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QBE AcceliCITY
Resilience Challenge
The QBE AcceliCITY Resilience Challenge connects high-impact innovators with funding, city partners, and real-world implementation opportunities to accelerate resilience solutions globally
What is the QBE AcceliCITY Resilience Challenge?
The QBE AcceliCITY Resilience Challenge is a six-month, global accelerator designed to help resilience-focused startups move from promising innovation to real-world deployment.
Powered by Leading Cities and the QBE Foundation, the program connects high-impact entrepreneurs with non-dilutive funding, Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Readiness certification, mentorship from global experts, and structured pathways to pilot implementation with communities.
This is not a pitch competition alone. It is a deployment pathway—built to help solutions navigate government systems, earn credibility with city leaders, and accelerate into real-world application.
Innovators move fast. Cities move carefully.
Around the world, many resilience solutions are ready for deployment, but proving impact in real communities takes more than a strong product.
Founders need validation, municipal partnerships, and credible case studies to build momentum — yet access to city leaders is slow and procurement systems are complex. While startups move quickly to meet growth milestones, cities must manage risk carefully. Too often, breakthrough solutions stall in the space between innovation and implementation.
The QBE AcceliCITY Resilience Challenge exists to close that gap. Discover all of the benefits of the Resilience Challenge to innovators in the table to the right.
Here's what you'll gain from participating in the Resilience Challenge
The Resilience Challenge's weekly virtual curriculum is built to demystify how cities across the globe actually operate. With each session, you’ll learn how to align with regional procurement processes, structure public-private partnerships, find your city champion, and position your solution within real municipal constraints.
The Resilience Challenge builds credibility with public-sector leaders through direct city engagement and a virtual weekly curriculum that leads to a PPP Readiness Certification recognized across the Leading Cities network. By completing the program, your team demonstrates that it understands how to operate within real municipal constraints — strengthening trust with cities evaluating your solution.
All Resilience Challenge participants are invited to monthly virtual City Solutions Forums, where municipal leaders from around the world present active priorities and are seeking aligned innovations. These sessions create direct opportunities to pitch into real challenges — not hypotheticals — and open conversations that can lead to feasibility discussions, partnerships, and pilots.
The Resilience Challenge awards $100,000 in non-equity funding to the Grand Prize winner. This capital is paired with a structured, no-cost pilot pathway with a community partner, ensuring funding is tied directly to real-world implementation. There are three additional $25,000 specialty prizes for runners up.
Through weekly virtual sessions, founders gain direct access to blobally sourced experts and city leaders with live Q&A built into every class. The Top 50 companies are matched with one-on-one mentors for tailored feedback on strategy, positioning, and pilot design. This is not passive learning—it’s structured exposure to the people who have successfully funded, deployed, and scaled solutions in real communities.
A Prize Pool of $150,000 USD
IN NON-DILLUTIVE FUNDING
The QBE AcceliCITY Resilience Challenge awards a total prize pool of $150,000 USD in non-dilutive funding to accelerate high-impact resilience solutions.
At the center of this is the $100,000 Grand Prize, designed to move beyond recognition and into implementation. The Grand Prize winner is required to allocate a portion of the award toward deploying a real-world pilot project in a community following the program.
Additional prize awards will be distributed from the remaining pool to recognize standout solutions across key resilience themes.
The Grand Prize
$100,000 USD
• $100,000 USD in non-dilutive funding
• Minimum allocation toward a live community pilot deployment
• Post-award support to structure and launch the pilot
• Continued visibility through Leading Cities’ global network
The Grand Prize is awarded to the solution that demonstrates the strongest potential for scalable, real-world impact. The expectation is clear: this funding helps move your solution into implementation.
Additional Prizes
Prize Pool of $50,000 USD
• Remaining prize pool distributed among standout finalists
• Non-dilutive capital to support growth and deployment readiness
• Visibility across QBE, Leading Cities, and global city networks
• Ongoing access to ecosystem opportunities
Our Impact
in Numbers
QBE AcceliCITY Resilience Challenge Impact Data since 2018
+5k
Solutions vetted
Over 5,000 solutions vetted since 2018
70+
Countries represented
Applicants to the Resilience Challenge have spanned over 70 countries
Top 5
GovTech Accelerator
The Resilience Challenge has been recognized as one of the Top 5 GovTech Accelerators in the world
+70
Net Promoter Score
With a Net Promoter Score of +70, the Resilience Challenge is considered a world-class program
Program Timeline
The QBE AcceliCITY Resilience Challenge runs from June through November. Discover each of the phases of the Challenge
April 1 - April 30th
Phase 1: Applications Open
Each April, applications open to resilience-focused innovators from around the world. Over the course of one month, startups submit their solutions for consideration, outlining their impact, business model, and deployment readiness. This is your opportunity to position your solution on a global stage and be evaluated by leaders across the smart and resilient city ecosystem.
