What’s UpNext: Signals for a Global 2026
A look at the founders, points of view, and signals shaping what’s coming next as we expand the UpNext World Tour and go deeper into global ecosystems.
Welcome to the first What’s UpNext newsletter of 2026.
Last year, we were on the ground across Toronto, Lisbon, Dubai, and Helsinki, spending time with founders, ecosystems, and partners building with conviction. Those conversations sharpened our perspective and clarified what matters most right now.
Visibility is no longer the constraint. Clarity is.
As we step into 2026, we’re expanding the UpNext World Tour and going deeper into the stories, points of view, and signals shaping what’s coming next in global tech.
This issue sets the tone for the year ahead — where we’re heading, what we’re building, and the founders worth paying attention to.
Thanks for being here, here we goooo!
UpNext World Tour
Early 2026 Tour Outlook
As we plan the first half of 2026, here’s where we’re planning to head as part of the UpNext tour and coverage roadmap:
- Web Summit Qatar — Qatar | Feb 1–4
- RiseUp Summit — Egypt | Feb 5–7
- WHX Dubai — United Arab Emirates | Feb 9–12
- Techarena — Sweden | Feb 11–12
- 4YFN @ MWC Barcelona — Spain | Mar 2–5
- START Summit — Switzerland | Mar 19–20
- Skinnovation — Austria | Mar 25–27
- Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) — Canada | Mar 25
Coverage plans vary by event and may include both in-person and remote coverage. More details will be shared as the tour takes shape.
More events will be added as they’re confirmed. Planning to attend any of these? Let us know where we should show up.
Flashpoint POV
Founder Spotlight
Through our collaboration with Flashpoint Global, we explore the human side of innovation, the beliefs, tensions, and turning points that shape how founders see the future they are creating.
Each Founder POV Spotlight goes beyond what’s being built. It captures how a founder thinks, why their perspective matters, and what must change for their vision to become real.
This is not product storytelling.
It is point of view, made visible.
Latest Features
Dr. Paul Newton
Dr. Paul Newton
What's UpNext?
As we continue building UpNext, we’re excited to keep expanding the World Tour and connecting with founders and startups across ecosystems worldwide.
Alongside our event coverage, we’re developing an ecosystem program designed to work with accelerators, EDOs, and innovation organizations to help amplify their programming by spotlighting the startups they support. The goal is simple: give founders more visibility, context, and narrative as they build with conviction.
If you’re open to exploring this or curious to learn more, just reply to this email. We’d love to connect.
UpNext Global Partners
In 2025, we piloted this approach with a small group of early supporters. In 2026, we’re building it properly.
As we head into the new year, we’re opening the doors to partners who want to help shape the next chapter of UpNext.
The UpNext World Tour is designed to spotlight founders and startups across global ecosystems, giving them visibility, context, and narrative as they scale. This year, we’re inviting a small group of partners to support that mission and connect more deeply with the next wave of breakout companies.
We’re shaping a partner program built around three tracks:
- Capital Partners — connect with founders early and get in front of emerging startups across global ecosystems
- Growth Partners — bring your expertise to founders who are actively building and scaling
- Ecosystem Partners — elevate your startups and extend the reach of your accelerator, EDO, or innovation program
If you’re interested in supporting founders on a global stage and helping shape what’s coming next, we’d love to explore this together.
Just reply to this email to start the conversation.
Final Thought
Visibility Without Clarity
Over the past year, one pattern kept showing up in conversations with founders across ecosystems. Visibility is no longer the hard part. Clarity is.
Founders today have more ways than ever to be seen. Stages, platforms, content, press. But being visible is not the same as being understood. Attention without clarity doesn’t compound. It dissipates.
What separates the founders who break through isn’t how loud they are. It’s how clearly they can articulate the problem they’re solving, why it matters now, and what future they’re actually building toward.
Clarity creates gravity.
It gives people something to believe in, repeat, and rally around.
Without it, visibility becomes noise. With it, even small moments of attention can turn into momentum.
That’s what we’ve been paying attention to on the road. Not who’s getting the most exposure, but who’s able to frame their work in a way that sharpens understanding and builds conviction.
That’s also the work we’re focused on this year. Helping founders move from visibility to clarity, and from clarity to conviction.
Gratefully,
Edwin
Read more reflections like this on Future POV, my personal Substack on clarity, conviction, and building movements that last.
