Program
Upstream shaped up to be more interactive than ever with more workshops, fewer stages, and plenty of room to connect and learn from each other. Upstream also brought in some special focus on three industry tracks being, Port & Maritime, Health & Wellbeing, and Climate & Energy, while continuing to welcome innovations from all sectors. Explore below what was happening in 2026. Make sure you save the date for Upstream Festival 2027: May 20.
What to expect from the Upstream program
Upstream Festival program brings together founders, investors, startup teams, corporate partners and ecosystem leaders through a mix of talks, workshops, curated meetings and networking formats. The program is designed to help startups connect with capital, customers, knowledge and strategic opportunities.
Across the day, visitors can join main stage sessions, startup pitches, practical founder workshops, investor-focused conversations, startup-investor speed dates and informal networking moments. The program also includes focused industry tracks around Climate & Energy, Health & Wellbeing, and Port & Maritime, while continuing to welcome innovative startups from other sectors.
Upstream main stage
Upstream's Main Stage is where inspiration meets experience.
Here, we bring together bold founders and investors from diverse backgrounds, industries, and stages of growth. First-time entrepreneurs to seasoned scale-up leaders will share the unfiltered stories behind their journeys. You’ll hear about the early doubts, the pivotal decisions, the setbacks that shaped them, and the breakthroughs that changed everything. Real-world insights from people who have built, failed, pivoted, raised and grown.
Whether you’re just starting out or scaling fast, Upstream's Main Stage gives you perspective, practical wisdom, and the confidence that every founder’s path is different, but every experience carries lessons worth learning.
Startup stage
For the third year in a row, the NL Startup Competition holds their finals at Upstream Festival. It returns in 2026 with an important upgrade. For the first time, the competition is partnering with Draper University, founded by Silicon Valley investor Tim Draper.
What can you win? Up to €10,000 in prize money and a five-week program in Silicon Valley, with direct access to the Silicon Valley growth network of founders, mentors and investors.
Funding and Growth hub
Our Funding Hub and Growth Hubs are dynamic, interactive workshop spaces designed to equip founders and teams with the skills they need to scale with confidence.
In the Funding Hub, experienced investors, founders, and advisors host hands-on sessions that prepare you for every stage of the fundraising journey, from refining your pitch and communicating effectively with investors to understanding term sheets and building long-term investor relationships.
In the Growth Hub, industry experts lead practical workshops focused on traction and revenue. Learn how to craft your early sales playbook, build succesfull teams, stortytelling and more to come.
Startup Roulette
Startup Roulette is a curated speeddate event for startups, scale-ups, VCs and angel investors. It is a very simple and efficient way to get in touch with investors (and vice versa) that are active in your domain.
You will be scheduled with (max.) 3 relevant, carefully selected counterparties in speeddate sessions of 20 minutes. Interested to participate as Startup or as Investor? Find out more below.
founders lounge
We've created an exclusive founders-only safe space, where startup and scale-up founders can connect with peers, share experiences and maybe even meet their cofounder? Offline dating platform Breeze has vibe-coded an awesome on-the-spot matching tool for us for optimal engineered serendipity.
Industry tracks
The program includes three focused industry tracks that help founders, investors, and partners find the most relevant conversations.
Climate & Energy
For startups working on climate tech, cleantech, energy transition, circularity, decarbonization, clean energy storage, smart grids and related solutions.
Health & Wellbeing
For startups working on health tech, medtech, biotech, diagnostics, healthcare AI, preventive health, mental wellbeing and related health innovations.
Port & Maritime
For startups working on port innovation, maritime technology, logistics, port automation, vessel technology, supply chain innovation, smart infrastructure and industrial technology.