InnoCité MTL, a Montreal-based accelerator focused on building solutions to create smart cities, has announced the four startups that will join its third cohort.
Since its launch, InnoCité MTL has selected startups based on their business plan’s quality, growth potential, and relevance to the challenges addressed by the six priority programs of the Montreal Smart and Digital City 2016-2017 action plan: public Wi-Fi, ultra high-speed multiservice network, smart city economic cluster, smart mobility, participatory democracy, and digital public services. This time, however, the accelerator is adding urban innovation startups from sectors outside of the action plan.
“The Montreal Smart and Digital City project welcomes the creativity and vibrancy which characterize the Montreal startup community,” said Harout Chitilian, the vice president of the executive committee in charge of administrative reform, smart city initiatives, and IT. “The contribution by city employees to InnoCité MTL’s mentorship program and to the development of its cohorts clearly illustrates our commitment to openness and our hope for the development of innovative projects which will improve the lives of Montrealers.”
The accelerator’s third cohort will participate in an intensive 12-week program that focuses on making the startups’ products ready for the market. Startups will be able to access to practical training workshops, seek advice from mentors, work on prototyping their products, and develop a local and international commercial strategy.
The four startups include MLDB.ai, a company that uses artificial intelligence to create a 3D real-time index of urban environments; City Parking, a SaaS platform that lets spot owners rent their driveways and private parking spots; Give-A-Seat, a charity platform that sells tickets to various events at an affordable cost; and We Grab It, a company that aims to reduce waste by recycling materials and objects that people don’t want by giving them to someone who needs them.