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MARCH 10-12, 2026 | RALEIGH, NC |
Join the nation's largest city-focused startup pitch program, showcasing hundreds of cutting-edge innovations addressing top urban challenges. Don't miss this opportunity to pitch your solutions to leading city decision makers, investors, industry & military tech scouts, and government funding offices. In alignment with the U.S. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act ($550 Billion), National Security Strategy, and National Defense Strategy, we are proud to deliver this 13th annual pitch program. Winners will receive a crystal award and recognition as top innovator in the Smart Cities Startup Challenge.
Questions? Contact Emma Mooney, emma.mooney@techconnect.org
Topics Include:
- Urban/Municipal Operations
- Urban/Municipal Infrastructure
- Smart Air/Land/Water Mobility
- Smart Energy & Grid
- Digital Transformation
- Community Engagement
- Urban/National Security Solutions
- Other Urban Resilience Solutions
Produced by:
In Partnership with:
2025 REVIEW PANELISTS
Jorge CardenasChief Innovation officer, City of Brownsville, TX
R.D. ChildersChief Executive Officer, RD Childers LLC
Mike GrigsbyDirector, Business Development, Ubicquia, Inc.
Ryan HatcherChief Executive Officer and Founder, Phoenix Semiconductor Corporation
Jacque IstokField CTO, AMSYS
Shane McDanielChief Information Officer City of Seguin, TX; President, TAGITM
Ross RoleyEnergy Innovation, Battelle in Support of U.S. Indo Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM)
John ThomasSenior Policy Advisor, Pillsbury Law
Josh TuckerPartner, Pillsbury Law
Howard WaldieChief Innovation Officer, City of Myrtle Beach
2025 FINALISTS
- ATLAS Traffic Technologies
- DKSR GmbH
- Haven
- Hayden AI Technologies
- JustAir
- MetaWorldX inc.
- MiraNu
- nfoldROI inc.
- Nord Engineering SpA
- Penny Pickup
- Polimorphic
- Resonus (Aviary Investments LLC dba Resonus)
- SpruceID
- Stanford University
- Street Counts LLC
- TELLUS Networked Sensor Solutions, Inc.
- VisionCraft AI, Inc
PREVIOUS CHALLENGE FINALISTS INCLUDE
- 51, San Francisco, CA
- 7AC technologies, Beverly, MA
- 7AC Technologies, Beverly, MA
- Acumentrics SOFC Corp., Westwood, MA
- Agiltron, Woburn, MA
- Algae Systems, Daphne, AL
- Allylix, San Diego, CA
- Alphabet Energy, Hayward, CA
- AlphaGuardian Networks, San Ramon, CA
- Altranex Corporation, Kingston, ON, CA
- APDM, Portland, OR
- Apex Wind Energy, Charlottesville, VA
- Applied DNA Sciences, Stony Brook, NY
- Aqua Engineers, Honolulu, HI
- Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL
- Ascent Solar Technologies, Thornton, CO
- Associated Energy Developers, Plymouth, MA
- Australian National University, Canberra, AU
- Autonomous Marine Systems, Arlington, VA
- Avaya, Ontario, NY
- Battelle, Columbus, OH
- Blast Control Systems, Kilgore, TX
- Bloom Energy, Sunnyvale, CA
- Bloomgi, Austin, TX
- BlueHopper, a MeshTek Company, TX
- Bluerise BV, Delft, NL
- Booz Allen Hamilton, Arlington, VA
- Breeze Technologies UG, Hamburg, Germany
- Building Diagnostic Robotics, Brooklyn, NY
- C-Motive Technologies, Madison, WI
- Calm Energy, New York, NY
- Cambrian Innovation, Boston, MA
- CarbonCure Technologies, Halifax, CA
- Caterpillar, Mossville, IL
- Cella Energy US, Exploration Park, FL
- Charles River Analytics, Cambridge, MA
- Chemica Technologies, Portland, OR
- Civic Dollars, Antrim, UK
- CivicReach.ai, North Carolina,
- CODA Energy, Monrovia, CA
- Columbia Power Technologies, Charlottesville, VA
- Commonwealth Scientific & Industry, Newcastle, AU
- Community Cars, Pflugerville, TX
- Concepts NREC, Chelmsford, MA
