Bucharest, March 31, 2025 – Glovo, the multi-category platform that offers access to a wide variety of products, in partnership with CITI Cluster, an innovation catalyst initiated by Politehnica Bucharest, is launching registrations for Tech Catalyst: Sparking Urban Innovation. The competition aims to stimulate the development of digital solutions for smarter cities, through mobile applications. Until June 2, developers can register both application proposals and already functional solutions, with the chance to win prizes worth a total of 8,000 euros.
Students, tech start-ups and NGOs interested in innovations for smart cities can enter the competition with applications in areas such as mobility, logistics, application integration, e-commerce, fintech and lifestyle, with solutions that bring technology closer to the needs of cities. Registration is free, open nationwide, and is done by filling out the form available on the competition page until June 2, 2025.
“Glovo was born from a vision to make cities more accessible and efficient by providing consumers with easy access to anything within their city through our platform. As a tech company, we innovated and worked hard, but we also received help along the way. Young entrepreneurs need a supportive environment to succeed, Romania’s local tech ecosystem needs to provide just that, access to capital, government initiatives and mentorship. Glovo’s Tech Catalyst program aims to contribute to accelerating the growth of startups in Romania.” said Sacha Michaud, Co-Founder of Glovo, present in Romania for the launch of the competition.
After the online application phase, the jurors will evaluate the applications based on their relevance to local urban needs, innovation – originality and technological innovation, the application’s ability to be integrated with existing systems and services, the feasibility of the business model and the impact of the project on the community. The winners will be announced in June, with 3 prizes awarded in this year’s competition:
- The best already functional application, awarded with 3,000 EUR
- The best application idea, awarded with 3,000 EUR
- Jury’s Rising Star – a project that the jury considers promising in terms of impact on the community, awarded with 2,000 EUR.
Also, all 3 winning teams will participate, in September, at Glovo Tech Week in Barcelona, an annual event where they will have the opportunity to participate in mentoring sessions with Glovo leaders and present their projects at events dedicated to the development of their own startups.
The first edition of Tech Catalyst in Romania will be judged by technology experts, more details about them will be available soon on https://citicluster.upb.ro/tech-catalyst-2025/.
Launched for the first time in Romania, Tech Catalyst is a competition developed by Glovo, with editions already running in countries such as Ukraine and Morocco. The initiative underlines the company’s commitment to supporting the new generation of entrepreneurs, stimulating digital transformation and increasing the competitiveness of startups in Romania.
In Romania, the competition is run in partnership with CITI Cluster, a catalyst for innovation in the smart city field, initiated by the National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, which operates on the triple helix model and creates a framework for collaboration between academia, authorities and the private sector for the development of sustainable solutions dedicated to smart cities.
About Glovo
Glovo is a pioneering multi-category app connecting users with businesses, and couriers, offering on-demand services from local restaurants, grocers and supermarkets, and high street retail stores. Glovo’s vision is to build the largest online marketplace to give everyone access to anything in their city within minutes. Founded in 2015 in Barcelona, it operates across 23 countries in Europe, Central Asia, and Africa.
