Hi ,
“The best time to start [reducing emissions] was 25 years ago. The second best time is today.”
- Gavin Schmidt in response to the latest IPCC special report on 1.5C
We’ve been sending these updates for 242 weeks. Since week 1, our goal has been the same: find and support founders who are working to make city life better.
Why cities? Cities play a central role in causing and paying the price for climate change, but they also hold the key to many of the viable approaches we might take to avoid its worst consequences.
After five years, thousands of pitches, and nearly fifty investments, we’ve never been more certain todays startups will play a central role in addressing climate change. This is a multi trillion dollar market and a priceless opportunity for humanity.
Startups
What Startups Need to Know About Regulated Markets - know your rent-seekers
Special report: The next tech wave rides on 5G
"As a founder, you should either be fundraising or not — and if you are, it should be done with great intention." more at First Round Review
How to Recession-Proof Rental Housing by Daniel Wu
Financial Modeling for Startups: An Introduction
Being able to work effectively as a distributed team has huge advantages. Talent is everywhere. We'd be crazy not to take advantage of it. Business Insider
Cities & Sustainability
Focus on Fleets: 3 Ways that Startups and Innovators Can Get More Electric Vehicles on the Road Now H/T Phillip Kobernick
Mobility-as-a-Service to replace 2.3bn car journeys by 2023 H/T Ezra Goldman
Sequences of purchases in credit card data reveal lifestyles in urban populations
How Smart Should a City Be? Toronto Is Finding Out H/T Lance Legel
Why protected bike lanes are more valuable than parking spaces [video]
As electric scooter use increases, so do trips to the ER
San Francisco Denies Scooter Permits to Uber, Lyft, Bird, and Others
Air-conditioners do great good, but at a high environmental cost H/T Daniel Myers
Opportunities
Saint Paul, MN’s $130 million wastewater treatment plant upgrade challenge: http://blog.citymart.com/challenges/
LA New Mobility Challenge: https://www.lacomotion.com/la-nmc-2018
Grand Rapids, Miami and Pittsburgh $100K Urban Mobility Challenge: https://challenges.cityoftomorrow.com/
“The Women4Climate Tech Challenge is an international contest open to any woman designing an innovative, climate-focused tech solution.”: https://w4c.org/tech-challenge
STIR just launched another 80+ startup-friendly RFPs in areas like data analytics, IoT, mobility and more. Apply by Nov 7th for the chance to help cities and secure a contract https://startupinresidence.org
Be an early contributor to the Urban Technology page on Wikipedia
Social Construct is hiring Makers, Supply Chain Managers and Construction Managers
17 more Urban Us portfolio companies are hiring including Avvir, Revivn, Rentlogic, Logcheck, Sapient, and ClearRoad.
Omidyar Network is recruiting an Associate, Governance and Citizen Engagement
Urban Us
It's a hat. It's a helmet. It's time to make history. Park & Diamond is on it’s way to over $1m on IndieGoGo so please grab one (via this discount link) and share the next generation of mobility safety wear with your network.
Meet all the URBAN-X Cohort 4 [video] companies in TechCrunch and talking with Jason on This Week in Startups [video].
Bowery Farming in Forbes
Bumblebee Spaces in The New York Times and INC
One Concern in Scientific America
OneWheel in the Miami Herald where it’s used in crime prevention
Last but not least, please welcome Alice Kamens, the newest member of the Urban Us team!
- Liz, Alice, Shaun, Mark, Anthony, and Stonly