- Cougaar Software, Vienna, VA
- CURB, Austin, TX
- Current Motor Company, Ann Arbor, MI
- University of Illinois, Urbana, IL
- Cythereal, Lafayette, LA
- dependbuild, NS, Canada
- Design Flux Technologies, Maple Heights, OH
- Digit Group, Collierville, TN
- DPRA, Knoxville, TN
- Dragos Security, San Antonio, TX
- DryWired Defense, Los Angeles, CA
- E3 Clean Technologies, Athens, OH
- E3 Water, Austin, TX
- Eco Waste Solutions, Burlington, ON, CA
- EcoMap, US
- Ecosystem Informatics Inc, ON, Canada
- Edisun Heliostats, Pasadena, CA
- Efficient Drivetrains, Milpitas, CA
- Electrocell Technologies, Colchester, VT
- Electrovaya Corp., Mississauga, Ontario, CA
- EMPEQ, Ithaca, NY
- Enel Green Power, Andover, MA
- Energy Solutions, Baton Rouge, LA
- Energy Technologies, Mansfield, OH
- Energy Xtreme, Austin, TX
- Energyfolks, San Jose, CA
- Enervalis, Leuven, BE
- EpiBiome, South San Francisco, CA
- EthosGen, Dallas, PA
- EVIK Diagnostic Innovations, Ottawa, ON, CA
- Farmatic, San Francisco, CA
- FastCAP Systems, Boston, MA
- Fastec Ltd, Wellington, NZ
- FireFly LED Lighting, Austin, TX
- FireFly Power, Charleston, SC
- Framergy, College Station, TX
- Gehrlicher Solar America, Annapolis, MD
- Gel4Med, Brighton, MA
- Geli, San Francisco, CA
- GeneFluidics, Irwindale, CA
- General Nano, Cincinnati, OH
- Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA
- GetNOISY LLC, Redlands, CA
- Go Electric, Anderson, IN
- GS Engineering, Houghton, MI
- Graymatics SG Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Halotechnics, Emeryville, CA
- HDT Global, Fredricksburg, VA
- Helpful Places, ON, Canada
- HEVT, Chicago, IL
- Highwave, Oxnsrd, CA
- Honeywell, St. Petersburg, FL
- HyCarb, Orlando, FL
- Hydro Tasmania, Hobart, TA, AU
- Hypori Federal, McLean, VA
- IAP Worldwide Services, Alexandria, VA
- Ibis Networks, Honolulu, HI
- Ibis Power, Miami, FL
- Igor, Johnston, IA
- IMET Corp, Southhamptom, PA
- Infra-Tect, Chandler, AZ
- INI Power Systems, Morrisville, NC
- Inkscreen, Austin, TX
- Innocorps Research Corp., Saskatoon, SK, CA
- Inovi Green, Honolulu, HI
- Inscope Medical Solutions, Louisville, KY
- Integran Technologies, Mississauga, ON, CA
- Integrated Power, Lake Forest, CA
- Intel Corporation, Dallas, TX
- Intelligent Automation, Rockville, MD
- Intelligent Optical Systems, Torrance, CA
- Intrepid Robotics, Houston, TX
- InvivoSciences, Madison, WI
- ISSAC Corp, Colorado Springs, CO
- ITC, Richland, WA
- ITN Energy Systems, Littleton, CO
- Jamaica BioEnergy, Kingston, JM
- Joulebug, Raleigh, NC
- K2 Energy Solutions, Henderson, NV
- Keen Technical Solutions, Reisterstown, MD
- Kelvin Storage Technologies, Poway, CA
- Kinection, Napa, CA
- Kisensum, Oakland, CA
- KAIST, Yuseong-gu, KR
- Lamda Guard, Halifax, NS, CA
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA
- Legislaide,Denver, CO
- Leidos, Framingham, MA
- Leviathan Energy, Stony Brook, NY
- Linnean Solutions, Cambridge, MA
- Lionano, Ithaca, NY
- LLB Consulting, Florence, AL
- Lockheed Martin Corp., Palo Alto, CA
- LuminAID Lab, Houston, TX
- Lynx Systems Pty Ltd, NSW, Australia
- Mackinac Technology Co., Grand Rapids, MI
- Margik Inc, Charlotte, NC
- May-Ruben Thermal Solutions, Calgary, AB, CA
- Mercurius Biofuels, Bellingham, WA
- Midas Green Technology, Austin, TX
- Mide Technology Corp., Medford, MA
- Modula S, San Francisco, CA
- MSW Power Corporation, Acton, MA
- MTPV Power Corporation, Austin, TX
- National Instruments, Austin, TX
- National Renewable Energy Lab, Golden, CO
- Natural Power Concepts, Honolulu, HI
- Navitas Systems, Woodridge, IL
- NEOVEL Technologies, New York, NY
- Neural Analytics, Los Angeles, CA
