- This initiative aims to identify and reward innovative solutions addressing key circular economy challenges in areas such as water management, organic waste, and sustainable construction.
- If you want to participate in the program, you can register here .
Brussels, 06/08/2025. Finnova launches a new edition of the Startup Europe Awards, focusing on the decarbonization challenges currently faced by the city of Ibagué, Colombia. The Ibagué Startup Europe Awards seek innovative sustainability solutions centered on Ibagué’s case, with the potential for international scalability.
The Ibagué SEUA 2025 targets three main challenges identified as priorities to strengthen circular models. The first focuses on the management and valorization of urban wastewater, seeking technological solutions that promote its reuse through sustainable systems such as biogas, green hydrogen, composting, or the production of eco-friendly fertilizers. The second challenge concerns the management of urban organic waste, promoting logistical and technological proposals to collect, sort, and transform food waste from households, restaurants, supermarkets, and agro-industries into new resources within a circular economy. The third area focuses on the Waste2PropTech concept, which aims to convert peri-urban waste into sustainable construction materials, such as sound-absorbing pavements, thermal insulators, social housing elements, or regenerative urbanism solutions.
This international call is open to startups, SMEs, universities, technology centers, public administrations, and entrepreneurial ecosystem agents from Latin America, Europe, and other regions committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The goal is to attract agents offering innovative solutions to the challenges presented and contribute to their implementation.
The winning startups of each challenge will receive special recognition from the Finnova Foundation and its accelerator, Startup Europe Accelerator. Specifically, the first-place winner in each category will be awarded a support package that includes three key components. First, an individual mentoring session, either in person or virtually, to explore potential European funding paths to transform the proposal into a European project. Second, access to an online course on European funds from the EU Training Platform, valued at €400. Finally, the winning projects will gain visibility on social media and in the press.
The deadline to submit applications is Wednesday, October 1, 2025, at 23:59 (Colombia time), through the form available here. All proposals will be evaluated by a committee of international experts based on five criteria: project viability, relevance to the proposed challenges, degree of innovation, internationalization potential, and robustness of the business and investment model.
The Ibagué Startup Europe Awards jury will include representatives from public administrations, universities, local media, and technology experts, thanks to a public-private partnership. This diversity ensures a plural, rigorous evaluation tailored to the context and aligned with the territory’s real needs and opportunities.
The winners will be announced at the Glocal Circular Economy Summit – Nova Next Summit
From November 4 to 6, the city of Ibagué will host the Ibagué SEUA awards ceremony, where the winning startup offering the most innovative and scalable sustainability solution will be recognized during the Glocal Circular Economy Summit – Nova Next Summit. Organized by Ibagué Limpia with support from Andesco (National Association of Public Services and Communications Companies), the summit is backed by a strong group of national and international strategic partners, including the Tolima Government, Ibagué City Council, Interaseo, Startup Europe Awards, RES4CITY, Startup Europe Accelerator, Finnova Foundation, Gestora Urbana, INFIBAGUÉ, and the Ibagué Aqueduct and Sewerage Institute (IBAL). This multisectoral collaboration strengthens the event’s innovative and collaborative character, consolidating Ibagué as a hub for transformative circular economy alliances. Event registration is open here.
This program will help position Ibagué as a reference node for territorial innovation and urban sustainability. This milestone reinforces the glocal focus of the event: acting locally to generate global impact. The Finnova Foundation, as a strategic partner, reaffirms its commitment to multilateral cooperation, green entrepreneurship, and public-private partnerships to drive ecological transformation from the ground up.
About the Startup Europe Awards
The Startup Europe Awards (SEUA) are an innovative methodology promoted by DG CONNECT of the European Commission and implemented by the Finnova Foundation in collaboration with Startup Europe, with the institutional support of the European Parliament, the European Committee of the Regions, and the European Economic and Social Committee.
They are an open innovation tool designed to identify disruptive startups, foster public-private collaboration, and raise awareness about the importance of entrepreneurship as a driver for employment. Additionally, they promote alliances that contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the European Green Deal, generating impact on the circular economy and climate change mitigation.
SEUA aims to boost sustainable entrepreneurship in areas such as circular economy, sustainability, mobility, and urban climate change mitigation. They also seek to give national and international visibility to ideas that promote smart and green cities, enhancing competitiveness and social impact through technological innovation strategies. Moreover, they support entrepreneurs by facilitating access to European funding through programs such as LIFE, COSME, Horizon Europe or the European Innovation Council.
In short, SEUA is a key tool to promote knowledge exchange, strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and help startups grow and position themselves in the market.
About the Finnova Foundation
The Finnova Foundation is the European foundation based in Brussels dedicated to promoting innovation, entrepreneurship, and European funding as key tools to address major social, environmental, and economic challenges. Through its work, it supports public and private entities in accessing European programs such as Horizon Europe, LIFE, Interreg, or Erasmus+, facilitating consortium creation, project development, and best practice transfer.