LEVEL UP 2026 ranged from lessons learned to international growth

During the fifth edition of the startup event LEVEL UP, entrepreneurial minds, founders, investors, corporates, and ecosystem partners came together on Monday, 28 September, for discussions, inspiration, matchmaking, and practical lessons on building the companies of tomorrow.

LEVEL UP 2026 brought a full day of relevant startup programming to Eindhoven’s Evoluon for the fifth time, covering topics ranging from lessons learned from failure and international growth to strategic funding, investors and emerging technologies. One central question ran throughout the program: how can ambitious startups turn deep-tech innovations into scalable businesses that create meaningful economic and societal impact?

The event opened to a packed room with Peter Wennink, former CEO of ASML, who immediately set the tone for founders, investors and policymakers. Europe, he argued, needs to shed its complacency, build the risk capital needed to strengthen its industrial base, and protect the freedom to fail.

But Wennink also shared lessons from his own experience with the many startup founders in the audience. He stressed that value creation rarely starts with large, established companies. “Most innovative ideas don’t come from large multinationals. They are too well organised to be truly disruptive.”

At the same time, a novel idea has little value without a real-world application. Asked what advice he would give the startup founders pitching their ideas and building connections at LEVEL UP, Wennink pointed to one thing above all: the customer. “When they start talking to me about their product, I always listen very carefully. Within the first thirty seconds, I want to hear the word ‘customer’. What problem are you trying to solve? And how do you know that your solution creates value?”

The investor panel with Hans de Penning. © Bram Saeys

Meeting investors and learning practical startup lessons

For many participants, meeting investors directly was a key part of LEVEL UP. During the Investor Café, pre-seed and seed startups pitched to national and international investors, while investors like LUMO Labs and Antler gave reverse pitches on what they are looking for.

In the afternoon, the Investor Café shifted its focus to Series A and later-stage companies. TU/e alumnus and founder / CEO of Neople, Hans de Penning, represented the startup scene during the Your company, my money panel. This addressed another important aspect of entrepreneurship: what happens when founders' and investors' interests diverge. The discussion covered everything from investment negotiations and disappointing growth to dilution, board intervention, founder replacement, and ultimately the exit.

Hans: “Some of the best companies start with a simple idea, but they grow because the right people come together to build it. That’s what I’ve always valued about the TU/e and Brainport ecosystem: bringing together technology, talent and an entrepreneurial mindset. Events like this create the connections where ideas can move from the lab, or a conversation, into something real.”

It was busy at the LEVEL UP Academy. © Bram Saeys

The LEVEL UP Academy added practical sessions from high level partners on why startups succeed or fail, financing growth, and international expansion, including the associated tax, legal, and compliance challenges.

The program then moved from vision to the realities of building a company. Thijs Bosch, CEO of The Protein Brewery, shared the story behind building a breakthrough food technology company, including the mistakes, lessons, and successes that accompanied raising €70 million over five years. Jacqueline van den Ende, CEO of Carbon Equity, addressed fundraising, investor expectations, traction, timing, and becoming truly investable. Hamed Sadeghian, CEO of Nearfield Instruments, discussed the journey from breakthrough technology to an international product company, including the challenges of attracting capital and talent and making the transition from inventor to company builder.

From AI and deeptech to impact and deftech

The breadth of the LEVEL UP program reflected the diversity of today's technology ecosystem. The AI track explored the transition from experimentation to building AI-native companies, while the deeptech sessions focused on the long journey from scientific breakthrough to scalable company, including financing, talent, infrastructure, and partnerships.

Deftech was another prominent theme, with discussions on the relationship between government, startups, and the need for speed in bringing new technologies to market. The impact track explored how companies can combine economic value with positive societal and environmental outcomes. Medtech and plant-based innovation were also represented, including the Open Kitchen Sessions LIVE, which brought plant-based startups together with founders, investors, industry experts, and the LEVEL UP audience.

TU/e spin-off Haptontech is the winner of the LEVEL Up Awards. © Bram Saeys

The LEVEL UP Awards

The LEVEL UP Awards once again provided one of the highlights of the event. Three promising startups took to the stage to pitch their businesses to an audience of entrepreneurs, investors and innovation experts. From 50 entries, a jury selected ten nominees. After several rounds of pitching, three finalists remained – all with strong ties to TU/e.

The LEVEL UP Award went to TU/e spin-off HaptonTech. The startup is developing programmable materials that can dynamically change shape, vary in softness and stiffness, and even release and absorb liquids. By combining these properties, HaptonTech aims to recreate physical textures in digital environments, opening up new ways for people to interact with digital content.

“It feels like someone has put sparkling water into my blood,” said a visibly thrilled Mert O. Astam, CEO and founder of HaptonTech, moments after the announcement. In his pitch, Astam deliberately moved away from traditional presentation slides, challenging the audience and jury to imagine a future in which digital content can be felt, rather than simply seen.

As part of the prize, Astam received tickets to CES Las Vegas through the RVO/4TU Startup Mission. The opportunity will give HaptonTech a platform to expand its international network and further accelerate its growth.

Mohammad Kojourimanesh of ATA Mute and Maurits Kaptein of Kyvvu also received an honourable mention as LEVEL UP Award finalists.

Constantijn van Oranje, Special Envoy at Techleap, presented the award before sharing his perspective on the Dutch and European startup ecosystem. The event concluded with a networking reception at the Evoluon, bringing together startups, investors, entrepreneurs and innovation professionals.

Five editions of connecting the startup ecosystem

With its fifth edition, LEVEL UP has established itself as an important annual meeting place for startups, scale-ups, investors, corporates, and ecosystem partners. Founded by The Gate and co-organised by the Knowledge Transfer Office of Eindhoven University of Technology, the event aims to help tech startups navigate the difficult journey from promising startup to flourishing scale-up.

The fifth edition once again showed why that journey requires more than technology alone. Capital, talent, customers, knowledge, strong partnerships, and an ecosystem that supports ambitious entrepreneurs are all essential ingredients for growth.

After a full day at the Evoluon, one message stood out: Europe's ability to turn technological innovation into companies that create lasting value depends not only on the ideas we develop, but also on how effectively we build, finance, connect, and scale them.