- Neuro Kinetics, Pittsburgh, PA
- Nextek Power Systems, Detroit, MI
- Nexus eWater, Canberra, AU
- Neya Systems, Wexford, PA
- NicheVision, Akron, OH
- Nitrozyme, Los Angeles, CA
- PanTher Therapeutics, Boston, MA
- PeakNRG, Carlsbad, CA
- Penn State University, University Park, PA
- People Power, Redwood City, CA
- PerkinElmer, Shelton, CT
- Piedmont Biofuels, Pittsboro, NC
- Plugwise BV, Sassenheim, NL
- PolyDrop, Seattle, WA
- Prezerv Technologies, Inc, US
- Pono Home, Honolulu, HI
- Poseidon Water, Houston, TX
- Power Practical, Salt Lake City, UT
- Pragma Systems, Austin, TX
- Primus Power, Hayward, CA
- ProsumerGrid, Atlanta, GA
- Protonex, Southbroough, MA
- Pvilion, Brooklyn, NY
- QRA Corp., Halifax, NS, CA
- Quantum Digital Solutions Corp., Marina del Rey, CA
- Radiator Labs, New York, NY
- Real-Time Innovations, Sunnyvale, CA
- RealGreen Power, Honolulu, HI
- REbound Technology, Boulder, CO
- REhnu, Tucson, AZ
- Renovagen, Harpenden, UK
- Rentricity, New York, NY
- Rep'd, NY
- ReSource BioEnergy, Walnut, CA
- Retroficiency, Boston, MA
- root9B, Colorado Springs, CO
- RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC
- Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ
- Sacred Power, Albuquerque, NM
- Saft America, Highland, MD
- Sandia National Labs, Albuquerque, NM
- Santec, Southern Pines, NC
- Saskatchewan Research Council, Saskatoon, SK, CA
- SBM Solar, Concord, NC
- SDL Citadel, Dallas, TX
- SEaB Energy Limited, Southampton, UK
- SecureWaters, Tullahoma, TN
- Sefaira, New York, NY
- Semantic Designs, Austin, TX
- Senzit, Inc, NC
- SensorMetrix, San Diego, CA
- Sharklet Technologies, Aurora, CO
- Sheer Wind, Chaska, MN
- Sheetak, Austin, TX
- Siemens, Edgewater, MD
- Sierra Energy, Davis, CA
- Sierra Nevada Corp., Centennial, CO
- Signature Science, Austin, TX
- SiNode Systems, Chicago, IL
- Sirnaomics, Gathersburg, MD
- Smart Sustainability Consulting, Honolulu, HI
- Smarter Grid Solutions, Brooklyn, NY
- Solar Stik, Saint Augustine, FL
- Solergy, Piedmont, CA
- Solid Power, Louisville, CO
- Southern Research Institute, Durham, NC
- SparkCognition, Austin, TX
- Stanford University, Stanford, CA
- Stryke Industries, Fort Wayne, IN
- Suneris, Brooklyn, NY
- Sunfolding, San Francisco, CA
- Sweet Lighting, San Mateo, CA
- Telkonet, Milwaukee, WI
- Terragon Environmental Tech, Montreal, QC, CA
- Terrajoule Corporation, Redwood City, CA
- Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
- Thermal Storage Systems, Los Angeles, CA
- ThermoLift, Stony Brook, NY
- ThermoVolt Solar, Holmdel, NJ
- Throne Labs, Inc, MD
- TM3 Systemsorporated, Royal Oak, MI
- TNO, Delft, NL
- Transformative Wave, Kent, WA
- Ultrasonic Technologies, Wesley Chapel, FL
- UMass Dartmouth, North Dartmouth, MA
- Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy, IT
- University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
- University of Florida, Gainsville, FL
- University of Miami, Miami, FL
- University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
- University of the South Pacific, Suva, FJ
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast, AU
- UV Cleaning Systems, Beaverton, OR
- Varentec, San Jose, CA
- Vigilent, Oakland, CA
- Virtual Technology, Rio Rico, AZ
- VivaLnk, Santa Clara, CA
- Warrior Biojet, Portland, OR
- WegoWise, Boston, MA
- Western Energy Systems, La Mesa, CA
- Williams International, Walled Lake, MI
- X-lumin, Merritt Island, FL
- Xergy, Seaford, DE
- Yan Engines, Austin, TX
- Younicos AG, Berlin, DE
- Zenogen, Eveleigh, AU
- ZeroBase, Ferndale, MI
- Zincair Power Technologies, Squamish, BC, CA
PREVIOUS SPONSORS & PARTNERS
Previous Supporting Partners
