Sustainability in hospitality is increasingly being driven by technologies that can solve environmental problems while reducing operating costs. That shift was on display at the Future Hospitality Summit Saudi Arabia 2026, where MONSAPO emerged as the winner of the Startup Den competition, bringing global attention to its solution that transforms used cooking oil into eco-friendly cleaning products.
The competition, held in June at the Mandarin Oriental Al Faisaliah in Riyadh, featured six startup finalists pitching their businesses before a panel of judges from the hospitality and venture capital sectors. The victory earned MONSAPO a complimentary pass to FHS World 2026 in Dubai and curated meetings with leading investors, opening new opportunities for growth and partnerships.
For MONSAPO, however, the award represented something bigger than industry recognition.
“The highlight was hearing some of the world’s leading hospitality groups tell us: ‘We need this.’ That’s the moment every founder works for,” said Sabrine Chennaoui, Co-Founder and CEO of MONSAPO.
Turning Waste Into a Business Solution
MONSAPO has built its business around a simple idea: converting used cooking oil into eco-friendly cleaning products for hotels, restaurant chains, factories and collective catering businesses.
Its renewable energy-powered machines operate autonomously and are supported by a connected dashboard that provides real-time monitoring and insights. The company says its solution can help customers reduce cleaning supply costs by up to 40 percent while eliminating the logistical and regulatory challenges associated with collecting and disposing of used cooking oil.
Beyond the financial benefits, the company is tackling a major environmental challenge. Improper disposal of used cooking oil contributes to pollution and waste management problems that affect clean water, responsible consumption and climate action. At the same time, traditional chemical cleaning products continue to raise concerns about environmental and public health impacts.
By transforming waste oil into natural cleaning products, MONSAPO has created a circular economy model that allows businesses to turn a waste product into a valuable resource while improving sanitation standards and reducing their environmental footprint.
A Growing Opportunity in Sustainable Hospitality
The recognition at the Future Hospitality Summit comes at a time when the hospitality industry is facing increasing pressure to adopt more sustainable practices and find solutions that are both environmentally responsible and commercially viable.
For Chennaoui, the win was also a reflection of years of perseverance. “Years of building MONSAPO, failures, pivots, technical challenges, and persistence suddenly made sense,” she said.
She added that the company’s journey from Tunisia and France to Saudi Arabia is proof that “innovation can come from anywhere.”
The Future Hospitality Summit is one of the industry’s leading gatherings, bringing together investors, hotel executives and entrepreneurs to discuss hotel development, sustainability and innovation. For MONSAPO, the Startup Den victory not only provides access to new investors and customers but also demonstrates that sustainable technologies are becoming an increasingly important part of the hospitality sector’s future.
