VTOL drone team named to prestigious tech accelerator

URBAN-X, a leading accelerator for startups reimagining city life, today announced its seventh cohort of companies, including a drone firm that will focus on vertical take-off-and-landing. URBAN-X is part of the Innovation and Brand Strategy practice at MINI and partners with venture firm, Urban.Us. Seven startups were selected from a prestigious group of hundreds of applicants from across the globe and are building solutions to some of our cities’ most pressing issues. The drone company Eva, will be participating. According to the company, EVA is on a mission  to connect the world one vertical station at a time, enabling drone logistics all across the globe, "as we thrive to make urban and rural point-to-point deliveries more efficient and sustainable. Through a network of our stations, we will facilitate a fast and seamless landing, charging and dispatching experience for various drone operations."

The companies selected will be immersed in a 20-week intensive accelerator program, during which they receive guidance on customer development, product development, network-building and successful go-to-market strategies—all in preparation for fundraising. Throughout the duration of the program, companies have access to hands-on assistance from URBAN-X’s expansive network of global experts—including world-class engineers and designers from BMW, software developers, policy experts, marketing and sales leaders, UX/UI designers and communications experts. URBAN-X invests up to $150,000 in each company.

The program will culminate in a Demo Day in April 2020, where teams will present their solutions to an audience of investors, policymakers, customers and more. Following Demo Day, the companies are introduced to investors across the country, beginning with investor days in New York and the Bay Area.

Cohort 07 includes the following startups:

● ChargeLab: Offers electric vehicle charging solutions for businesses, utilities, individuals, and governments through an open EV charging management platform.

● CoInspect: Building technology to ensure food safety and sustainability from farm to fork.

● Eva: Provides drone vertical take off and landing, charging stations for healthcare, emergency response and overall airborne logistics.

● Firmus: Leverages AI and historical data to help construction companies learn from previous mistakes and automatically detect errors from the early stages of design.

● Hades: Provides automated assessment of sewer infrastructure, improving public health and environmental protection.

● Metalmark: Develops novel materials for highly efficient catalytic decomposition of air pollutants, making clean air globally accessible and affordable.

● UsurpPower: Automating retrofit finance for small commercial buildings.

MINI launched URBAN-X in 2016 as part of their Innovation and Brand Strategy practice focused on improving city life. URBAN-X engages with the brightest minds solving some of the most complex issues people living in cities face today, like mobility, energy consumption, infrastructure, housing, food waste, water and more. The accelerator now has 51 companies in the portfolio, with 85 percent of companies having gone on to raise their next round of capital.