Health & Wellbeing
Upstream Festival brings health tech, medtech and wellbeing startups together with investors, corporate partners, healthcare organizations and fellow founders who can help them move forward. Save the date: Upstream Festival returns to Rotterdam on May 20, 2027.
Building the future of health and wellbeing?
The Health & Wellbeing track is designed for founders and teams developing innovative, scalable solutions that can improve health, healthcare and wellbeing.
This includes startups working across health tech and digital health, medtech and medical devices, diagnostics, biotechnology, AI and data applications in healthcare, preventive health, mental wellbeing, personalized health, remote care, healthcare software and other technology-driven solutions.
Health innovation takes many forms. Some founders are developing new technologies for clinicians or hospitals. Others are helping people manage their health more effectively, improving diagnostics, creating new treatment approaches or finding better ways to organize and deliver healthcare.
What connects them is the ambition to build a company capable of creating meaningful impact at scale.
If you are developing a technology or business model that can improve health outcomes, make healthcare more effective or accessible, or help people live healthier lives, the Health & Wellbeing community at Upstream is built to help you find relevant connections.
Meet health tech and healthcare investors
Building a health startup comes with its own funding challenges.
Product development can take time. Clinical validation, regulation, reimbursement and market access can shape the path to growth. Medtech, biotech and research-driven companies may also have different capital requirements from software businesses.
That makes finding investors who understand your market particularly important.
Upstream brings founders closer to investors interested in health tech, medtech, biotech, life sciences, healthcare innovation, deep tech and impact-driven companies.
Through curated meetings, speed dates, introductions, startup pitches and conversations throughout the festival, founders have opportunities to connect with investors whose interests align with what they are building.
Those conversations can lead to funding discussions while also giving founders valuable insight into how investors assess health markets, teams, technology, validation, scalability and commercial potential.
For investors, the Health & Wellbeing track creates a focused opportunity to discover companies working at the intersection of technology, science and healthcare.
A promising health technology only creates impact when it reaches the people who can benefit from it.
For many health and wellbeing startups, that journey involves collaboration with hospitals, healthcare providers, insurers, researchers, corporate partners and other organizations within the health ecosystem.
Those relationships can help founders test assumptions, validate technologies, understand procurement processes, develop pilots and find pathways into the market.
Upstream brings different parts of that ecosystem into the same environment.
A conversation with an investor may help you understand your next funding round. A meeting with a healthcare organization could lead to a pilot. An introduction to another founder may help you navigate a challenge they have already faced.
For health founders, these connections can be an important part of turning innovation into implementation.
Why Rotterdam?
Rotterdam provides a strong environment for founders working at the intersection of healthcare, science, technology and entrepreneurship.
The city is home to Erasmus MC and a growing Life Sciences & Health ecosystem bringing research, healthcare and business closer together. Health innovation in the region spans the journey from scientific research and technology development to entrepreneurship, funding and implementation.
That makes Rotterdam particularly relevant for founders working in health tech, medtech, biotech and other areas where successful innovation often depends on collaboration between different disciplines.
The wider South Holland innovation ecosystem adds universities, technical expertise, investors, regional development organizations and startup support to that network.
Hosting the Health & Wellbeing track in Rotterdam gives Upstream the opportunity to connect this existing expertise with founders and investors from across the Netherlands and beyond.
Where technology, science and entrepreneurship meet
Health innovation increasingly crosses traditional boundaries.
AI can support diagnostics and clinical decision-making. Data can enable new approaches to personalized healthcare. Deep tech can lead to new medical devices and diagnostic tools. Digital platforms can change how patients access care, while biotechnology continues to create entirely new possibilities for prevention and treatment.
Many of the companies working on these developments do not fit neatly into one category.
Upstream reflects that.
The Health & Wellbeing track provides an industry focus while the wider festival connects founders with entrepreneurs, investors and experts from sectors including AI, deep tech, software, Climate & Energy and Port & Maritime.
Those intersections can lead to new ideas, technologies and partnerships that would be difficult to find within a single-sector event.
For investors
The Health & Wellbeing track gives investors a focused way to meet founders developing technologies and companies across health tech, medtech, biotechnology, diagnostics, preventive health and wellbeing.
