The finalists in this year’s QBE AcceliCITY Resilience Challenge have been announced and will participate in a boot camp later this month to compete for $150,000 in pilot project funding.
An ‘incorruptible’ digital ballot box that aims to increase community engagement, and an urban cooling system that uses data to tackle heat emergencies on a local level, are among the solutions developed by 10 tech start-ups that have been announced as this year’s QBE AcceliCITY Resilience Challenge finalists.
This year’s challenge tasked innovators to come up with solutions that would deliver on the promises of the COP26 (Conference of the Parties, 26th edition) climate change conference in November.
Driving resilience and equity
The challenge is organised by Leading Cities, a non-profit that connects cities across the globe with innovations and insight to drive resiliency, equity, and sustainability, in partnership with global insurance company QBE North America.
As world leaders prepare to meet at COP26 to create the next set of climate action goals, QBE and Leading Cities want to identify and advance the next generation of innovative solutions to achieve these goals. They believe governments on their own are not equipped to face climate change head on-so so have made it their mission to supply municipal leaders at the forefront of these imminent threats with the foresight and innovation of the entrepreneurial world.
“As the fast-approaching deadline to combat climate change draws near, humanity is dependent on the ability of city leaders to deliver on the promises and vision that will be established at COP26,” said Michael Lake, president and CEO of Leading Cities. “This requires a dramatically different approach to innovation – one that is open and unafraid to implement new solutions that offer a chance to save our planet and build more inclusive, resilient and sustainable communities.”
“As the fast-approaching deadline to combat climate change draws near, humanity is dependent on the ability of city leaders to deliver on the promises and vision that will be established at COP26”
This year’s expert-vetted start-ups from around the world were selected from among more than 500 companies that applied across 44 countries. Fifty semi-finalists were previously selected and participated in a business-to-government and capital acquisition focused, web-based curriculum. Each of these teams received one-on-one mentorship from global experts.
The 10 finalists will participate in the AcceliCITY Boot Camp (20-22 September), competing for $150,000 in pilot project funding.
The 10 finalists are:
Eco Panplas: contaminated plastic packaging recycling without using water and without producing waste
FortyGuard: an urban cooling system that utilises city data to mitigate expanding heat emergencies at local levels
Full Cycle Bioplastics: a low-cost, low-carbon alternative to oil-based plastics in the global materials market
Horizon State: a secure, anonymous and ‘incorruptible’ digital ballot box that transforms voting and community engagement
Infiltron: 24/7/365, proactive, real-time, IoT cybersecurity expert
Lup Colombia: harnesses the economic potential of glass waste while delivering social value and environmental benefits
Omniflow: its mission is to have a positive impact in the world, avoiding CO2 emissions and expanding digitalisation
Optimus: upgrades large diesel engines to operate at near-zero carbon emissions using 100 per cent biodiesel enabling low-cost net zero carbon
Pharem: has combined advanced enzyme development, material development and immobilisation methods to create a highly flexible water treatment material
Trainfo: provides artificial intelligence-powered hardware for smart cities to prevent traffic delays and accidents at rail crossings.
“Providing solutions for emerging risks is an important part in bringing to life our purpose – to help people achieve their ambitions,” said Chris Castaldo, chief financial officer at QBE, who serves as executive sponsor of the programme.
“We are proud to support our customers and communities by encouraging innovation that fosters a more resilient and sustainable world.”
“We require a dramatically different approach to innovation – one that is open and unafraid to implement new solutions that offer a chance to save our planet and build more inclusive, resilient and sustainable communities”
AcceliCITY aims to lower the cost of innovation for start-ups as well as governments by streamlining the innovation and implementation cycles for smart city solutions. It connects start-up’s smart solutions directly with business users and provides the proper channels and know-how to deploy in cities and believes that “effective and timely” deployment of new solutions will pave the path toward meeting the critical goals emerging from COP26.
Now in its fourth edition, the programme has become one of the largest smart city challenges in the world and seeks to bridge the gap between start-ups and cities.
AcceliCITY alumni have already raised in excess of $245m, and many have since deployed their solutions in cities to improve the efficiency and quality of life in urban centres.
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