The World Economic Forum’s Centre for Urban Transformation and UpLink have launched the Yes Bengaluru Urban Innovation Challenge, inviting start-ups and innovators to submit breakthrough solutions to address the city’s most pressing urban sustainability challenges. The challenge marks the India launch of the global Yes Cities initiative, a first-of-its-kind, place-based innovation initiative to identify innovative urban transformation technologies from across the globe to support the rapid on-the-ground deployment of these solutions.
The challenge/The Urban Innovation Challenge calls for innovative solutions to help reimagine and transform the city of Bengaluru, inviting start-ups from across India and the world to deploy and scale solutions that address the city’s most pressing challenges across three key themes: efficient utilities and infrastructure solutions; resilient and environmentally sustainable city solutions; and reliable mobility solutions.
Challenge Details
Start-ups are invited to submit their solution to the Uplink platform. The final date for submissions has been extended to 24 November.
UpLink will select a cohort of Top Innovators of the challenge that will have the opportunity to receive support to enter, scale, and drive sustainable urban deployments in Bengaluru. Top Innovators will also receive funding of up to ₹25 lakh. These innovators will be announced early in 2026.
For more information on participation and submission guidelines, please visit – challenge link.
Why Bengaluru
Known as India’s Silicon Valley, Bengaluru was identified as a leading host city for the next Yes/Cities challenge due to its bold urban development vision, thriving IT sector and start-up ecosystem, cutting-edge infrastructure, rich talent pool and a deeply rooted culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.
The initiative offers a platform for stakeholders across Karnataka to not only showcase homegrown solutions but also scale them to cities across India and the globe – creating lasting impact and positioning the region as a global leader in sustainable urban innovation.
By 2030, the initiative aims to support more than 1,000 innovators across 50+ cities worldwide, bringing together companies, governments, and community organizations to co-create scalable urban solutions for people and the planet.
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