Frederico Cerqueira, LASIGE MSc student, was awarded third place in the Sustainable Innovation category at the “Arrisca C 2026” Business Ideas Competition, having presented its concept for the BinBot project, which took place in Coimbra on 11 March 2026. In addition to the cash prize, Frederico Cerqueira received consultancy services from Lispolis and virtual incubation at INOPOL (the Coimbra Polytechnic’s Entrepreneurship Academy).

The BinBot is an exploratory initiative designed to validate the use of intelligent and robotic systems in urban waste management. Its prototype will enable the testing of both the technical feasibility and the social impact of solutions that combine artificial intelligence, human-machine interaction, and environmental sustainability.

This competition aims to contribute to the creation of academic and business spin-offs and start-ups by awarding cash prizes; consultancy hours; support with drawing up business plans, mentoring, coaching, internationalization, corporate image and branding; and access to programs, events and courses.

The project, led by João Bimbo as principal investigator, also received funding under the competitive LASIGE/FCT Seed Projects Call 2025.

LASIGE commends the dynamism, entrepreneurship and success of its researchers!

Photo credits: Arrisca C