07.03.2019, 17:03
Shaping Future Cities
Global design, engineering and consulting business Arcadis has launched a three-month “City of 2030” accelerator at its new digital innovation hub in Amsterdam, in collaboration with U.S. seed capital provider, Techstars.
Created to address challenges associated with mass-urbanisation, the accelerator programme features ten startups which have been selected for their potential to transform cities through digital innovation:
- Urban Data Eye (Spain): data analytics on use of public space, by applying Artificial Intelligence on the life stream of cameras
- ModelMe3D (Netherlands): City and asset digitization and 3D real time master planning platform
- Iomob (Spain): Blockchain enabled mobility as a service platform
- Etalyc (United States): Data analytics play applied to traffic management systems
- Senscity (Australia): Climate change impact assessment platform to inform investment decisions on cities’ green spaces
- CAALA (Germany): Sustainable building design and carbon footprint optimization across the entire asset life cycle
- Cityflag (United States): City/citizen engagement platform, social network for city services
- Kndrd CoLiving (United States): Housing as a service, Proptech for the coliving industry
- Mela Works (United Kingdom): Real-time project and task management field collaboration application
- Pause (United States): Meditation pods with companion software for public spaces
Each startup team will be assisted with developing and preparing their concept for funding, with a Demo Day for showcasing their ideas scheduled for the end of May.
Arcadis will also be launching in-house initiative, the Digital Studio Incubator, at the new hub on 1 April.
Global Director of Innovation, Patrick van Hoof, explains:
“We have to establish both internal and external initiatives to identify and carefully grow ‘the new’.
“We are serious about being a digital front-runner in our industry and therefore have to develop certain value propositions ourselves, as well as co-create and buy into what happens at the frontier through early stage ventures”.