InnoCité MTL, an accelerator for startups focused on building solutions to create smart cities, just announced its very first cohort of five startups. The announcement follows the accelerator’s launch in June.
The startups were chosen after coaching and development activities held over the summer, with the evaluation criteria including business plan quality, growth potential, and relevance to the Montreal Smart and Digital City Action Plan 2015-2017. The six fields of action in the report include public Wi-Fi, ultra high-speed multiservice network, smart city economic cluster, smart mobility, participatory democracy, and digital public services.
The 12-week acceleration program includes a $50,000 private investment to help better define the company and support from experienced mentors. Once the acceleration program is complete, the entrepreneurs can take part in another 12-week program to fully realize their projects.
The five startups that were selected include Prking, which has an app that shows users where they can legally park nearby and sends alerts to avoid parking tickets; Ubios, which promises increased security and lower heating with their smart connected home; Sensequake, a sensing-based earthquake vulnerability platform that delivers accurate seismic assessment of structures; Digital State, a complete digital public services platform that lets governments use drag and drop tools to build digital services; and Dasbox, a company that offers a collection of industrial sensors that allows its clients to gather data and make accurate measurements for smart cities.
“Montreal’s startup community is a dynamic one, and the response we’ve received from startups reflects that energy,” said vice-chair of the Montreal Executive Committee, Harout Chitilian. “This first cohort will be part of the smart city economic cluster’s development and as such will meet the objectives of the City and its citizens by proposing innovative urban solutions for all.”
At the end of the program, the cohort will present during a demo session, where each company will have five minutes to showcase its business to investors on December 2nd.