For the fourth consecutive year, we were proud to host the SustainTech Pitching Competition, once again in collaboration with UCL School of Management. At Tecno International, we believe that the sustainability transition depends not only on ambition, but on the ability to turn ideas into practical, scalable solutions.
This year’s edition once again brought together ten finalist teams from the UCL community, each presenting early-stage ventures designed to address environmental and social challenges through technology, innovation and business thinking.
We were also delighted to welcome Geovation as a new supporter of the initiative, bringing valuable expertise in early-stage venture development, geospatial innovation and technical support. Their involvement added a new layer of support for the participating teams and strengthened the competition’s role as a bridge between promising ideas and real-world impact.
The event opened with a keynote from Allegra Fortunato, Head of Strategy and UK Director at Tecno International, who explored one of the central challenges facing sustainability innovation today: the gap between promising early-stage ideas and concrete results. Her keynote highlighted how businesses can play a crucial role in helping emerging sustainability solutions move from concept to implementation, by providing mentorship, strategic guidance, technical expertise and access to networks.
As in previous years, the competition gave finalists the opportunity to pitch their ventures to a panel of expert judges and an engaged audience, competing for three awards: Best Pitch, Best Idea and Audience Choice Award.
We were also joined by 2025 winner Dr. Ilan Adler to showcase the real progress and change achieved by competition participants.
Meet the 2026 finalists
This year’s ten finalist teams reflected the diversity of sustainability innovation emerging from the UCL community, with solutions spanning clean energy, circular economy, sustainable materials, digital platforms, healthcare, agriculture and community impact.
- Hemp-Based Materials — carbon-negative construction panels made from hemp, designed to help reduce embodied carbon in the built environment.
- EcoBrick — compressed earth blocks made from soil, lime and recycled plastic, targeting more sustainable construction in emerging markets.
- Eco Molecule / KiteTrap — washing machine filters using chitosan from seafood waste to capture microplastics before they enter waterways.
- Reclaim — a marketplace for reclaimed building materials, helping demolition contractors, developers and the public give construction materials a second life.
- Airee HUB — biodegradable sheep-fibre filter materials combined with digital tools for Scope 3, lifecycle and circular economy tracking.
- Breakcycle — a platform redirecting surplus medicines from hospitals to research labs, reducing waste in the healthcare system.
- Sinc Energy — a school energy management system that aligns heating with classroom timetables to reduce energy waste.
- GreenTask — a verified micro-task platform for environmental action, using GPS, timestamps and AI verification.
- Table for Art — a marketplace connecting artists with venues to run paid workshops in unused spaces during off-peak hours.
- FarmShield — an AI-powered advisory concept helping smallholder livestock farmers respond to climate-related risks.
Together, the ten pitches showed how sustainability innovation is moving across sectors, from materials and buildings to energy, healthcare, agriculture and community resilience.
Spotlight on the winners
A big congratulations to all ten finalist teams and to this year’s winners: Sinc Energy, winner of the Best Pitch Award; Hemp-Based Materials, winner of the Best Idea Award; and Airee HUB, winner of the Audience Choice Award.
- Sinc Energy- Best Pitch Award
Sinc Energy impressed the jury with a practical, low-CapEx solution to a common challenge in schools: energy wasted by heating empty classrooms.
Presented by Ahmed Soussi, its Building Energy Management System is designed to integrate with school management systems and use live timetable data, smart radiator valves and weather-based predictive algorithms to automate room-level heating. By aligning heating with actual classroom use, Sinc aims to help UK secondary schools reduce energy waste, cut costs and decarbonise existing buildings with minimal disruption.
As Ahmed shared:
“We’re excited to be collaborating with specialists at Tecno International as we prepare to finalise our business plan and go-to-market strategy, ready for our product launch in 2027.”
- Hemp-Based Materials— Best Idea Award
Hemp-Based Materials was awarded Best Idea for its engineered construction panels made from hemp as an alternative to conventional wood-based boards.
