URBAN-X – a venture accelerator founded by MINI in partnership with SOSV – has announced the startup companies who will be part of the second round of participants chosen to work with MINI’s engineers to create human-focused technology for urban environments. Known as Cohort 02, each company will receive $60,000 in seed capital investment and will work with engineers from MINI and SOSV for 14 weeks in Urban X’s new location in the Greenpoint neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York within design space A/D/O. They will also receive working trips to Germany and China to work directly with mentors.
The eight startups that are part of Cohort 02 include:
- O2-O2 – a New Zealand company working to enable those in polluted megacities to be able to commute and exercise without fear of pollution – using a unique mask technology solution which uses clean, filtered air to protect its customer.
- io – has designed machine learning software that analyzes data from a building’s existing HVAC automation system to determine room occupancy in real time with no need to install new sensors. The platform adjusts ventilation systems to fit the needs of people inside, saving buildings 10-20% on the total energy bill while making rooms more comfortable.
- Citiesense – creates data-driven maps and dashboards with layers of information to track property changes in urban areas, guiding real estate investors and other stakeholders to better understand neighborhood dynamics and what local markets are doing.
- Contextere – an industrial IoT software company from Canada that enables the connected workforce using a wearable IoT device.
- Revmax – develops fleet management and routing software for ride-hail vehicles using technology that maximizes vehicle utilization by forecasting rider demand based on historical data and future events.
- Sencity – their TetraBIN product is an interactive receptacle that rewards anyone who puts in trash with an entertaining surprise to leverage interaction and encourage people to dispose of trash.
- Upcycles – a local company from Greenpoint – develops human-electric cargo tricycles for moving goods around urban environments.
- WearWorks – a design company using sensory feedback systems to communicate information entirely via touch for blind and visually impaired users.