May 15th - May 31st
Phase 2: Top 100 Selection
The Top 100 applicants are notified that they have been selected to participate in the QBE AcceliCITY Resilience Challenge, and have two weeks to either accept the position, or defer it to the next innovator in line
June 1 - June 30th
Phase 3: Orientation
The Top 100 participants begin the program with a live virtual orientation introducing how to leverage Leading Cities, our platform, and our global city network. For the following weeks of June, the weekly virtual curriculum sessions are broadly focused and meant to set expectations and outline the PPP Readiness pathway.
July - November
Phase 4: Program Curriculum
All Top 100 startups participate in the fully virtual curriculum. Each week, a short pre-recorded expert session (~15 minutes) is shared in advance, and the live one-hour class is dedicated to open Q&A with that week’s featured expert.
Every Top 100 company retains full access to the curriculum, regardless of advancement status, ensuring equal opportunity to earn PPP Readiness certification and build long-term capacity.
September 7th - 9th
Phase 5: Smart-Up Week
The Top 50 innovators are selected to participate in Smart-Up Week.
During this week, each Top 50 company participates in three one-on-one virtual meetings with global experts, city leaders, and industry partners. These sessions are designed to provide direct feedback, refine deployment strategy, and strengthen the proposed pilot. Mentors also serve as evaluators, helping determine which solutions advance to the Top 10.
October 5th - 9th
Phase 6: Bootcamp + Final Pitch Event
The Top 10 innovators are selected to participate in a week-long virtual Bootcamp, designed to sharpen their deployment strategy, refine their pilot plan, and strengthen their final pitch.
The week culminates in a live virtual Final Pitch Event, where the Top 10 present their solutions to a panel of global experts from cities, industry, and the resilience ecosystem.
December - June
Phase 8: Ongoing Support & Certification
After the final event, participants continue engaging through LaunchPad 11 and the extended Leading Cities Academy curriculum at no cost.
Participants retain access to monthly programming, City Solutions Forums, curated introductions, and deployment opportunities. Curriculum sessions remain available until the following June, and participants can continue completing coursework toward PPP Readiness certification.
November
Phase 7: Final Event
The QBE AcceliCITY Resilience Challenge culminates in a final event in November. The Grand Prize Winner is announced and celebrated in a public event, and specialty prizes are awarded.
The final event allows finalists to gain global visibility, direct exposure to city leaders and industry experts, and formal recognition within the resilience ecosystem.
Who Should Apply?
If Your Solution
Strengthens communities, infrastructure, or the environment.
If You're Looking For
Funding, mentorship, and connections to global city leaders
If You Want To Make
A real-world
impact with your
solution
Hear from Resilience Challenge Alumni
Curriculum Built For Deployment
The QBE AcceliCITY Resilience Challenge curriculum is part of the broader Leading Cities Academy, a professional certification platform designed to prepare innovators to work successfully within public-sector markets.
From July through November, the Top 100 participate in weekly virtual sessions focused on practical, real-world application. Each month builds on the last — moving founders from understanding how cities operate to becoming deployment-ready partners.
Participants who continue engaging beyond the competition can extend their learning through June of the following year at no cost, advancing through structured certification milestones inside the Leading Cities Academy.
Working with
Cities
July focuses on how to successfully navigate city systems — securing internal champions, designing scalable pilots, and understanding procurement so your solution can move from conversation to implementation. Classes: 1. Blueprints for Impact: Crafting Scalable Pilot Projects 2. Inside Influence: Securing Your City Champion 3. Urban Allies: Winning Over City Hall 4. The Public Sector Playbook: Navigating Procurement with Precision
Accessing New
Markets
August focuses on how to strategically enter and expand into new markets by understanding city leadership dynamics, refining your market research, building B2B bridges, and unlocking national-level funding pathways. Classes: 1. B2B Bridge-Building: Navigating the Valley of Opportunity 2. Navigating the Noise: Effective Market Research Techniques 3. Funding Futures: Tapping Into National Governments / National Spending 4. Global Growth Gateway: Strategies for International Expansion
Investor
Readiness
September focuses on preparing your company to attract and align with the right investors — sharpening your venture narrative, understanding different capital sources, and positioning your solution for long-term financial growth. Classes: 1. Venture Ready: Sharpening Your VC Appeal 2. Behavioral Science: Understanding Cities, Citizens, and Investors 3. Investor Insights: Attracting Smart City Financiers 4. Beyond the Dollars: Leveraging Corporate VC Synergies
Leadership
Fundamentals
October focuses on strengthening your leadership capacity — building resilience, embracing agile principles, and fostering inclusive team cultures that can sustain growth in complex public sector environments. Classes: 1. Leadership Agility: Mastering Startup Resilience 2. Embracing Lean and Agile Principles 3. DEI Dynamics: Cultivating Inclusion in the Startup Ecosystem
Business
Operations
November focuses on strengthening your internal foundation — refining product strategy, innovating your business model, and building the financial discipline necessary to scale sustainably. Classes: 1. Blueprints for Brilliance: Product Strategy Essentials 2. Business Model Innovation: Pathways to Profit 3. Financial Foundations: Keys for Successful Startups
Navigating Politics
and Economies
