Calling all green innovators! The NYCEDC has just launched UrbanTech NYC, a program designed to support companies creating innovative and sustainable solutions for common urban issues. Working in collaboration with New Lab and Grand Central Tech, NYCEDC has committed up to $7.2 million to create two Urban Technology Growth hubs in Brooklyn and Manhattan that will provide space, equipment and specific resources for companies specializing in clean tech and smart cities.
Both innovation hubs, which are set to open this summer, are geared towards companies that have outgrown business incubators or other early-stage programs. The program will provide approximately 100,000 square feet of flexible and affordable space and resources for entrepreneurs who are working on innovative and sustainable ways to address New York City’s most pressing urban challenges in sectors such as energy, waste, transportation, agriculture, and water.
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As well as providing office and creation space for growing companies, the hubs will offer project-specific resources such as testing equipment, prototyping resources, training programs and workshops, along with mentorship opportunities. Working with the Mayor’s Office of Technology, UrbanTech NYC participants will be able to pilot and demonstrate their various technologies across the city. The new program is expected to create over 3,000 jobs over the next 10 years, further establishing NYC as a global leader in sustainable urban innovation.
“Climate change represents one of the greatest challenges to our city, which is why we’ve committed to an 80 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “To move us toward our goals, we’ll need the City’s brightest minds and ideas, which is why UrbanTech NYC is so important. By providing our most talented visionaries with the space and resources they need to grow, we’re acting on our commitments to entrepreneurs, to innovation, and to a smarter and more equitable New York.”
Although UrbanTech NYC is geared to those companies that have already grown out of the start-up phase, new innovators can still take advantage of the NYC ACRE incubator at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, housed in the NYU Urban Future Lab and supported by the NYCEDC.
Images via UrbanTech NYC
