Start up Contest Finalists 2025 - inNOWvate Supply Chain Event

The British start-up Cbamboo is building the operating system for the world’s carbon border taxes. Its focus is on the EU’s new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), the major new climate regulation that will reshape the way supply chains report and pay for embedded carbon emissions. Cbamboo’s software platform will help firms comply with these complex new requirements.

Crown Procurement from France is a procurement technology company specializing in electronic auctions (eAuctions) to enhance negotiation strategies. This start-up brings the best way to negotiate back to procurement: use case specific eAuctions. At Crown Procurement, they provide a company-specific platform for their clients to pass more than 50% of the negotiations through eAuction and gain incremental 6% savings on this scope.

The London-based start-up Paqtana offers a supply chain planning tool making advanced inventory optimization accessible to all businesses, regardless of size or technical expertise. Their supply chain approach allows companies to quickly set up robust supply chain planning with both push and pull operating models so that they can consistently increase service levels whilst reducing waste, excessive stock, and stock-outs.

In 2025, the jury consisted of Mathias Bosse (co-founder of Prequel Ventures), Ella Cullen (co-founder and SMO of Minespider), Ulrich Schmid (Principal and supply chain-expert at Oliver Wyman), Willem Poerink (Invest Manager at Shift Invest) and Martijn Lofvers (CEO & Chief Trendwatcher at Supply Chain Media, also serving as jury chair). The jury will evaluate the finalists based on the commercial potential of the presented solutions, the level of innovation, practical applicability, and the clarity of the presentation.

Attendees of inNOWvate Supply Chain Event casted their vote for their favourite finalist on-site on the 14th of May 2025.

As a founding partner of Prequel Ventures and co-founder of scm-startups.com, Mathias helps businesses navigate the supply chain innovation landscape, access cutting-edge technology, and achieve digital transformation. With over a decade in venture capital and start-ups, he has worked with more than 20 portfolio companies, including PreWave and PreSize (acquired by Meta). With a background in logistics and finance, holding an MBA from HHL Graduate School of Management and a CFA charter, Mathias combines deep industry knowledge with investment expertise to support the next generation of supply chain innovators.

Martijn Lofvers is founder of Supply Chain Media and Chief Trendwatcher of the Dutch Supply Chain Magazine (since 2006) and the European quarterly Supply Chain Movement (since 2011). He is a frequent speaker on the topic of Supply Chain Strategy Mindmapping at international conferences and has conducted internal workshops on this subject for well-known multinationals. In addition to mind maps, he has developed various concepts for visualising complex topics, such as metro maps (with suppliers), roadmaps, and the Trend Compass. He studied business administration at Eindhoven University of Technology, specialising in supply chain management.

The British start-up Cbamboo won the eighth edition of the European Supply Chain Start-up Contest during the inNOWvate Supply Chain Event in Amsterdam. Since 2018, Supply Chain Media has been offering start-ups both a literal and figurative stage through this competition, presenting them to an audience of decision-makers and investors. During the event, held at the Pathé cinema complex, Cbamboo impressed both the expert jury and attendees with its platform for compliance with the European CBAM legislation, which will come into effect in January 2026.