THE URBAN-X PLATFORM.
All our programming runs on the URBAN-X platform: a combination of experts on all aspects of early-stage venture; leading industry mentors who deeply understand regulated industries, government procurement and urban design and planning; an extensive knowledge base; and a dense network of VCs and partners. There’s no issue we aren’t equipped to help founders solve, from idea to Series C.
2,000+
MENTORS AND POTENTIAL PARTNERS IN OUR NETWORK
1.5%
ACCEPTANCE RATE PER COHORT APPLICATION
4.78 / 5
NET PROMOTER SCORE
(LAST COHORT)
Each startup in our portfolio has access to unparalleled design and engineering expertise through world-class MINI and BMW Group talent. Our Experts-In-Residence (EIRs) provide startups with actionable advice, hands-on work and deliverables in user experience design, mechanical and electrical engineering, design for manufacturing, software development and branding.
Our team provides media and press access across our global network. We help create moments of impact and make them count, with opportunities to feature your solution and showcase your team to target customers in the US, EU and Asia. Our public relations partner Berlin Rosen is at the center of the debates around sustainable cities — shaping conversations and influencing decision-makers around renewable energy, conservation, sustainability, climate change and clean transportation.
We’ve curated a global community of urban planners, public and private sector leaders, investors, and successful founders who are developing solutions to make cities more livable and sustainable. We’ll ensure you’re meeting with the most aligned partners and customers in global cities to help you level up.
You'll also be joining our growing community of URBAN-X founders who have built many of today’s most transformative, urban-focused startups, and the investors who have backed them. While NYC is a center of gravity for startup creation, we’re also deeply connected in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and Austin, as well as cities like Dubai, Johannesburg, Tel Aviv, Paris, Copenhagen, Barcelona, and Munich.
Unlike most similar programs, URBAN-X provides hands-on active support. Participating teams receive a customized roadmap based on a thorough assessment as part of the onboarding process.
OKR-driven weekly check-ins with in-house lead mentors, dedicated product and brand sprints with our Experts In Residence (3,000 hours per year), and connections to industry leaders are invaluable parts of our platform. We also make available the most relevant content from our proprietary knowledge base.
We believe in the maxim ‘sales cures all ills’. At our core, we are hyper-connected to customers ready to deploy new solutions for the urban environment; from real estate portfolio owners to utilities, from the MUSH market to Wall St. We will put our extensive network to work to help you meet and secure potential customers because traction is paramount. View case studies.
WATCH THE PROGRAM FILM.
Over the past six years, more than 85% of the URBAN-X portfolio has gone on to raise their next round of capital. We help you get the right amount of money from the right investors, and put it to work in the right way. We’re with you every step of the fundraising process; from narrative and deck construction to term sheet negotiations.
Our alumni companies have raised in excess of $300M, with enterprise value creation in excess of $1B within 4 years. We’ve also had teams acquired by Octopus Energy, BP, and RTS.
We provide guidance to startups to create, implement and manage effective strategies for communications with media, internal team members, customers, and investors. We provide media training to teach founders how to talk with journalists about their companies.
Any startup that has the ability to apply to URBAN-X should do it. They have been so hands on and meticulous with their advice, their feedback and the introductions they make for us. It’s not comparable, honestly. They care about their companies and they care about you as a person.
It went way beyond what I expected. They were so hands-on. Partners, the core team and the Experts in Residence…They worked excellently as a team. They were really caring, too. It is important to enjoy the process, to enjoy the people you work with, to enjoy the minds that you collaborate with and to be productive in that environment -URBAN-X is excellent in that sense – it was so supportive.
It was an excellent program. Our team had never built hardware before. We were coming off of CoInspect, which is a mobile workflow application. We wanted to build a sensor-based monitoring solution to reduce loss and waste. We needed to do it quickly – and URBAN-X enabled us to make that happen.
We’ll help you identify top-tier co-investors, debt and equity providers. On an ongoing basis, our startups are provided a platform to showcase their solutions to an audience of investors, thought leaders, press and influencers. We help facilitate one-on-one meetings with leading investors who have previously invested in URBAN-X companies including Fred Wilson, Mark Cuban, Edgar Bronfman Jr., BMW i Ventures, Draper Associates, Blackhorn Ventures, Fontinalis Partners, Wireframe Ventures, Fifth Wall, Index Venture Capital, Point 72 Ventures, and Robert Bosch Venture Capital.
Local partners include the New York City Economic Development Corporation and academic institutions including CornellTech, Columbia, NYU, and CUNY. Our companies are provided access to potential pilot space in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and in downtown Brooklyn through the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership.
The right programs and software can have transformative benefits for startups. Our corporate partners and perks include credits from HERE, Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Hubspot, Intercom, IBM, and more.
The URBAN-X program is hybrid, with a mix of online events and programs and in-person collaboration sessions in New York City when possible. Companies are immersed in customer and product development, and provided networking opportunities to connect to the right people for growth.