Start-up accelerator URBAN-X to close
20 January 2025
by Jonathan Andrews
URBAN-X, the start-up accelerator established by MINI and Urban Us in 2016, is set to conclude its operations at the end of the year.
The programme focused on urban tech, tackling issues related to mobility, energy, and the built environment. Eventually moving to Brooklyn’s Navy Yard (pictured), New York City with its mix of urban challenges, resources, and talent, served as an ideal hub for developing and testing these solutions.
“For almost a decade, we collaborated with amazing venture partners, including SOSV, Third Sphere, and JVP,” said a statement on the company’s website. “We worked closely with city officials, agencies, and representatives in cities including Paris, Rotterdam, and New York City to facilitate start-up work, inform policy, and enable pilot projects with lasting impact.”
Within its first three years the accelerator had helped capitalise over 50 start-ups, working with more than 100 global cities. Eighty five percent of its teams went on to raise their next round of capital in the pursuit of rolling out their solutions in 100 cities within five years.
URBAN-X ran a twice-per-year accelerator programme for start-ups. Only in September 2024 was the 15th cohort announced. In 2022, the accelerator expanded its reach internationally, welcoming start-ups from countries such as Mexico, Italy, and Japan. Founders participated in intensive sessions in New York before applying solutions in their home markets.
“As a team, we look back fondly and with great pride on the demonstrated impact and achievements of URBAN-X,” said the statement. “We believe that MINI has played a crucial role in shaping what ‘urban tech’ means and has been an inspiration to founders and the start-up ecosystem writ large. We are confident that the start-ups supported through URBAN-X will continue to play an important role for cities around the world and anticipate the learnings from URBAN-X will continue to be valuable to MINI’s thinking well into the future.”
Reasons for the closure of the accelerator were not provided.
Image: Brooklyn Navy Yard
