The Smart Cities Global Startup Challenge in Barcelona is organized by the North Texas Innovation Alliance to support the company startups working on smart infrastructure, mobility, and connectivity.

North Texas Innovation Alliance (NTXIA) has announced the second edition of the Smart Cities Global Startup Challenge during the 2025 Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC), an event taking place in Barcelona. Collaborating with the cities of Frisco and McKinney, Texas; Plug and Play; and Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners, the project will highlight transport-related safety, connectivity, and smart infrastructure innovation brought about by international startups.

These competitions will only shortlist five finalists who would be given an opportunity to pilot, as well as be funded in the United States. Emphasis areas are sustainable mobility, predictive analytics, and technologies in smart infrastructure, and data-driven maintenance of infrastructure, e.g.,energy-efficient buildings.

NTXIA Jennifer Sanders, Executive Director, states, "The encouragement of startups that deal with practical issues in intelligent infrastructure and connectivity contributes to the achievable, resilient, and future-proof cities."

They will provide winners with support which will feature things like pilot funding, workspaces, curated meetings with city leaders and introductions to corporate R&D hubs. Rewards also feature access to smart city decision-makers and a test environment in North Texas, where the region is branding itself as an innovation hub of smart infrastructure.

Gloria Salinas, of the Frisco Economic Development Corporation, said, "A tech ecosystem of Fortune 500 companies and hundreds of startups is fostering smart city applications in Frisco."

The final pitch will be organized on November 5, 2025, in Barcelona, and one of them will see their idea promoted to lead the movement of global smart infrastructure innovations, having the potential of being launched in the U.S.