Presented by founder Alexander Simpson, the start-up aims to respond to the growing demand for carbon-negative building materials that can reduce Scope 3 emissions while remaining commercially viable. By working with local farmers and shorter supply chains, the company’s model also supports British and European agriculture and manufacturing, creating a transparent supply chain where each panel can be traced back to the field where the hemp was grown.
For Hemp-Based Materials, the collaboration with Tecno International will be particularly valuable in areas such as carbon management, digital traceability and blockchain-enabled carbon tracking. As Alexander explained:
“Our collaboration with Tecno International will be imperative to us being able to utilise their expertise and grow with them. Tecno International’s expertise in carbon management and blockchain solutions will enable us to accurately allocate the correct amount of carbon when selling to clients. Their KontrolON platform, which tracks energy and carbon in real time, is exactly the kind of digital capability we need as we scale.”
- Airee HUB — Audience Choice Award
Airee HUB, winner of the Audience Choice Award, showcased a regenerative filtration platform that combines biodegradable filter materials with digital tools for impact measurement.
Its cofounders Jiguur Na e Batmunkh Myagmardorj presented how, starting with Mongolian sheep wool, Airee is developing natural filtration media for applications such as air purifiers, HVAC systems, automotive cabin filters and building ventilation. Its circular model explores how used natural filters can be converted into biochar through pyrolysis, supporting soil restoration and future carbon-storage pathways.
Alongside the material innovation, Airee Hub is being developed as a software layer to help corporate customers measure avoided fossil-based material use, potential Scope 3 reductions, circular end-of-life performance and product-level environmental impact, embracing a true sustaintech approach.
Through the collaboration with Tecno International, Airee aims to refine its B2B go-to-market strategy, strengthen its impact measurement framework and validate its regenerative filter-to-biochar pathway as it looks to scale from Mongolia into international markets.
As the team shared:
“We are truly honoured and excited to begin this journey with Tecno International and Geovation. We deeply appreciate the opportunity, the cash prize, and the mentorship support, which comes at a very important stage for Airee.”
Each winning team will receive a £1,000 cash prize, a 12-month business and technical mentorship package from Tecno International, introductions to our business partners, and a 12-month Geovation Venture Development membership.
Through this support, the winners will be able to refine their business models, strengthen their value propositions, explore routes to market and accelerate the development of their solutions.
From Ideas to Impact: What this means for business
The 2026 SustainTech Pitching Competition confirmed a clear shift: sustainability is driving innovation and bringing tangible benefits, beyond risk mitigation or marketing material.
For businesses, the message is clear. New materials, clean energy solutions, digital platforms, impact data and circular models are becoming practical tools to improve efficiency, reduce risk, respond to regulation and unlock new value.
This is where Tecno International works: at the intersection of sustainability, innovation and business transformation. Through initiatives like the SustainTech Pitching Competition, we support emerging innovators while helping companies understand how sustainability-driven solutions can be applied to their own strategies, operations and value chains.
Our mentorship programme provides early-stage start-ups with the frameworks, tools and connections to transition from concept to real-world impact. From assessing environmental outcomes to identifying sustainable business models, go-to-market strategies and stakeholder engagement opportunities, our role is to guide innovators as they grow with purpose.
For companies looking to stay competitive, engaging with sustainability innovation today means preparing for the technologies, business models and expectations of tomorrow.
A Platform for Action
As we continue to work with this year’s winners over the next twelve months, we are excited to see their ideas evolve, and equally committed to helping them translate vision into viable, scalable solutions.
To the wider SustainTech community, we offer our congratulations and thanks. Competitions like these remind us of the power of interdisciplinary collaboration, the value of inclusive innovation, and the urgency of collective action.
The future of sustainability is being built today: by students, engineers, founders, researchers and businesses. At Tecno International, we are proud to continue being part of that journey.