Future Forward 2026

2026-11-26 · 09:00:00 · Vienna

weXelerate

Praterstraße 1, Vienna, 1020

Future Forward 2026 brings together startups, corporations, and investors at weXelerate in Vienna, spotlighting an on-stage pitching competition for 40 companies.

Future Forward is a major innovation conference in Vienna sitting at the intersection of corporations, startups, and investors. Features a Pitching Arena with 40 startups pitching to investors.

Founder brief

Who should attend

Tech and general startup founders seeking corporate partnerships or capital will benefit most from this gathering. Early teams ready to present to active investors should apply before the November 2 deadline for a slot in the pitch contest.

What happens

Programming kicks off at 09:00 with a morning coffee rave before transitioning into keynote presentations, parallel deep-dive workshops, an innovation expo, and the startup pitching arena. The conference concludes with an afterparty starting at 18:00.

Who's in the room

Around 1,000 corporate leaders, founders, and investors gather across the venue. Confirmed speakers include weXelerate CEO Awi Lifshitz, University of Vienna AI researcher Emily Kate Genatowski, Latvia's Ambassador Ingrīda Levrence, and Shimrit Maman from the Israel Space Agency.

How to prepare

Founders selected for the arena must refine a fast, concise pitch deck that highlights commercial traction and capital needs under competitive conditions. Attendees without stage slots should prepare a brief verbal summary of their business model to make the most of conversations between workshops and expo booths.

Organizer: weXelerate GmbH

Register

At a glance

Tickets
79 EUR
Theme
Vienna's premier innovation conference
Attendance
900 people last year from 42 nations; building for more than a thousand this year
Sectors
Tech, Innovation, General startup
Ticket options
  • Founder Ticket — 89 euros (For startups up to two years old. Conference access, main stage and workshops, expo and the networking app.)
  • Full-Day Ticket — 299 euros (The complete day, including matchmaking, the pitching arena and the afterparty.)
  • VIP Ticket — 499 euros (Everything in the full day plus the VIP lounge, food and drinks, and direct access to executives and speakers. Twenty spots.)
  • Party-Only Ticket — 29 euros (Afterparty from six.)

Agenda

  1. 09:00 · Coffee rave
  2. Keynote stage, parallel deep dive workshop tracks, startup pitching arena, and innovation expo
  3. 18:00 · Afterparty

Speakers, judges and hosts

  • Awi Lifshitz — CEO, weXelerate (Speaker)
  • Emily Kate Genatowski — AI Researcher, University of Vienna (Speaker)
  • Ingrīda Levrence — Ambassador, Embassy of the Republic of Latvia to Austria (Speaker)
  • Shimrit Maman — Head, Israel Space Agency (Speaker)

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