This Tuesday marks the start of the global gathering of city science researchers, “Cities in Transition,” a summit of the MIT City Science network that will take place in the Southern Hemisphere for the first time. For the occasion, City Lab Biobío and the Municipal Hubs network selected a group of startups that will participate as “Innovators of the Future,” playing a prominent role during the event’s public day.
The selected companies will have an in-person exhibition on the second floor of Teatro Biobío on Wednesday, October 8, where they will showcase technologies and innovations aimed at reshaping the future of cities to make them more just, sustainable, and collaborative through high-impact urban and social solutions.
The Cities in Transition Summit, organized by the urban lab in the Biobío region, will bring together around one hundred researchers working in urbanism, data science, and technology from Europe, Asia, North America, and Latin America. The program includes activities open to the public designed to invite people to “imagine” the cities of the future, combining science, urban thinking, and talks from internationally recognized speakers.
“The summit we are hosting is an environment that fosters collaboration, visibility, and connections with national and international actors in the urban, technological, and scientific ecosystem, always with a focus on anticipating future scenarios. Collaboration is key, and this space will allow everyone to be part of the cities we want to build,” said Fernando Pérez, principal director of City Lab Biobío and of the event, which is also supported by private-sector partners such as Grupo CAP-Huachipato and Entel Digital.
Mauricio Brito, director of HUB Providencia, added that “spaces like Innovators of the Future are essential because they allow startups to show how their solutions not only address concrete urban problems but also contribute to collective well-being and to the country’s competitiveness. Events like this strengthen the region’s position as a hub for urban innovation and highlight the role of startups as drivers of social and economic change in Chile.”
The startups participating in the summit
The first startup is Simplicity, which turns geospatial data into strategic decisions that enable scenario comparison, investment prioritization, and transparent communication of impacts.
It is followed by UGPS, a platform for managing fleets, assets, and logistics processes through real-time visibility and predictive tools, helping reduce costs, prevent risks, and lower environmental impact.
2IT provides spatial intelligence, transforming complex data into strategic insights for energy, infrastructure, and sustainable development projects, including site selection, risk assessment, and project planning.
In the environmental field, two companies stand out: REM Circular and R9 Ingeniería SA. REM Circular aims to eliminate waste in construction through an AI-based platform that promotes a circular economy by transforming waste into valuable resources. R9 Ingeniería, meanwhile, has developed a platform that helps manage issues such as odors, noise, or illegal dumping by integrating citizen reports with real-time sensor data.
Addressing socioeconomic challenges, Plataforma Bloqus promotes Construction 4.0 by standardizing components for social housing, helping reduce housing shortages, costs, and construction times while connecting suppliers, builders, and local SMEs.
Also participating is Replikes, which focuses on democratizing urban planning through participatory digital twins that integrate technical data and citizen perceptions into a shared platform for governments, communities, and companies.
Sebastián Salas, co-founder of 2IT, noted that while startups are now widely seen as “a key engine for national development,” only a few manage to scale their impact. “Initiatives like this are essential to increase visibility, strengthen trust in the ecosystem, and create connections between the public and private sectors that can help solutions grow and achieve greater transformative capacity at a national level,” he said.
About the lab
City Lab Biobío is a city science laboratory and the only one of its kind in Chile and the southern hemisphere. Through a partnership between the Biobío Regional Government and the Chilean Chamber of Construction, and under the leadership of Corporación Ciudades, the applied research lab is developing concrete proposals for science-based urban planning, in line with the work carried out by other laboratories in the global MIT City Science network.