The track is relevant for venture capital funds, corporate venture teams, angel investors, family offices, impact investors and other investors looking for innovative companies with the potential to scale.
Health founders often operate in complex markets where scientific validation, regulation, healthcare systems and commercial growth intersect. Meeting founders in person provides an opportunity to go beyond a pitch deck and better understand the team, technology and ambition behind a company.
At the same time, investors remain part of the wider Upstream community, creating opportunities to discover companies and technologies beyond the Health & Wellbeing track.
For healthcare, corporate and ecosystem partners
Startups can bring new technologies, perspectives and ways of working into healthcare. Established organizations bring market knowledge, infrastructure, expertise and access that can help those innovations move forward.
The Health & Wellbeing track brings these worlds closer together.
Hospitals, healthcare organizations, insurers, research institutions, corporates and ecosystem partners can meet startups developing emerging health technologies and explore opportunities for pilots, partnerships and collaboration.
For organizations committed to healthcare innovation, the track also provides a platform to contribute expertise, connect with investors and founders, and become part of a wider conversation about how technology can improve health and wellbeing.
Navigate the Dutch health innovation ecosystem
The Netherlands has an extensive ecosystem supporting founders working across healthcare, life sciences, medtech, digital health and biotechnology.
Accelerators and incubators help startups validate and develop their solutions. Specialized investors provide capital and sector expertise. Universities, hospitals and research institutions contribute scientific and clinical knowledge, while public organizations and regional development agencies provide funding and support.
Finding the right organization at the right stage can make a significant difference to a founder.
That is why Upstream has also created a dedicated Health & Wellbeing Guide, bringing together investors, accelerators, innovation hubs, public support organizations and other parts of the Dutch health ecosystem in one place.
Health & Wellbeing at Upstream
Health & Wellbeing is one of three industry tracks at Upstream Festival, together with Climate & Energy and Port & Maritime.
The tracks create additional focus for founders, investors and partners who want to meet people working within relevant industries while remaining part of the wider Upstream startup community.
Upstream continues to welcome innovative startups from other sectors as well. The tracks make it easier to find industry-specific connections while preserving the cross-sector conversations that are an important part of the festival.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Health & Wellbeing track at Upstream Festival?
The Health & Wellbeing track brings together startups, investors, healthcare organizations, corporates and ecosystem partners working across health technology, digital health, medtech, biotechnology, diagnostics, preventive health, mental wellbeing and related areas.
It is one of Upstream Festival's three core industry tracks.
What types of health startups can attend?
The track is relevant for incorporated startups and scale-ups developing innovative and scalable solutions across health tech, medtech, digital health, diagnostics, biotech, preventive health, mental wellbeing, healthcare AI and data, medical devices, healthcare software and related fields.
Can health tech startups meet investors at Upstream?
Yes. Connecting founders with capital is one of Upstream's core objectives.
Health & Wellbeing founders can meet investors through the wider festival, including curated meetings, speed dates, introductions and conversations throughout the event.
Is the track only for digital health startups?
No. Digital health is one part of the track. Health & Wellbeing also includes areas such as medtech, medical devices, diagnostics, biotechnology, preventive health, mental wellbeing and other scalable health innovations.
Can medtech and biotech startups join Upstream?
Yes. Medtech and biotech are specifically relevant to the Health & Wellbeing track, particularly for companies developing scalable technologies with the potential to create meaningful impact within healthcare.
Is Upstream relevant for healthcare investors?
Yes. The track is designed to make it easier for investors interested in health tech, biotech, medtech, healthcare deep tech and other health innovations to discover relevant founders.
Where does Upstream Festival take place?
Upstream Festival takes place in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Why attend Upstream as a Health & Wellbeing founder?
Upstream gives founders access to people who can contribute to their next stage of growth. Depending on the company, that could include investors, healthcare organizations, corporate partners, potential pilot partners, fellow founders and experts from across the startup ecosystem.
Bring your health innovation Upstream
Building a company that can improve health or healthcare requires perseverance, expertise, capital and the right people around you.
Upstream brings those conversations together.
Come to Rotterdam and meet the founders, investors and partners working on what comes next in health and wellbeing.