Shaping the future of cities.

New York. URBAN-X, the leading accelerator for startups reimagining city life, founded by MINI and run in partnership with Urban Us, presented the outcome of its fourth generation of urbantech startup companies, Cohort 04. The startups are working on solutions to some of the biggest problems cities face around the world, such as optimizing building construction, making residential real estate rentals more transparent, improving personal mobility and road usage pricing and cutting energy waste in commercial office buildings.

“We’re thrilled to work with these innovative entrepreneurs who are pushing the boundaries of what technology can do for our cities,” said Head of MINI Brand Strategy and Business Innovation Esther Bahne. “The MINI brand’s investment in URBAN-X provides a platform to collaborate with some of the brightest minds and creative urban thinkers around the world, who are helping to shape the future of our cities.”

The program helps young creative people successfully work on product, customer and network development. Professional guidance is provided by MINI designers and engineers among other experts from the urbantech and venture capital sector. The aim is to prepare young startups and their ideas effectively for the subsequent financing process.

“Cohort 04 is a group of incredibly creative, inventive and driven entrepreneurs,” said URBAN-X Managing Director, Micah Kotch. “Improving the way our cities work has always required new thinking, and we’re excited about what comes next for these teams.”

The Demo Day event on September 27th in Brooklyn, New York, marked the end of the 20-week program and kicked off a series of investor meetings the startups will have with top venture capitalists in New York, San Francisco and Palo Alto.

About URBAN-X.

URBAN-X is the leading accelerator for technology and design startups reimagining city life. Founded by MINI, URBAN-X helps early-stage companies from all over the world to address modern urban challenges across sectors like transport, real estate, local government, food, water, waste and utilities.

Twice a year, URBAN-X selects up to 10 startups for its competitive, five-month program of product, business and network development. The companies gain access to a network of over 2,000 partners around the world, including entrepreneurs, investors and public-sector leaders. During the year, URBAN-X leadership visits cities worldwide, in the U.S., Europe, Asia and beyond, to meet entrepreneurs and individuals shaping the future of urban life.

URBAN-X is based in Greenpoint, Brooklyn at A/D/O, a creative space founded by MINI and dedicated to exploring the boundaries of design.

The full list of Cohort 04 companies include:

• Avvir -- Avvir automates quality assurance for the construction industry, providing real-time insights into the progress and potential defects on a project.

• Campsyte -- Campsyte enables citydwellers to easily find and book private outdoor event space.

• ClearRoad -- ClearRoad helps government agencies automate toll road pricing for any section of road without the need for traditional proprietary hardware infrastructure.

• Open Data Nation -- Open Data Nation analyzes billions of public data records for cities and insurance carriers to predict and proactively mitigate problems, such as car crashes as part of the Vision Zero Initiative and prepare for the safe deployment of new technologies such as autonomous vehicles.

• Park & Diamond -- Park & Diamond makes biking better by reinventing the bike helmet, using next-generation materials to build a safer, more portable helmet that can roll up into the shape of a water bottle for easier carrying, while looking like a regular hat, cap or beanie.

• Rentlogic -- Rentlogic is a data-driven, letter-grade rating system for apartment buildings that aims to bring transparency and standardization to the residential real estate market.

• Sapient Industries -- Sapient Industries has developed a smart outlet that senses and learns human behavior patterns in order to automate a building’s energy management.