NYU Tandon School of Engineering’s Urban Future Lab names winners of the 2025 Urban Future Prize Competition

NYU Tandon School of Engineering named the winners of its 2025 Urban Future Prize Competition at the 9th annual Urban Future Summit at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. This flagship program of Tandon's Urban Future Lab (UFL) identifies and supports top climatetech startups.

• Eztia won the Climate Adaptation Prize for passive cooling material integrated into gear to reduce skin temperature and prevent heat-related injuries without electricity.
   
• PopWheels won the Climate Mitigation Prize for urban battery-swapping infrastructure solving micromobility fire hazards and building scalable EV solutions for delivery workers.

Each company will receive $50,000 and admission to UFL's ACRE (Accelerator for a Clean and Resilient Economy) Incubator, the longest-running climatetech incubator in New York State, to access expert advisors, mentors, and investors who will help scale their businesses and accelerate their paths to success.

Supported by MUFG Bank and Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), the Competition exemplifies NYU Tandon's commitment to building an innovative climatetech community that unites Tandon's research ecosystem — including its Sustainable Engineering Initiative and its Industrial, Urban & Environmental Sustainability Impact Area — with entrepreneurs developing real-world climate solutions.

This year marks a significant milestone for the Urban Future Prize Competition: over $1 million awarded to climatetech founders since the competition's inception in 2017. Past awardees have collectively raised over $515 million in follow-on funding, demonstrating the catalytic impact of NYU Tandon's support for climate innovation.

"The Urban Future Prize Competition is a wonderful example of how NYU Tandon bridges academic innovation with entrepreneurial action to advance both climate mitigation and resilience," said Linda Ng Boyle, NYU Tandon Vice Dean for Research. "By bringing these exceptional startups into our ecosystem, we're not only supporting their growth but also creating valuable research partnerships that strengthen our mission to develop engineering solutions for pressing environmental challenges. These companies represent the kind of applied innovation that will define our path to a more sustainable future."

A record 382 companies entered this year’s Competition, with NYU Tandon-affiliated faculty Justin Bui, Juanita Hidalgo, Pavel Kots, Dharik Mallapragada, and Miguel Modestino among the subject-matter experts advising during the review process, ensuring finalists exhibited not only market potential but also technical viability and alignment with cutting-edge research.

“This year’s record turnout and caliber of finalists show how far the climate innovation ecosystem has progressed,” said Austin Evarts, Director of the ACRE Incubator at the Urban Future Lab. “Crossing the milestone of awarding our one millionth dollar in prizes underscores how catalytic this support can be for early-stage founders. The entrepreneurs we’re supporting are developing promising technologies, deploying real solutions that strengthen communities, create jobs, and make our economy more resilient. We congratulate Eztia and PopWheels on their achievements and look forward to working with them in the ACRE Incubator to help scale their impact.”

A jury of leading climate technology investors named the winners after hearing pitches from the Competition's eight finalists. The jurists were Laura Fox, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Streetlife Ventures; Pat Sapinsley, Investor and Advisor, RA Capital Management; Cynthia Ding, Vice President, Venture & Growth, Galvanize; and Anastasia Istratova, Partner, Climate Tech, Fifth Wall.

“MUFG is pleased to continue our support for the Urban Future Prize Competition and its spirit of innovation,” said Beth Gilroy, Deputy Head of Sustainability Strategy & Planning at MUFG Bank. “As a global financial leader with a 360-year track record of powering economic growth and new technologies across geographies and industry sectors, MUFG is committed to providing our clients with financial solutions that help them achieve their sustainability goals.”  

“Right now, we’re deploying with organizations in three countries — the US, Singapore, and Japan,” said Tiffany Yeh, MD, Co-Founder and CEO at Eztia. “Over the next 12 months, we aim to partner closely with our existing customers, win their trust, and scale across these markets. We’re excited to be part of a strong portfolio of companies and a supportive ecosystem to make that happen.”

"UFL’s support can advance our goals in many ways,” said Jack Wilson, Co-Founder and COO at Eztia. “The expert group of mentors — especially in the U.S. and specifically in New York - is a huge asset. Partnerships with the public sector, both at the city and state level, are also a major influence as we work to grow.”  

"So much about Urban Future Lab aligns with who we are and what we’re about, and it’s incredibly validating to work with a group like this,” said David Hammer, Co-Founder at PopWheels. “Their resources in design, go-to-market, and fundraising will help us scale what we’ve already built in New York City and expand into other cities like Toronto, Chicago, and Philadelphia."

The Summit also featured a panel discussion on building climate resilience with communities at the center, moderated by Louie Woodall, Founder & CEO, Climate Proof and featuring Beth Foster-Chao from Autodesk Foundation, Johanna Lawton from Rebuild by Design, and Allyson Martinez from Brooklyn Level Up.

About the Urban Future Lab

The Urban Future Lab at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering is an innovation hub for best-in-class climatetech startups with a focus on clean energy and sustainable urban infrastructure solutions. A cornerstone of NYU Tandon's Sustainable Engineering Initiative (SEI), the UFL advances SEI's mission to develop new engineering strategies to avoid, mitigate, and remediate emissions responsible for climate change and environmental contamination, and that introduce novel ways to evaluate the impact of and adapt to these environmental challenges.

The UFL is home to four programs that support innovators on their journey to scale up and commercialize their businesses: ACRE is New York's longest-running climatetech incubator; Carbon to Value Initiative and Offshore Wind Innovation Hub bring innovative technologies and solutions to industry leaders; and the Innovate UK Global Incubator Programme supports entry in the U.S. for U.K.-based climatetech startups that can effectively grow and support the clean-growth goals of New York State. UFL also offers Clean Start, an advanced certificate from NYU for people seeking a transition into the climatetech sector.

Since 2009, UFL has supported 170+ startups with an industry-leading 93% company survival rate, raised $3.9B+ in venture capital, project finance, and grants, created 5,000+ jobs, and facilitated 100+ events with 2,000+ attendees per year.

For more information, visit ufl.nyc, LinkedIn, Instagram, and sign up to their newsletter. For more information about NYU Tandon, visit engineering.nyu.edu.