The accelerator, which has backed more than 80 companies across 11 cohorts since it launched in 2016, is run by the automaker MINI.
In the past, URBAN-X has focused on companies that are either in the U.S. or ready to work in the U.S., according to a spokesperson. The new initiative, the MINI Impact Program, won’t have that geographic constraint. It will take idea-, seed- and growth-stage firms.
Of the four new startups entering the program, perhaps the most relevant to government is the Italian business Wiseair, which measures outdoor air quality and provides local officials with a platform to analyze the data and make decisions based on it.
The other new companies are:
- FabBRICK: A French startup using textile waste to create blocks that can be reused in interior paneling, furniture and other items.
- Humfree: A Singapore-based electric scooter company.
- Dulang: An Indonesian business that gives people tools to dispose of electronics without sending them to a landfill.