Deadline: April 4, 2020 00:00 CEST| Apply here
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Dates: July 2020 till November 2020
Eligibility: Early-stage companies who have yet to raise a series A. In most cases, URBAN-X teams are starting to work with their first customers or have secured a few letters of intent. If you don’t have traction, you should have a deep understanding of your subject matter and results from the research you’ve done to validate your assumptions about your market
URBAN-X Tech Startup Accelerator 2020
URBAN-X selects up to 10 urban tech startups and invests $150,000 per company. The 20-week accelerator program equips startups facing the unique challenges of working with and in cities.
- URBAN-X, built by Urban Us and MINI, is the accelerator for startups reimagining city life
- The program runs twice a year and is approximately 20 weeks long
- Each team receives at least $150k in capital from Urban Us and MINI
- The program operates virtually and within A/D/O in Brooklyn, New York
Program benefits
- Initial investment: In exchange for a negotiated amount of equity, each team receives at least $150k in aggregate from Urban Us and MINI.
- Experts in residence (EIRS): The program provides 1,000+ hours of assistance with design, branding product development, machine learning, electrical and mechanical engineering and UX/UI from in-house world-class experts. These experts are hired to build with the URBAN-X companies and are intended to complement or fills gaps of existing talent
- Program partners: Each team is assigned a partner from URBAN-X who will guide their experience during the program
- Fundraising guidance & network: The URBAN-X team works with other investors to help startups reach their next critical milestone after the program ends. URBAN-X is connected to early and growth stage investors on both the east and west coasts. As part of the program, teams will be introduced to at least 25 top tier investors. Teams will be coached on running a successful fundraising process and the EIRs will help make sure your supporting materials are impressive
- Demo day, fundraising and post-program engagement as URBAN-X alumni: Once you’re accepted to URBAN-X, you become part of the MINI and Urban Us portfolios. We are committed to helping teams raise money at Demo Day, at multi-city Investor Days and any subsequent rounds of investments you raise
- Urbantech network: The URBAN-X team has a deep network in the urbantech ecosystem. The people in our network help make customer introductions, advise on product, and navigate regulation and city relationships. They are representatives from BIDs, EDCs, city government, insurance, real estate, multinational corporations and
investors
Who should apply?
URBAN-X is looking for startups reimagining city life – which means it invests in verticals related to solving challenges that can scale to 100 cities over the next five years.
The seven verticals the accelerator focuses on are:
- built environment and real estate
- infrastructure and industry
- food, waste and water
- public health and safety
- energy and grid
- govtech and civic solutions
- and transportation and mobility.
If your company does not fall perfectly into one of these verticals but is related to improving life in cities, please apply. The needs of cities are constantly evolving and founders like you push us to rethink how we can make cities better.
International companies are encouraged to apply if they are considering the US market for customers or investors. URBAN-X can connect you with the right legal resources to navigate a complex immigration process, as well as other services needed for international startups. Historically about 30% of the teams have come from outside the US
URBAN-X is located at A/D/O in Greenpoint, Brooklyn but teams are not expected to move here on day 1. If you have a reason to be somewhere else in the US or abroad because of customers, investors, or operations, we simply ask you to travel to Brooklyn 3-4 times throughout the course of the program.
Interested in applying for the URBAN-X Tech Startup Accelerator 2020? Register your participation by following the registration link and taking the suggested steps.
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