December focuses on understanding the broader political, economic, and regulatory environment that shapes public sector work — helping you position your company strategically within U.S. markets and government procurement systems. Classes: 1. Government Procurement: Opportunities and Contracting Strategies for Small Business 2. Thriving in the U.S. Market: Location, Policy, Capital & Culture
Securing Clients
and Advocacy
January focuses on how to strategically build trust, credibility, and influence within city government so you can secure contracts and long-term municipal relationships. Classes: 1. Advocacy Techniques: Working with City Government Officials 2. Building and Maintaining Relationships with Government Stakeholders
Evaluating
Project Impact
February focuses on how to design measurable projects, track meaningful data, and use impact evidence to build credibility, improve performance, and scale within the public sector. Classes: 1. Monitoring and Evaluating Project Impact 2. Setting Measurable Goals and Objectives for Public Projects 3. How Impact Data Can Help You Scale, Adapt, and Earn Trust
Government Partnerships
March focuses on how to position yourself as a true public partner rather than just a vendor, navigating political realities while building collaborative, impact-driven relationships with cities. Classes: 1. Partner vs Vendor Relations 2. Glocal Challenges: Urban Heat Resilience 3. Building Inclusive Innovation through Public-Private Collaboration
Leveraging
the Media
April focuses on how to strategically use traditional media, video storytelling, and live events to elevate your visibility, strengthen credibility, and accelerate growth in the public sector market. Classes: 1. Harnessing Traditional Media 2. The Power of Video 3. Leveraging B2B Events for Start-Ups
Ethics & Inclusivity
in Smart Cities
May focuses on how to embed ethics, equity, and community-centered design into your technology so your solution builds trust, avoids unintended harm, and delivers inclusive impact at scale. Classes: 1. Ensuring Inclusivity in Smart City Projects 2. Ethical Considerations in Technology Deployment 3. Community Focused Smart City Solutions
Financing Projects
with Cities
June focuses on how to structure, fund, and finance smart city projects — helping you understand public funding mechanisms, public-private partnerships, and investor strategies so you can move from pilot to sustainable deployment. Classes: 1. Project Financing 101 2. Public Private Partnerships in the Smart City 3. Smart City Investment Strategies
Join the Resilience Challenge From Anywhere in the World
To make AcceliCITY accessible to innovators worldwide, we run the program in two divisions based on geographic regions. Each division accepts 50 startups, ensuring that 100 high-impact entrepreneurs receive the same world-class programming, mentorship, and opportunities—at times that work best for their region.
Regardless of division, all participants go through the same curriculum, engage with expert mentors, and gain access to city leaders and industry networks. This structure allows startups from across the globe to participate without time zone barriers while fostering regional collaboration.
West Division
June - November
Live virtual sessions happen every Tuesday from 10 AM - 11 AM EST (UTC -5)
Regions best suited for this timezone: North America, South America, Europe and West Africa
East Division
June - November
Live virtual sessions happen every Tuesday from 1 PM - 2 PM AEDT (UTC +11)
Regions best suited for this timezone: Asia, Australia & Oceania, Middle East and East Africa
Our Partner
QBE is an international insurer and reinsurer with a local presence in 26 countries. Founded in 1886, by two entrepreneurs who started a marine insurance company in Townsville, Australia to give early pioneers a safeguard against uncertainty. Since then, QBE has grown and evolved offering commercial, personal and specialty products and risk management solutions to help people and business manage risks, build strength and embrace change to their advantage.
QBE's purpose is to enable a more resilient future. That's why QBE is excited to be partnering with Leading Cities to run the QBE AcceliCITY Resilience Challenge.
Visit them at www.qbe.com to find out more about how they can help businesses like yours.
About
The Partnership
The world is rich with innovation. What is often missing are the conditions for adoption: trusted validation, reduced early risk, decision-useful evidence, and aligned capital pathways. QBE AcceliCITY exists to build those conditions — creating value for communities, implementing organisations, and partners.
Rather than functioning as a traditional accelerator or funding program, the partnership acts as a system for scale. It aligns expertise, networks, capital, and governance to ensure that solutions do not stall after testing, but instead progress toward adoption and replication.
A Shared Innovation Pathway
QBE and Leading Cities operate not as a delivery consortium, but as co-architects of a shared system. Through shared governance across strategy, delivery, learning, and communications, the partnership aligns priorities and ensures evidence generated in one context informs others.
Identify the Right Solutions
Challenges are framed around real risk priorities and community needs. Solutions are sourced and vetted against adoption potential.
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Test and
Reduce Risk
Projects generate real-world evidence through structured pilots, safeguards, and learning opportunities that reduce friction for decision-makers.
Prepare for Adoption
Evidence is packaged in ways that are usable by cities & investors, enabling progression toward procurement or funded deployment.
Unlock Demand and Capital
Ecosystem partners create adoption pull through peer networks, anchor adopters, implementation partners, and aligned capital pathways.
Replicate and Finance
Scaling is intentionally structured to be repeatable and financially sustainable, rather than dependent on one-off pilots.