Climate & Energy
Upstream Festival brings climate tech and energy startups together with investors, corporate partners and fellow founders who can help turn those solutions into scalable companies.
Save the date: Upstream Festival returns to Rotterdam on May 20, 2027.
Building the technologies behind the energy transition?
The Climate & Energy track is designed for founders and teams developing scalable technologies that can make a meaningful contribution to climate, energy and resource challenges.
This includes companies working across climate tech and cleantech, renewable and clean energy, energy storage and batteries, smart grids and energy infrastructure, hydrogen and alternative fuels, industrial decarbonization, carbon management, circular technologies, new materials, resource efficiency and climate-related hardware and deep tech.
The common denominator is ambition. We are looking for incorporated startups and scale-ups developing innovative solutions with the potential to grow well beyond a single pilot, customer or geography.
If you are building technology that can change how energy is generated, stored, distributed or used, reduce emissions across industry, or create more efficient ways to use materials and resources, you will find relevant people within the Upstream community.
Meet climate tech and energy investors
Capital matters, especially when you are building in sectors where technology development, pilots, infrastructure and commercial deployment can require significant investment.
Upstream brings founders closer to investors looking for ambitious early-stage and growth companies. For Climate & Energy startups, that means opportunities to meet investors interested in climate tech, energy, deep tech, impact, industrial innovation and other technologies contributing to the energy transition.
The goal is to make those conversations relevant.
Upstream is built around creating opportunities for founders and investors to find one another through curated meetings, speed dates, introductions, startup pitches and the conversations happening throughout the festival.
For founders raising capital, that creates an opportunity to meet potential investors while also learning how different investors think about markets, technology, scalability and risk.
For investors, the Climate & Energy track provides access to founders working on technologies across one of Europe’s most important areas of innovation.
From technology to market
Funding is only part of what climate and energy startups need to scale.
Many companies in this space depend on first customers, pilots, industrial partners, infrastructure providers, research institutions, public organizations and larger companies willing to implement new technologies.
That is why Upstream also brings corporate partners, ecosystem organizations and other potential collaborators into the conversation.
A meeting might lead to an investment discussion. It might introduce you to a potential launching customer, pilot partner or industry expert. It can also help you understand where your technology fits into a market that is changing quickly.
For climate and energy founders, access to the right network can be particularly valuable because commercialization often requires collaboration across industries.
Why Rotterdam?
There are few places where the climate and energy transition becomes as tangible as it does in Rotterdam.
The city and its surrounding industrial ecosystem bring together energy, logistics, manufacturing, infrastructure and technology. The Port of Rotterdam is actively working on the transition toward a climate-neutral and circular port, with developments spanning energy infrastructure, hydrogen, alternative fuels, CO2 infrastructure, circularity and more.
That makes Rotterdam a particularly relevant place for founders building technologies around energy transition and industrial decarbonization.
It also creates opportunities for connections between startup innovation and the industries that will ultimately need to adopt new technologies at scale.
Upstream brings that wider ecosystem together with founders and investors from Rotterdam, the Netherlands and beyond.
Climate tech meets deep tech, AI and industry
Some of the most interesting climate and energy companies no longer fit neatly into one category.
A startup might combine AI with grid optimization, biotechnology with sustainable materials, robotics with infrastructure inspection, advanced materials with energy storage, or software with industrial decarbonization.
Upstream reflects that reality.
The Climate & Energy track provides a clear industry focus while the wider festival creates opportunities to meet founders and investors working across sectors such as deep tech, AI, software, Port & Maritime and Health & Wellbeing.
For founders, those intersections can create unexpected customers, technologies, partnerships and ideas.
For investors
The Climate & Energy track gives investors a focused route into the founders developing solutions for some of the largest technological and industrial transitions taking place today.
Meet companies working across climate tech, energy systems, clean technologies, deep tech, circularity and industrial innovation while becoming part of the wider Upstream investor community.
Upstream is especially relevant for venture capital funds, corporate venture teams, angel investors, family offices and other investors looking for innovative, scalable companies and meaningful conversations with the people building them.
For corporate and ecosystem partners
Climate and energy innovation needs collaboration between startups and established organizations.
Upstream partners can connect with founders developing emerging technologies, meet investors and ecosystem leaders, contribute expertise to the conversation and explore potential partnerships with companies working on the transition.
For organizations active in energy, infrastructure, industry, sustainability or climate innovation, the track also provides an opportunity to become more closely connected to the startup ecosystem and the technologies emerging from it.
Climate & Energy at Upstream
Climate & Energy is one of three industry tracks at Upstream Festival, together with Port & Maritime and Health & Wellbeing.
The tracks give founders, investors and partners additional opportunities to find people working in relevant industries while remaining part of the wider Upstream community.
Upstream continues to welcome innovative startups from other sectors as well. The industry tracks provide focus without closing the door to ideas and connections that cross traditional sector boundaries.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Climate & Energy track at Upstream Festival?
The Climate & Energy track brings together startups, investors, corporates and ecosystem partners working across climate technology, energy transition, decarbonization, clean energy, circularity and related areas. It is one of Upstream Festival’s three core industry tracks.
What types of climate and energy startups can attend?
The track is relevant for incorporated startups and scale-ups building innovative and scalable technologies. This can include climate tech, cleantech, energy storage, smart grids, renewable energy, hydrogen, carbon management, industrial decarbonization, circular technology, sustainable materials, energy software, hardware and related deep-tech solutions.
Can climate tech startups meet investors at Upstream?
Yes. Connecting founders with capital is one of the central purposes of Upstream. Investors participate throughout the festival, with opportunities for introductions, meetings, speed dates and informal conversations.
Is Upstream only for Climate & Energy startups?
No. Upstream has three focus tracks: Climate & Energy, Port & Maritime and Health & Wellbeing, while continuing to welcome innovative startups from other industries. The tracks make it easier to create relevant connections without limiting the wider startup community.
Where does Upstream Festival take place?
Upstream Festival takes place in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Why attend Upstream as a Climate & Energy founder?
Upstream is designed to help founders get closer to the people who can contribute to their next stage of growth. That can include investors, potential customers, corporate partners, other founders and experts from across the startup ecosystem.
Bring your climate or energy startup Upstream
Building a company capable of changing how we produce energy, use resources or decarbonize industry takes technology, ambition and the right people around you.
Come to Rotterdam and meet the founders, investors and partners working on what comes next.