Istanbul Ignited by Slush’D returns to Rixos Tersane in Istanbul from 12 to 14 October for its second edition. The organizers expect more than 3,000 attendees, 1,400 startups and 600 investors, up from about 1,700 attendees last year.
The inaugural edition took place in the same location in 2025 under the name Istanbul Slush’D and was filled to capacity, with over 1,000 meetings between investors and founders and more than 75 global funds attending the city, the organizers said. Half of the attendees were from abroad.
Istanbul Ignited by Slush’D presents itself as a startup focused on its founders, located at the junction of Europe, Asia and the MENA region.
The event started in 2025 as Istanbul Slush’D, the first Slush event held in Turkey, and is once again taking place this year under its new name. It is organized by a local team led by co-founders Şan Yalman and Melisa Çağlar.
The Istanbul edition’s main partners are Akbank and Togg, the Turkish electric car maker.
Three themes for 2026
The program is built around three themes. Sovereignty & Resilience looks at how to build more independent systems, from supply chains to technology infrastructure.
AI as Infrastructure covers how AI is becoming the base for new products and business models. The Human Edge asks why creativity, judgment, and intuition still matter as AI speeds up.
The first wave of speakers includes partners at several venture firms. The confirmed names include Accel partner Zhenya Loginov and Periodic Labs co-founder and co-CEO Ekin Doğuş Çubuk.
Judith Dada, co-CEO of Langdock and senior partner at Visionaries, is also on the list. So are Bryan Kim, founder of Mido Capital and a former partner at Andreessen Horowitz, and Index Ventures partner Emil Schaefer.
General Catalyst partner Zeynep Yavuz, Scribble Ventures founder Elizabeth Weil and Basil Fateen, head of startups and VC at Nvidia, also join the line-up. Chris Kemp, the founder and chief executive of Astra, will speak. So will Ilyas Khan, founder of the quantum company Quantinuum.
Adjust chief executive Andrey Kazakov and Midas founder Egem Eraslan are also on the program. Gaming has its own slot, with Tripledot Studios co-founder Akin Babayiğit and Loom Games chief executive Kübra Gündoğan.
Istanbul studio Grand Games, another speaker company, raised a $70m Series B in May.
The organizers say speakers will also come from OpenAI, Anthropic, ElevenLabs, Index Ventures, Mubadala and PIF, among others. More names will follow in the coming weeks.
Day 0 will open with an invite-only Investor Day, bringing together investors and founders for investor-focused panels, curated matchmaking, and one-on-one conversations.
An exclusive evening welcome reception will offer further opportunities to connect ahead of the main conference.
The opening day will also feature two separate hackathons in collaboration with OpenAI and Manus.
These collaborations are a major highlight of this year’s program, bringing two of the most prominent companies in AI to Istanbul Ignited by Slush’D. The OpenAI hackathon is especially significant as it marks the company’s first official event collaboration in Türkiye.
Days 1 and 2 will host the main conference, bringing together founders, investors, and technology leaders from Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
Co-founder Şan Yalman said this year’s program is bigger, with several speakers visiting Türkiye for the first time.
“The focus is on creating the kind of access and conversations that are usually concentrated in only a handful of global hubs,” Yalman said.
His co-founder, Melisa Çağlar, first worked with Slush as a high school volunteer in Helsinki.
“This year, with a larger team and stronger partnerships, we are taking that commitment further, aiming to position Istanbul as a hub that connects Turkish and regional entrepreneurs with capital, opportunities, and global markets across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia,” Çağlar said.
Tickets are on sale on the Istanbul Ignited by Slush’D website. Student passes cost €80, startup passes €200, investor passes €350, and general passes €400, before VAT and fees.