The World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) announced on August 25 that it hosted the "Citypreneurs 2025 Ulsan" Demo Day on August 24 at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) under the theme of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and inclusive future cities.

The competition was co-hosted by Ulsan Metropolitan City, UNIST, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), and WFUNA, with sponsorship from the Korea-Africa Foundation under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This year, 60 startups from 19 countries applied, out of which 20 teams across 6 countries advanced to the final demo day.

Starting in April, these teams spent six weeks refining their solutions through programs covering Ulsan's urban innovation and industry-academia cooperation cases, SDG contribution plans and ESG strategies, global expansion strategies, and investment and mentoring programs.

In addition to the startups, around 100 people attended the event to watch the presentations, including representatives from host organizations, officials from Ulsan startup support institutions, venture capitalists, and global mentors.

The Grand Prize was awarded to Eomtech (CEO Park Young-jun), which simultaneously enhanced building energy efficiency, crop productivity, and electric vehicle performance using high-emissivity transparent film technology. The Top Excellence Awards were jointly won by MarinaChain (CEO Ha Sung-yeop), which presented an AI-based maritime logistics carbon accounting system, and SoteriaEight (CEO Park Jong-deok), which developed an autonomous exploration robot.

The newly established "Global Expansion Special Award" went to WithinNet (CEO Kim Jae-yoon), which presented a digital content-based inclusive education model aimed at closing the education gap in Africa.

The winning companies will secure opportunities to undergo investment screening by partner venture capitals and will take the stage at the "WISE Conference 2025 (WISE: WFUNA Impact & Start-up Ecosystem Conference)" held at COEX in Seoul on August 27. This event serves as a global platform connecting the United Nations and startup ecosystems worldwide, following its inaugural event held in November last year at the UN Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. This year, it is being held in conjunction with Korea's largest startup exposition, "NextRise," co-hosted with the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). The event features around 80 startup and impact stakeholders from 10 countries around the globe.

Kim Yong-jae, Director at WFUNA, stated, "Innovation and entrepreneurship from startups are more critical than ever for mitigating the climate crisis and securing a sustainable future. However, as uncertainties in the global political landscape grow, the environment for startup survival and growth is increasingly challenging." He further emphasized, "It is time for the institutions and entities making up the global impact ecosystem to link their resources and networks to create synergy and break through crises. WFUNA will serve as a catalyst to build a platform for this purpose."

Source : https://futurechosun.com/archives/125629