Urban SDK Selected for AWS Sustainable Cities Accelerator

Urban SDK has been selected as one of only 12 members of the AWS Sustainable Cities Accelerator. They were chosen from a field of hundreds of applicants representing 19 countries.

Urban SDK has been selected as a member of the AWS Sustainable Cities Accelerator — Mobility/Transportation cohort.  

The accelerator is hosted by AWS, Freshwater Advisors, and Public Spend Forum, and consists of 12 innovative companies — headquartered in North America, Latin America, and Europe — working to address sustainability challenges faced by cities across the globe.

AWS launched the Sustainable Cities Accelerator program in March to help with the crucial need for innovation and collaborative solutions to address global climate and clean tech challenges. This is a customer-focused accelerator in which selected startups are eligible to receive technical, business, and go-to-market mentorship from AWS sustainability experts.

"This is our first accelerator focused on fostering rapid growth of clean tech innovation," AWS CEO Adam Selipsky said of the accelerator. "The goal is to help startups accelerate their impact access additional resources and expand their reach."

Over the course of six weeks, cohort members will identify current challenges to learn how new innovations can be part of the clean energy solution. The accelerator will immerse each company in the cloud with hands-on technical training in capabilities like machine learning and high performance computing, and accelerate how they transform their data and operations in the cloud.

"We're very excited to join Amazon Web Services (AWS) Sustainable Cities Accelerator," said Urban SDK Co-Founder and COO, Justin Dennis. "This is an excellent opportunity for Urban SDK to work closely with AWS public sector teams, technology expertise and sharpen our solution with mentorship."

Urban SDK's data analytics platform is used by city planners, developers, and transportation professionals to make better decisions. By harnessing the power of location data and digital twin technology, stakeholders are able to create safer, sustainable, and more equitable cities.

Currently the world’s cities occupy just 3% of the Earth’s land, but account for 60-80% of energy consumption and 75% of carbon emissions. And by 2030, 5 billion people are projected to live in cities, with 95% of urban expansion taking place in developing world.

"I believe that climate change is the issue of our generation," Selipsky said. "Amazon has the scale and the innovation capability to make a real difference for the world. We view that as both a responsibility and an opportunity."

For more information: Learn more about how AWS supports sustainability customers and partners. Read about about how Freshwater Advisors is helping connect corporations to entrepreneurial ecosystems, and check out the Public Spend Forum.