Future Forward 2026: What Is Confirmed, Ten Weeks Out
The fourth edition returns on 26 November under the theme Navigate the Unknown.
Future Forward returns on Thursday, 26 November 2026 for its fourth edition, at the weXelerate Innovation Hub in the Design Tower at Praterstraße 1. The theme this year is Navigate the Unknown.
Ten weeks out, here is what is locked in.
The room
Last year 900 people came, from 42 nations. This year we are building for more than a thousand.
The number that matters more than the headcount is the mix. Around 40 percent of the room are CEOs or founders. Another quarter are directors and managers. The rest divides between specialists, investors, public sector and academia. Roughly a third startups, a third corporates, a third enablers.
We have been deliberate about that ratio, because a conference where everyone does the same job produces conversations where everyone already agrees.
The programme
The day opens with a coffee rave at nine and runs through to the afterparty from six.
Between those, the shape is a keynote stage, parallel deep dive workshop tracks, the startup pitching arena and the innovation expo. The workshop tracks change every year to follow what has shifted in the previous twelve months. This year that means a strong AI presence and a track built around resilience, alongside a quantum track run with the Quantum Reality Check programme.
More than 50 speakers and experts are being confirmed across the stages. Forty startups pitch live in the arena, and the expo carries 35 or more booths.
Matchmaking
Curated one-to-one meetings are the part attendees consistently rate highest. Last edition produced 215 of them, running through the b2match platform, which lets you browse who is attending and pre-book meetings in the weeks before the event rather than hoping to find the right person on the day.
If you come with a list of five people you want to meet, the platform will usually get you four of them.
Tickets
Four options, and prices rise in stages as the date approaches.
- 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.
The evening before
The Fellows Club Dinner takes place on 25 November at SO/ Vienna, for senior executives, speakers and partners. Invite only.
Getting involved beyond a ticket
Speaker applications remain open, and we are looking for original voices rather than recycled keynotes. Startups can apply for an expo booth or a slot in the pitching arena. Partner activations are built individually rather than sold as fixed packages. Volunteers get free access to the day, which is worth knowing if you are a student or early in your career. Press passes are free and come with a media kit.
Write to event@futureforward.at for any of these.
Full programme, speaker announcements and tickets are at futureforward.at.
#FutureForward2026 #FF26
