diff --git a/ipykernel/_version.py b/ipykernel/_version.py
index 6b7e6d02a..651d058d5 100644
--- a/ipykernel/_version.py
+++ b/ipykernel/_version.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 import re
 
 # Version string must appear intact for hatch versioning
-__version__ = "6.30.0a0"
+__version__ = "7.0.0a1"
 
 # Build up version_info tuple for backwards compatibility
 pattern = r"(?P<major>\d+).(?P<minor>\d+).(?P<patch>\d+)(?P<rest>.*)"