This place-based model is mirrored at the thematic level, where UpLink’s collaboration with Forum initiatives and communities supports broader systems change. With support from the Forum’s Food and Water Initiative, the Aquapreneur Innovation Initiative positions entrepreneurship as a key driver of scalable and impactful water solutions. Aquapreneurship is also recognized in the Water-BOOST11 framework as one of three essential structural levels – alongside governance and supporting stakeholders – that enable the development, testing, scaling and market integration of water innovations.UpLink’s Aquapreneur Innovation Initiative, in collaboration with the HCL Group, exemplifies this structural pillar in action and is featured in the Water Futures Community12 paper as a leading example of the policy and innovation nexus.13 This approach plays a critical role in mobilizing private-sector engagement and strengthening public-private collaboration on water resilience. The Water Futures Community (where UpLink ecosystem partners such as Xylem and Ecolab actively participate, connecting early-stage ventures to multistakeholder policy dialogue and systems-level action) brings these efforts to life. Together, these links show how UpLink accelerates aquapreneurship while translating innovation into measurable, system-level impact. Engagement and networking opportunities UpLink harnesses data and artificial intelligence (AI) to identify and evaluate the most promising early-stage ventures based on their innovation potential, business viability and projected impact. It uses advanced analytics to assess ventures and match them to opportunities aligned with their growth stage, business priorities and thematic focus. These insights inform the design of a curated Engagement Programme tailored to each venture’s specific needs, ensuring targeted support that accelerates growth. Engagement through UpLink is designed as a two-way value exchange. For ventures, it provides access to global platforms, visibility, decision-makers and peer networks. For the World Economic Forum, it creates a structured pathway to integrate early-stage innovation perspectives into its initiatives, ensuring that global discussions remain grounded in emerging technologies, real-world experimentation and market realities. Through participation in high-level events, thematic sessions and curated dialogues, early-stage ventures are positioned not only as solution providers but as contributors to strategic conversations. Their insights help surface nascent trends, challenge established assumptions and translate novel approaches into practical intelligence for policy-makers, corporates and investors, strengthening the relevance and actionability of multistakeholder dialogue. Collectively, these engagement pathways enable UpLink to embed real-time innovation insights across the Forum’s platforms, connecting frontier solutions to global agendas and decision-making processes. Uplink Annual Impact Report March 2026 11

UpLink Annual Impact Report 2026