What’s UpNext: Signals from the Global Startup Circuit
The F1 Circuit of the Startup Ecosystem. Tracking founders, momentum, and signals as they emerge.
Welcome to What’s UpNext, your weekly briefing on the founders, stories, and signals shaping what’s coming next in global tech.
This week, we track two high-signal stages: WHX Xcelerate in Dubai and Techarena TOP46 in Stockholm, where founders are building with execution in mind.
Beyond the pitch stages, we spotlight four founders tackling real-world challenges across climate, energy, biotech, and AI.
Across regions and sectors, one theme keeps emerging. Clarity wins.
Event Recap
WHX Xcelerate (Dubai, UAE)
At WHX Xcelerate 2026 in Dubai, healthcare innovation moved from ambition to application. The startups on stage were not experimenting at the edges of possibility. They were tackling systemic pressure points across diagnostics, access, hospital efficiency, and AI-enabled care.
The tone throughout the competition was pragmatic. Founders spoke less about disruption and more about deployment. Regulatory awareness, clinical validation, and commercialization pathways were front and center. The signal was clear: health innovation in this region is scaling through partnerships, not hype.
From early rounds to the final pitches, the strongest teams combined domain expertise with credible traction. The standout companies demonstrated how AI, data infrastructure, and patient centric design can coexist within real world healthcare systems.
We followed the competition closely, highlighted the winners and standout founders, and mapped what this means for healthtech builders entering global markets.
Read the full recap and featured founders below.
Aqeela A. Somani
Techarena TOP46 (Stockholm, Sweden)
At TechArena 2026 in Stockholm, the TOP46 competition brought together some of the Nordics’ most promising early-stage companies. The environment felt sharp and execution-focused. Founders came prepared with clear market theses, defined customer segments, and disciplined growth strategies.
The winner, Epiminds, stood out by combining deep problem insight with a structured go-to-market path. Beyond the winner, the broader TOP46 cohort reflected the strength of the Nordic ecosystem: strong technical foundations, capital efficiency, and global ambition from day one.
What differentiated the strongest teams was not storytelling alone. It was clarity. Clear problem framing. Clear value proposition. Clear expansion logic beyond local markets.
We tracked the competition, spotlighted Epiminds and other standouts, and surfaced the patterns shaping what is next for the Nordic startup landscape.
Explore the full recap and featured founders below.
Edwin J. Frondozo
Flashpoint POV
Founder Spotlight
Through our collaboration with Flashpoint Global, we’re diving deeper into the human side of innovation — the beliefs, tensions, and turning points that shape how founders see the world they’re creating.
Every spotlight explores a founder’s point of view—not just what they’re building, but why it mattersnext.
Latest Features
Dr. Paul Newton
Dr. Paul Newton
Dr. Paul Newton
Dr. Paul Newton
Ecosystem Partner Highlight
Skinnovation — Austria | Mar 25–27
Skinnovation brings together 1,000+ founders, investors, and operators in Innsbruck for one of Europe’s most unconventional startup gatherings. From ski-lift pitches to curated networking, the event blends robust deal flow with strong community energy.
As part of the UpNext World Tour, we are supporting the ecosystem as a Community Lead and tracking signals emerging from the DACH region.
If you are attending, let’s connect.
Our community receives 25% off tickets with code 01_UPNEXT.
Learn more and secure your ticket → https://skinnovation.at/
UpNext World Tour
What’s Ahead on the Road
Here’s where the tour is heading next as we continue tracking emerging signals and spotlighting founders across global ecosystems.
- 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 varies 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 are confirmed. If you are planning to attend any of these or think there is an ecosystem we should be paying attention to, let us know where we should show up.
UpNext Global Partners
As the UpNext World Tour expands, we are opening a limited number of partner conversations.
We spotlight founders across global ecosystems, providing visibility, context, and narrative as they scale.
We work across three tracks:
Ecosystem Partners — Elevate your accelerator, EDO, or innovation program
Capital Partners — Early visibility into emerging startups across markets
Growth Partners — Bring expertise to founders actively scaling
Interested in partnering? Let’s start a conversation.
Final Thought
The 15 Minute Founder System
From our study of founders, nearly all agree on one thing.
Showing up consistently builds leverage.
More visibility.
More inbound.
Stronger positioning.
And yet most still do not do it.
The common excuse is time. But we are in the middle of the AI shift. Founders are automating workflows, compressing execution cycles, and moving faster than ever.
If AI makes you more efficient, why aren't you more visible? 🤔
The issue is not time. It is translation.
Most founders do not struggle with ideas. They struggle to translate what is happening inside their company into the future they are building toward.
Here is the simple system:
- Record for 15 minutes.
- Capture what you are seeing, deciding, or learning this week.
- Use AI to structure it into a clear narrative.
- Publish consistently.
Not to chase attention.
But to clarify direction.
The founders who stand out are NOT louder. They are clearer. They do not just explain what they built. They frame why it matters and where it leads.
In a world flooded with content, clarity compounds.
If you want to read the full breakdown of the system, it is on Future POV.
Gratefully,
Edwin
P.S. If someone came to mind while reading this, feel free to forward it to them.
Read more reflections like this on Future POV, my personal Substack on clarity, conviction, and building movements that last.
