The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has announced that Coat-ing, a company that develops innovative and environmentally friendly solutions to improve the thermal insulation of buildings, has been named the Nordics winner of this year’s PropTech Innovation Challenge (PIC).

Now in its third year, PIC is a ULI Europe Young Leaders-led initiative designed to foster innovation in the built environment. This year’s challenge, which reflects ULI’s mission priorities and the core pillars of the C Change programme, focuses on finding the innovative, scalable solutions needed to decarbonise affordable housing, from construction through to operation, across the value chain.

Innovations submitted may comprise both high and low-tech solutions, and include hardware, software and business models. Entries are assessed by the jury according to three criteria: potential impact, innovation and likelihood of adoption.

The Nordics (Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway) regional final brought together three diverse businesses, including Coat-ing, Prodikt and Rumett, pitch their solutions to the ULI Nordics PIC Jury, with Coat-ing subsequently declared the winner.

Coat-ing has developed a lightweight, carbon-neutral exterior insulation system using cork and architectural textiles that is backed by research institutes and industry leaders which transforms façades into climate-responsive, customized surfaces. The patented solution combines aesthetics, affordability, and performance to accelerate sustainable building renovation.

Coat-ing

Pauline Bellec, Coat-ing and PIC Nordics winner comments: ‘Winning the 2025 Nordics Protech Innovation Challenge is a huge boost for us. It confirms that our work can really help address inefficient buildings in the Nordics. This is strengthening our intention to establish and begin working in the region.”

Pauline Bellec

“Thanks to everyone supporting us in this Nordic adventure — ULI Denmark and the juries, Chalmers University, Proptech Sweden and the RISE institute, and all our current European partners. We’re looking forward to showcasing our way to accelerate retrofit — a lighter, faster way to insulate buildings from the outside — at the European final.’

Richard Lindqvist, AMAVI, and PIC Nordics Champion (coordinator), said, “Winning the Urban Land Institute’s Proptech Innovation Challenge is a prestigious recognition and highlights cutting-edge solutions at the intersection of real estate and technology, opening doors to industry leadership, investment opportunities, and global impact.”

Neal Hollingsworth, NREP, and ULI Denmark Young Leader Chair concludes: ‘Coat-Ing stood out by offering a simple to understand, scalable solution to a major real estate challenge: renovating inefficient buildings. The company is solving a clear physical problem with an innovative yet familiar approach, making external insulation faster, lighter, and more sustainable.  PIC highlights and accelerates fresh ideas that solve real-world challenges in the real estate sector. It connects fresh ideas with industry experts and helping promising solutions gain visibility and momentum.”

The Nordics PIC Jury includes Johan Wiksell, head of ventures, JM; Ronny Liverød, head of construction, StartupLab; Ditte Fenger, independent executive advisor and strategist in tech; Ylva Gunterberg, chief of sustainability & operational excellence, Nordr; Jimmie Ahlgren, project manager/marketing director, White Arkitekter; Veera Kampman, head of residential operations & account management, KomuHomes; Kent Eriksson, Royal Institute of Technology; Roger Ralio, senior associate, Areim; Neal Hollingsworth, ULI Denmark Young Leaders Chair, and senior investment strategist, NREP; and Jack Renteria, ULI Denmark Chair and principal, Generation Global

PIC runs in two phases, beginning with eight regional competitions incorporating CEE (Poland and Czech Republic), France, Germany, Greece and Cyprus (new for 2025), Iberia (Spain and Portugal), Nordics (Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway), Switzerland, and the UK and Ireland.

All regional winners are then eligible to enter the pan European Grand Final of PIC on 29 September 2025, where the national/regional winners will present to the European jury, and the overall winner will be subsequently announced at the C Change Summit which will take place in Paris on 27 November 2025.

In addition to unrivalled industry exposure through the ULI international network, all finalists will benefit from a one-year ULI membership including full access to the Knowledge Finder research platform, and opportunities to join the ULI National and European Product Council events.

This year’s PIC lead is Jorden Korte, vice president private alternatives, AllianceBernstein, with Oumniya Bouhdoud, vice president at BGO, and Simon Abboud, programme director at Hines Europe, supporting the delivery of the programme.

Please visit: https://europe.uli.org/young-leaders-proptech-innovation-challenge-pic/.

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For more information, email [email protected]

Notes to Editors:  

The Urban Land Instituteis a non-profit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has over 48,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.

ULIEurope has over 5,500 members across 15 National Council country networks. Visit https://europe.uli.org

In the Nordics, ULI has National Councils in Denmark and Sweden.