Smart Cities World: Texan Smart Cities Global Startup Challenge winner announced
Omniflow provides carbon-neutral smart IoT applications powered by wind and solar with integrated energy storage and grid connection that enables multiple integrated apps.
At a glance:
Who: North Texas Innovation Alliance (NTXIA).
What: NTXIA crowned Omniflow the winner of the second annual Smart Cities Global Startup Challenge. The firm provides carbon neutral smart IoT applications powered by wind and solar with integrated energy storage and grid connection that enables multiple integrated applications
Why: The challenge is part of NTXIA’s mission to break down silos and drive the collaborative use of data, technology and community to address the most pressing challenges for cities.
When: The startup challenge took place at Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona in November.
North Texas Innovation Alliance (NTXIA) has named Omniflow as the winner of the second annual Smart Cities Global Startup Challenge.
At Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, Omniflow competed against four global startups and was awarded funding, travel, piloting, and business development opportunities in the US, and the NTXIA Champion Texas Belt Buckle.
Smart IoT applications
Headquartered in Portugal, Omniflow provides carbon neutral smart IoT applications powered by wind and solar with integrated energy storage and grid connection that enables multiple integrated applications.
Omniflow’s solutions enable cities to transform utilities like a streetlight or even a city bench into a carbon neutral object that can be used for multiple IoT purposes. This solution continues to support cities in integrating new technologies to improve their residents’ daily lives while also helping cities meet their sustainability goals and cost-savings across energy spending.
The other four finalists competing were Advanced Services in Mobility, Helpful Places, Latitudo 40 and Tiami Networks.
“These startups did not make choosing a winner easy for our judges,” said NTXIA executive director Jennifer Sanders. “Thank you to each of the startups and our panel of judges for making the trip out to Barcelona for the competition. We were honoured to have an incredible group of startups and distinguished judges join us at the event. Congratulations to Omniflow on this achievement, and we are excited to kick off planning travel, piloting, and funding opportunities for 2026.”
This year, Omniflow was awarded funding toward potential pilots, travel and accommodation funding, and business development meetings across City departments, corporate innovation, R&D centres, education systems, healthcare institutions, and more from across the country.
“This award is a tremendous milestone for Omniflow and our vision of transforming urban infrastructure into a platform for sustainability and intelligence,” said Omniflow CEO Pedro Ruão.
“We are excited to work with NTXIA and the innovative cities of North Texas to demonstrate how our renewable-powered AI smart hub can improve public safety, connectivity, mobility, and energy resilience. Together, we will show what the future of smart cities can look like when technology and sustainability move forward hand in hand.”
The panel of judges included representatives across NTXIA, Frisco Economic Development Corporation, McKinney Economic Development Corporation, Plug and Play, Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners, Amsys Innovative Solutions and Toyota Mobility Foundation.
“We are excited to work with NTXIA and the innovative cities of North Texas to demonstrate how our renewable-powered AI smart hub can improve public safety, connectivity, mobility, and energy resilience”
NTIXA and partners will be coordinating with Omniflow to organise the startup’s trip to the US to begin exploring business development and piloting opportunities with the goal of planning piloting and business development meetings throughout 2026.
The North Texas Innovation Alliance (NTXIA) is a 501(c)3 consortium of key cross-sector stakeholders working to develop and implement a smart region strategy for North Texas.
The organisation’s mission is to break down silos and drive the collaborative use of data, technology and community to address the most pressing topics and create solutions that will improve quality of life, drive inclusive economic development and promote resource efficiency.