The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is pleased to announce the selected participants for the BOOSTxCEF: Green Urban Tech Sprint. The sprint will offer participating teams a series of hands-on masterclasses – including on how to build intentional innovation and startup culture, futures thinking for innovators, and pitching and working with cities – along with tailored mentorship from BOOST and partner organizations.
The sprint, which kicks off in December 2025, will conclude with an online pitch event in February 2026 where teams will pitch their solutions to a panel of city officials, business experts and investors and receive live feedback.
Following a highly competitive open call that attracted more than 260 applications from across the region, 15 businesses from Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans and the South Caucasus have been selected. Their solutions range from air-quality sensors and emissions-tracking tools to digital twins, nature-based urban design, mobility insights and other urban green tech innovations.
Selected participants
- Batica (Albania) – Introduces Hora, a combined solution that captures microplastics from laundry through certified filters and promotes circular fashion via a rental and resale platform, helping reduce pollution and extend the life of clothing.
- Bletari Elisa (Kosovo¹) – Provides biodiversity and pollination monitoring tools that help cities protect bee populations and strengthen climate-resilient ecosystems.
- Bitgear (Serbia) – Develops IoT- and AI-enabled systems for real-time monitoring, management and predictive maintenance of urban and utility infrastructure.
- BuzzVerse (Poland) – Provides a modular, low-power IoT network that enables long-range environmental monitoring. Their sensors collect data such as air quality, noise, and soil humidity and send it to a cloud platform for analysis, supporting reliable monitoring even in areas without internet or stable power.
- Cacttus (Kosovo) – Introduces SmartUrban3560, a data intelligence platform that brings together mobility, environmental, and energy data into one place, using IoT and AI to generate actionable insights for city planning and sustainability.
- COSMO Innovate Center (North Macedonia) introduces CarbLog, a smart bio-waste bin with telemetry and an open, city-compatible cloud platform for monitoring, traceability and urban waste planning.
- DevelopWay CJSC (Armenia) – Introduces LivingRoots, a platform that uses AR and AI to help people choose, visualize, and care for plants, making urban greening easier and more accessible.
- Ecoverification Technologies (Ukraine) – Tracks and verifies individual CO₂ reductions using consumption data, helping cities measure behavioural change and integrate citizen-level impact into climate and sustainability programmes.
- QX (North Macedonia) – Offers residents verified, round-the-clock environmental information based on official city data through their solution VERA.
- LoRaSi (Montenegro) – Offers SAMST, a smart digital twin for power grids that helps utilities prevent failures, improve reliability and adapt to extreme climate events.
- PE Symonenko S.S. (Ukraine) – Offers Wied, a mobile platform that standardizes and monitors municipal services using video guides, photo reports, and AI analysis, helping cities improve service delivery and support residents and migrants.
- Syntax Architecture(Kosovo) – Offers Mossflow, a multifunctional ecological hub that integrates nature and technology to improve public spaces and local environmental conditions.
- Traffic Sense CG (Montenegro) – Delivers mobility and emissions analytics that help cities reduce congestion and plan for cleaner, more efficient transport systems.
- TUMO Labs (Armenia) – Offers ClimateNet, a locally maintained, student-built, and student-led IoT network that collects real-time weather and environmental data across various regions in Armenia. The sensors feed into an open cloud platform used by researchers, institutions, and communities.
- U-BUILD Community (Montenegro) – Connects future residents and communities with architects and construction companies to address housing in a more affordable and sustainable way, using principles of green architecture.
The sprint is organized jointly by BOOST and the City Experiment Fund (CEF), an initiative that collaborates with cities to tackle complex urban challenges through strategic innovation and experimentation. Through CEF, cities across Armenia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Ukraine work with innovators to prototype solutions, strengthen urban resilience and accelerate their green and digital transitions.
The BOOSTxCEF: Green Urban Tech Sprint is supported by the Slovak Transformation Fund, financed by the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic. The programme aims to reimagine urban development in the region and advance innovative solutions that help cities scale climate-smart, inclusive and future-ready initiatives.
¹References to Kosovo shall be understood within the context of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).