Urban Future Prize Competiton

Climate change: solve it with us.

Applications for the 2024 Urban Future Prize Competition are now open.

The Competition

The Urban Future Prize Competition

The Urban Future Lab is pleased to announce, for the eighth consecutive year, the Urban Future Prize Competition, which seeks to find the brightest climatetech startups and, through the generous support of The New York Community Trust, MUFG Bank, and NYU Tandon School of Engineering, award two winners with $50,000 cash prizes. These awardees will also receive admission into the ACRE Incubator, New York's longest-running and most successful climatetech program.

New this year, we will be running a prize track explicitly focused on climate adaptation and resilience, the Future Resilience Prize. Most funding to date has gone to address climate mitigation (e.g. decreasing emissions), but very little funding has gone to innovations that support the adaptation side of the climate crisis. According to UN estimates, the climate adaptation financing gap is as high as $366B annually. With the Future Resilience Prize, we hope to spotlight innovative climate adaptation and resilience solutions, catalyze more private investment into this space, and ensure a positive impact on vulnerable communities most adversely impacted by climate change.

All other climatetech startups can still apply for our generalist track, the Future Solutions Prize.

New York's forward-thinking state and city governments, thriving tech sector, and massive market make it one of the top startup climatetech economies in the world. The city has become the ideal laboratory for creating sustainable solutions to the world’s most pressing climate challenges.

Prizes

The Prizes

The Urban Future Prize Competition seeks entrepreneurs who are building startups that contribute to a more resilient and sustainable planet. Two non-dilutive prizes of $50K each will be awarded to two companies who embody the drive and mission needed to address the greatest challenge of our time. 


Climate Sector-Agnostic

The Future Solutions Prize

Sponsored by The New York Community Trust and MUFG Bank

The Future Solutions Prize is our sector-agnostic prize track open to companies across all climate sectors. Eligible startups for the Future Solutions Prize address climate change through technology or business model innovation across categories that include, but are not limited to:

  • Smart Grid and Grid Flexibility

  • Renewable Energy

  • Energy Distribution and Storage 

  • Circular Economy

  • Transportation and Mobility

  • Buildings, Energy Efficiency, and Building Materials

  • Thermal Batteries for Industrial Heat

  • Climate Finance

  • Investing and ESG


Climate Adaptation and Resilience

The Future Resilience Prize

Sponsored by The New York Community Trust and MUFG Bank

The Future Resilience Prize is focused on climate adaptation and resilience. We will be paying particular attention to your solution’s impact on vulnerable communities when evaluating this prize track. Eligible startups for the Future Resilience Prize address climate change through technology or business model innovation across categories that include, but are not limited to:

  • Insurance Innovation 

  • Risk Modeling and Analysis

  • Water Scarcity Solutions

  • Heat Resistant Material Innovations 

  • Urban Infrastructure and Resilience

  • Extreme Weather Vulnerability Solutions

  • Advanced Warning Solutions

  • Natural Ecosystem Resilience

  • Public Health

  • Adaptation Financing Solutions

Interested in applying to the Urban Future Prize Competition?

The ACRE Incubator

New York’s leading climatetech incubator.

A $50,000 cash prize will be awarded to two grand prize winners. The Future Solutions Prize and Future Resilience Prize winners will also join the ACRE Incubator and gain access to a community of expert advisors, mentors, and investors who will help to scale their businesses and accelerate their paths to success. ACRE companies have raised more than $1.9 billion in follow-on funding, created over 2,800+ green jobs, and have a survival rate of close to 90% since the program’s inception in 2009.

Urban Future Prize Winner Benefits

01.

$50,000 Prize

$50,000 cash prize with zero-equity stake, so you can focus on your company’s next steps.

02.

ACRE Incubator Membership

Acceptance and membership into New York City’s premier climatetech incubator, with incubator specific benefits and unmatched startup support.

03.

Recognition and Opportunities

Ecosystem recognition, media opportunities, and access to introductions to key partners in the public and private sectors.

Coming Soon

The Jurors

Urban Future Prize finalists will be invited to pitch to an esteemed jury of climate investors. We will be announcing our 2024 Urban Future Prize Competition Jurors soon.

Pitch Event

The Urban Future Summit

Join us at the Urban Future Prize Competition’s annual pitch event.

The Urban Future Prize Competition culminates with the Urban Future Summit, an event for climate entrepreneurs, technologists, government officials, business leaders, investors, and innovators in New York City. This year, on October 24th, the Urban Future Summit will feature pitches from finalists of the 2024 Urban Future Prize Competition; an industry panel discussion; and showcase the successes of past participants of the Prize Competition. We will also highlight the commitment of our sponsors as leaders who take constructive measures to improve and benefit our planet.

Competition Timeline

Competition Sponsors

Join a community of innovators.

Past winners, competitors, and finalists - all changing the climatetech world, one innovation at a time.

“Now is the time to focus on implementation of climate solutions and Urban Future Lab has an incredible track record in supporting the do-ers at the leading edge. We’re honored to join UFL’s portcos and excited to fast-forward our part in creating a just transition.” – Bomee Jung, CEO & Co-Founder, Cadence OneFive, 2023 Winner


“Winning the Future Vision Prize brings LimeLoop one step closer to delivering a world without single-use packaging. The prize will support our buildout of the logistics infrastructure necessary to accelerate the scale of reusable smart packaging, speeding up when you can expect to find a LimeLoop package on a doorstep near you.” – Chantal Emmanuel, CTO & Co-Founder, LimeLoop, 2022 Winner



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