that strengthen Europe’s digital future.
The delegation and the accompanying programme were organised by Endeavor Greece.
