Citypreneurs is a city-based competition for start-ups that seek to solve urban problems, as defined and measured by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It works in close collaboration with city governments, starting with Seoul, South Korea.

Citypreneurs aims for the following objectives: Urban Impact (SDG 11): generation of businesses that contribute to urban development and general social improvements as measured by the SDGs. Start-ups (SDG 8/9): contribution to the urban start-up ecosystem through an interlinked support system involving the international, public, and private sectors. SDGs Promotion: public awareness of SDGs raised through a series of event marketing as well as the business success of participating teams. Regional Scaling (SDG 17): proliferation of the Urban Innovation Challenge program in the Asia Pacific region through multilateral partnerships and city-to-city policy support. Contribution to Global Dialogue: contribution in providing an innovative means of SDG implementation by encouraging youth entrepreneurship and incentivizing impact investment.

The three themes of the 2018 Urban Innovation Challenge: Citypreneurs competition are as follows: 1. Green Energy 2. Urban Mobility 3. Social Protection Startups with products or services that directly address one or more of these themes have the best chance to do well in the competition.

Yes, ‘Urban Innovation Challenge: Citypreneurs’ welcomes anyone with an interest in solving urban issues and implementing the SDGs using innovative business models. Applicants in this category are encouraged to apply for the 'Seed Track', intended precisely for those with big ideas but who need the support and connections to jump start their business. In contrast, the 'Growth Track' is intended for startups with around 3 years of experience as a business and market-tested prototypes. Businesses in this category can learn how to sharpen their focus by aligning their endeavors with the SDGs and become more attractive to investors.

As seen on the event schedule, 2018's event will be held for one day on October 31. However, until then feel free to contact Citypreneurs for support and make sure to keep up to date with our blog posts and educational initiatives.

The SDGs start-up accelerator program is an online or offline mentorship program consisting of 8 sessions, proceeded by Young Sustainable Impact (YSI),(https://www.ysiglobal.com/) during which the winning Citypreneurs teams go through projects to improve their solutions for a final investor pitch. Each team will be given a lead mentor and a support mentor as well as a dedicated facilitator. There will be two meetings every week. The first meetings will be held online/offline, with the facilitator and the team. The second meetings will be held offline during the weekends, with the mentor(s) present. YSI is a startup accelerator based in Oslo, Norway, that aims to solve UN SDGs via entrepreneurship.

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Citypreneurs is co-hosted by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP), Seoul Metropolitan Government, Seoul Digital Foundation, World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGo).

Any enquiries regarding Citypreneurs should be addressed to the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) Seoul Secretariat. Phone: 02-6925-2695 Email: citypreneurs@wfuna.org SNS: Facebook (facebook.com/citypreneursHQ), LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/citypreneurs/), Twitter (@city_preneurs), KakaoTalk (https://pf.kakao.com/_xmhLiC ).