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Program

Upstream 2026 is shaping 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 brings in some special focus on three industry tracks being, Port & Maritime, Health & Wellbeing, and Climate & Energy, while continuing to welcome innovations from all sectors. Stay tuned

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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.

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find our speakers here

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.

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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.
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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.
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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.

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learn more about the topics

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.

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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.

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Register here

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.

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