Source: SmartCitiesWorld News
Author: SmartCitiesWorld news team
Date published: 2025-08-20
[original article can be accessed via hyperlink at the end]
North Texas Innovation Alliance (NTXIA) and its partners have announced the Smart Cities Global Startup Challenge is returning for a second year at the 2025 Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) in Barcelona, which takes place 4-6 November.
NTXIA is a regional consortium of more than 50 municipalities, agencies, corporations, and academic institutions across North Texas with the aim of working to create the most connected, smart, and resilient region in the country.
Piloting and funding opportunities
Similar to the 2024 event, this year’s pitch competition will select five startups to compete to win piloting and funding opportunities in the United States. Submissions for the pitch competition opened from 19 August and will close on September 10, 2025.
The 2025 Smart Cities Global Startup Challenge is focusing on problem statements across the future of transportation, public safety, connectivity, and infrastructure. Companies interested in participating in the pitch event will need to ensure their solutions address one of these key challenge areas, wih a solution focused on the following:
- Transportation including but not limited to: autonomous delivery, people movers, VRUs, and AI-powered smart parking
- Public safety including but not limited to: crowd management, facility safety and security, emergency response, and predictive analytics
- Connectivity including but not limited to: 5G/6G, supply chain infrastructure and IIoT, noise and vibration monitors and IIoT, and resilient networks
- Smart infrastructure including but not limited to: predictive analytics for infrastructure maintenance, resource conservation and technology to manage AI and data centre growth, sustainable infrastructure and building technologies, and smart buildings including ports, campuses, venues, and airports.
Companies will also need to ensure their technology is ready to be deployed for testing and development in real-world smart city environments.
“This annual competition is a reminder and a strong example of the importance of supporting international innovation and economic development,” said NTXIA executive director Jennifer Sanders.
“We are honoured to have an incredible community of smart city cross-collaborators in the US to support these companies, and we are looking forward to awarding another winner and supporting another international startup with their goal of entering the US market.”
“This annual competition is a reminder and a strong example of the importance of supporting international innovation and economic development”
NTXIA partners are Texas cities Frisco and McKinney, Plug and Play, and Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners, a 5G-enabled innovation hub where startups and global industry leaders deploy and prove out developing technologies in a real-world testing environment. The 2025 North Texas delegation will also include Amsys Innovative Solutions, Utsun Law Group, and Toyota Mobility Foundation.
Five finalists will be selected by the Smart Cities Global Startup Challenge committee to pitch their solutions in person at SCEWC on 5 November in the SCEWC Expo. Each company will have 10 minutes for their pitch, followed by a five-minute Q&A session with the judges.
Once all presentations and Q&A sessions are final, the judges will deliberate and will then announce the winner. The challenge is also supported by Marketplace.city with its Clearbox Source market intelligence product which will promote the opportunity, accept applications, and compile vendor submissions.
View original article at:
https://www.smartcitiesworld.net/news/global-startup-challenge-announced-for-smart-city-expo-2025-11865