This year's Smart Country Startup Award goes to Berlin. The GovIntel startup prevailed among the five finalists with its pitch at the Smart Country Convention in Berlin this evening. The Smart Country Startup Award is an annual innovation prize presented by Get Started, the startup initiative of the digital association Bitkom, to young companies with outstanding solutions for the public sector. This year's cooperation partners are Deloitte and Projekt Zukunft (Project Future), a state initiative of the Berlin Senate Department for Economics, Energy, and Public Enterprises.

"Innovative startups are the driving force behind fresh ideas and digital solutions in our cities and public administration. At the Smart Country Startup Award, we see creative ideas and technological approaches take centre stage and receive the attention they deserve," says Daniel Breitinger, Head of Startups & Scaleups at Bitkom. "The Smart Country Convention connects the startup scene directly with decision-makers from local governments and public authorities. This is how real digital transformation happens.” To increase the visibility of such startups sustainably, the winner of this year's innovation award will receive a stage slot at the Smart Country Convention 2026 worth €10,000, as well as a free one-year startup membership with Bitkom.

The Smart Country Convention is the leading event for the digital state and public services. With over 18,000 participants, SCCON is the meeting place for everyone involved in the digitalisation of the public sector. The combination of congress, workshops, expo and networking is aimed at employees from administration, politics, the digital economy, associations and science. SCCON is organised by Bitkom e.V. and Messe Berlin.

You can also find this press release on the Internet: www.smartcountry.berlin

Press photos of the Smart Country Convention in printable quality can be downloaded here. Videos about the event and the topics of the Smart Country Convention can be found here.