Brno Region startups head to Barcelona to pitch smart city tech

Ten JIC-backed companies from the Brno Region are showing mobility, energy, environmental monitoring and public-service tools at Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona from Nov. 3-5. The push is aimed at winning pilot projects and expanding tested Czech innovations across European cities.

Why it matters: - The Brno Region is using Europe’s biggest smart city stage to sell practical technology that cities can deploy now, not just prototypes. - The companies are seeking pilot projects with cities and partners to speed international expansion. - The lineup covers some of the most pressing urban problems: mobility, energy, air quality and public services. - The Czech Pavilion also gives Brno a platform to position itself as a Central European hub for urban innovation.

What happened: - Ten technology companies supported by the JIC innovation agency are presenting at Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona from Nov. 3-5. - The companies are exhibiting at the Czech Pavilion in Hall 3, Stand D100. - The event is the world’s leading gathering for urban innovation. - The companies are meeting cities, investors and potential partners from around the world. - The City of Brno is also presenting its living labs and URBIS, a platform for urban transformation and innovation ecosystems in Central and Eastern Europe and the Danube Region. - Journalists and visitors are invited to the pavilion, including the Smart Mobility Beer & Pitch networking session on Nov. 4 at 4:30 p.m.

The details: - 3L Robotics is developing infrastructure that receives parcels from drones, couriers and autonomous vehicles. - 3L Robotics is building a smart parcel locker and rooftop drone helipad with Honeywell Aerospace and support from the European Space Agency. - Agdata SMART connects IoT sensors into one cloud platform that monitors air quality, weather, noise and water levels in real time. - Agdata SMART alerts cities when monitored limits are exceeded. - Citymind provides secure AI tools for cities and public institutions. - Citymind’s multilingual chat and voice assistants provide public information 24/7. - Citymind’s internal AI agents help staff streamline everyday tasks. - MapTiler offers GDPR-compliant European map services as an alternative to global providers. - MapTiler provides street, satellite and 3D maps that cities can also run on their own servers. - MapTiler’s maps reach around 500 million people each month. - NANO Advanced develops industrial PEM electrolysers. - NANO Advanced uses machine learning to improve green hydrogen production from fluctuating solar and wind power. - DataFromSky has converted camera footage into traffic data with AI since 2013. - DataFromSky’s technology is used in more than 100 countries. - In the Czech Republic, DataFromSky’s adaptive junction control cut waiting times by half. - VARS, a member of the global VINCI Group, develops transport infrastructure and smart city management systems. - VARS builds information systems for the digital transformation of the transport route lifecycle, from design and asset management to transport telematics. - VisionCraft turns camera images into anonymous, real-time data on vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. - VisionCraft processes the data on-device so no footage leaves the device. - Wattee, a spin-off of Brno University of Technology, provides AI-powered energy management for buildings. - Wattee also offers end-to-end EV charging solutions for residential properties and entire cities. - Wattee connects solar panels, batteries, EV chargers and other energy assets into a single energy system. - Yedem provides a platform for corporate parking and commuting. - Yedem says its platform can increase car park utilisation by up to 40% without new infrastructure. - The Czech Pavilion is organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade together with CzechBusiness. - The pavilion brings together 40 exhibitors and more than 300 Czech participants. - The pavilion’s circular exhibition design won the Green Exhibitor Award in 2024 and 2025. - This year, the pavilion is extending its sustainability approach by encouraging others to adopt similar practices.

Between the lines: - The Brno Region is presenting a broad mix of startups, not a single flagship company, which signals a deeper local innovation pipeline. - The use of real-world deployments, public-sector use cases and international partners is meant to reduce buyer risk for city governments. - HackaTEEN adds a youth and education angle to the trade-show push, linking future talent with municipal innovation. - The Czech–Spanish HackaTEEN competition began at URBIS and is the first joint Brno-Barcelona project tied to the memorandum signed by the Czech delegation at SCEWC 2025. - JIC-supported startups have attracted more than €300 million in investment in recent years, underscoring the region’s ability to convert innovation support into capital. - František Kubeš, head of the Strategic Development and Cooperation Department at Brno City Municipality, said the region’s companies arrive with solutions already tested in practice and ready for European cities.

What's next: - The companies will use the Barcelona event to pursue pilots, partnerships and international market entry. - Brno and its partners are expected to keep building the city-to-city link with Barcelona through URBIS and HackaTEEN. - The Czech Pavilion’s sustainability model is likely to remain part of the region’s branding at future international events. - More information is available on the Brno Region website and the JIC website.