Three winners emerged from the highly competitive 2017 Urban Future Competition that was hosted by NYU Tandon School of Engineering and held at the Urban Future Lab located in Brooklyn, New York on February 22nd. The Competition seeks the world’s most innovative smart mobility, smart city, and smart grid technologies, and that was accomplished, drawing in a record-breaking number of applicants from more than 22 countries.
The final pitch-off brought together top entrepreneurs, mission-driven investors, and policy leaders with the goal of selecting revolutionary business models impacting urban environments. Three key sponsors, BP Ventures, The New York Community Trust (NYCT), and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), underwrote the $150,000 in prizes. Each winner receives a non-dilutive, non-equity cash prize of $50,000 and office space in Urban Future Lab’s internationally recognized clean-tech incubator program, ACRE, for a minimum six-month engagement.
Investors and corporate leaders judged four venture finalists in three competing tracks: BP Smart Mobility, NYCT Smart City, and NYCT Smart Grid. Notable jurors included: Daniela Proske of BP’s Corporate Ventures Team; Lila Preston, partner at Generation Investment Management; Alex Wallen of Breakthrough Energy Ventures; and Adam Ruder, program manager at NYSERDA.
The three winners are:
Brooklyn-based Dollaride, winner of the BP Smart Mobility category, offers a technology that makes this private network of vans accessible to more passengers & neighborhoods who struggle with weak public transit options.
Avvir, winner of the NYCT Smart City category, is a New York construction technology company that employs computer vision and deep learning to provide automated construction verification and progress monitoring leading to development being done correctly to spec and on schedule.
Boulder, Colorado-based simuwatt, NYCT Smart Grid category, bring to building owners, experts and utilities the ability to identify, prioritize, and realize energy efficiency investments by standardizing data acquisition, modeling and analytics.
“New York’s march toward meeting Governor Cuomo’s nation leading energy goals will require innovation, creativity, and collaboration between the public and private sectors,” said Alicia Barton, president and CEO, NYSERDA. “The companies included in the Urban Future Competition embody a passion to significantly contribute to our actions in combatting climate change and protecting our environment.”
