Sustainability Challenge.
Urban Advance
Berlin
To promote sustainability and enhance employee wellbeing, EDGE and Vattenfall partnered with us to run an international Sustainability Challenge for startups—transforming their headquarters into a pioneering testbed for circularity and carbon capture technologies.
We worked with experts to assess the most promising startup solutions and coached the teams through the implementation phase.
Where it started
EDGE Technologies built the new Germany headquarters for Vattenfall, one of the most sustainable office buildings in Europe. Both partners didn't want to stop there. Beyond the building's construction credentials, they wanted to actively lower carbon emissions throughout its operational lifecycle, the day-to-day running of the building, not just how it was built. They knew they wanted to run an innovation competition to find the best available solutions, but didn't know how to design or execute it. They approached Urban Impact, and together they co-created the concept for the Sustainability Challenge: a strong urban tech and startup focus, a structured evaluation process, and a promotion strategy that combined Urban Impact's European startup ecosystem with EDGE and Vattenfall's corporate channels. The grand prize was €100,000 in pilot implementation budget and a lighthouse showcase bringing national and international PR to the winning startups.
Our role
Designing and running the challenge
We co-created the challenge concept with EDGE and Vattenfall, defined the brief, developed the promotion strategy, and leveraged Urban Impact's European startup network alongside EDGE and Vattenfall's corporate channels to attract applicants. 65 startups from across Europe applied. The process included a live pitch day attended by over 500 online viewers, with high-level buy-in from senior leadership at both corporates, including EDGE's global CEO and Vattenfall Germany's VP of Real Estate.
Mentoring the finalists
Our role continued beyond the selection process. We organised the pitch event, mentored the finalist teams, and worked with the winners to prepare their solutions for implementation in a real building environment. Moving from a successful pitch to a successful deployment required close collaboration between startups, corporate partners, and building operators. We helped bridge that gap.
Implementing the winning solutions
Two solutions were selected. EcoBean, a Warsaw-based startup specialising in coffee waste circularity, and Sally R, a Swedish company with an HVAC-integrated carbon capture system originally inspired by technology from the International Space Station. Both solutions were integrated into the EDGE Südkreuz building.
For both EcoBean and Sally R, this was a major commercial and proof-of-concept milestone, their first integration into a high-profile German corporate building, won through a structured competitive process that Urban Impact designed and facilitated.
Where they are now
The challenge resulted in €100,000 in pilot funding and the implementation of two urban technology solutions at EDGE Südkreuz. Both winning startups also gained national and international visibility through the communication activities of EDGE and Vattenfall.
For EcoBean, the project became an important step on its path into the German market, preceding the broader commercial expansion covered in the EcoBean case study.
About the building
EDGE Suedkreuz
EDGE Suedkreuz Berlin is a two-building office ensemble, one of the largest modular wood-hybrid constructions in Germany, designed as an open ecosystem using nature-based architectural elements. As the new headquarters of energy provider Vattenfall, the building sets a new standard of its own.
Watch the Pitch Day Event
Urban Impact was proud to present and host the Sustainability Challenge Pitch day at the construction site of Edge Suedkreuz.