For climate tech startups, proving a solution works in real life is often harder than developing it. Ecodrop, based at Malmö’s Minc incubator, created a tap-attached device that gives real-time water usage feedback. The technology is now used in schools and tested in hundreds of homes by municipal housing company MKB.

Cofounder Ahmed Nuur says working with Malmö residents provides real behaviour, feedback, and problems to solve. Malmö, Sweden’s youngest and fastest-growing major city with nearly half its residents under 35 and 186 nationalities represented, is leveraging its diversity and urban transformation history to become a testbed for impact innovation. Once reliant on shipbuilding and manufacturing, the city has reinvented itself through sustainability and new industries, now focusing on helping startups test solutions in real-world conditions.

Tomas de Souza, CEO of Minc, says the city itself becomes infrastructure for startups tackling water, energy, buildings, or mobility. Malmö’s business strategy emphasizes opening municipal operations and physical environments as testbeds to bridge the gap between idea and real-world tested solution. Its compact size allows founders, researchers, and public organisations to collaborate closely, making proximity an advantage for innovation.