Ulsan: Urban Innovation Solutions Competition, 20 Startups from 6 Countries

The 'Citypreneurs 2025 Ulsan' Demoday, hosted by the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA), successfully concluded on June 24th at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology. Aiming to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and seek inclusive future city solutions, this event, co-hosted by Ulsan Metropolitan City, UNIST, WFUNA, and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), and sponsored by the Korea-Africa Foundation, saw 20 teams from 6 countries including Korea, Indonesia, and Vietnam, ultimately selected from 60 startups across 19 countries, unveil their innovative business solutions. From April, these teams participated in intensive 6-week impact workshops, learning about Ulsan City's urban innovation cases and undergoing a process of refining their solutions. The prestigious Grand Prize was awarded to EOMTEC (CEO Park Young-joon), which presented a triple-threat innovation of improving building energy efficiency, increasing crop yields, and extending electric vehicle driving range with its high-emissivity transparent film technology. The Top Excellence Award was jointly presented to Marinachain (CEO Ha Sung-yeop), which builds sustainable marine logistics systems through AI data analysis-based carbon accounting, and SoteriaEight (CEO Park Jong-deok), which aims to enhance urban resilience with autonomous exploration robots. Notably, the newly established Global Expansion Special Award this year went to Withinnet (CEO Kim Jae-yoon), an edutech company striving to realize inclusive education on the African continent with digital interactive content, attracting significant attention. Award-winning companies will not only gain opportunities for investment review from partner venture capitalists but also participate as speakers at the 'WISE Conference 2025,' held at COEX on June 27th, laying the groundwork for their advancement onto the global stage. The WISE Conference, a platform for communication between the UN and impact startup ecosystems worldwide, will be co-hosted with the Korea International Trade Association this time, with over 80 participants from 10 countries gathering to discuss SDG promotion and global expansion strategies. Kim Yong-jae, Director of WFUNA, emphasized that "the innovation and entrepreneurship of startups are essential for climate crisis mitigation and a sustainable future," and stressed the urgent need for "various actors in the global impact and startup ecosystem to create synergy amidst international instability." Citypreneurs is a global startup competition hosted by the UN since 2017, which has annually sought out innovative solutions for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and solving urban problems.