Tag Archives: Brooklyn

URBAN-X: Supporting New York Geospatial Startups

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Curious to know about technology accelerators in New York State which are supporting  geospatial startups?  Look no further than Brooklyn-based URBAN-X built by MINI and Urban Us and operating since 2016 offering customer development, product development, and fundraising support to get selected startups off the ground into production and operation.   Geospatial is not the only type of startup  URBAN–X supports  (its actually much more)  with an existing resume of 37 firms in its portfolio covering technology solutions in the areas of real estate, transportation, energy, infrastructure, public health, and government among others.  The URBAN-X startup focuses on the urban tech environment developing hardware and software solutions which address key needs of city systems, as well as businesses and individuals.   The accelerator’s current cohort consists of seven  startups which each received $100,000 and five months of immersive mentorship.  This cohort was selected from over 500  applications this past November.

Every six months Urban-X selects up to 10 startups and invest $100,000 per company. The 20-week accelerator program also includes six on-site “experts-in-residence”.

Illustrative of the geospatial startups which have come through the accelerator is Citiesense.

Citiesense creates data-driven maps and dashboards that layers information about new permits, recent sales and property changes in urban areas, guiding real estate investors and other local stakeholders to support more informed business decisions.  Using interactive mapping and data visualization techniques, the company continues to focus on helping business districts better understand market demand and dynamics.   Citiesense uses Carto software to support their mapping applications and leverages data available in the NYC Open Data Portal.  Examples of their mapping apps are at the Downtown Brooklyn website and the Long Island City Partnership.  Citiesense is also referenced in a 816 New York article “3 map-based tech tools perfect for neighborhoods and housing authorities”.

I quickly developed an account on the Citiesense website and immediately started mapping various features around 347 East 105th Street. Out-of-the-box the application provides access to dozens of variables and features. This image shows recent 311 Reports, the NYC Street Tree Inventory, and the Commercial Overlay Districts layer.

Starting a tech company is never easy” notes Citiesense CEO Starling Childs. “I think this is particularly true of ‘Urban Tech’ startups. Joining URBAN-X was like adding the perfect final cofounder to our team right when we needed to begin testing our idea in the market. The people behind URBAN-X know the challenges urban tech companies face when thinking about solutions that consider some level of government and private sector collaboration. They understand the value of things like open data; how it supports public private sector collaboration and accelerates innovation in cities.”

Other URBAN-X supported startups in the location and navigation space include Revmax, Rentlogic, WearWorks and Swiftera.

Revmax:  Revmax develops fleet management and routing software for ride-hail vehicles. Its technology maximizes vehicle utilization by proactively forecasting rider demand based on historical data and future events. Revmax ensures that vehicles are in the optimal location to find rides quickly — increasing fleet revenue while reducing pollution and congestion.  According to  CEO Jonathan Weekley and chief operating officer Briggs Fraser,  cabs and Uber cars are empty some 50 percent of the time — highly inefficient for drivers trying to make the most of their time on the road. But the real target market for Revmax, Weekley says, is auto manufacturers such as GM and Ford, who are looking to get into ride-hailing. “They see declining car ownership, and they need to figure out a way to keep building cars and use that fleet more efficiently,” he said. Those manufacturers will have extra incentive to optimize routes, since they, not the drivers, will own the cars that are out on the road.

Rentlogic:  Rentlogic is a standards organization that measures and letter-grade rates the quality of multi-family residential buildings. Rentlogic ratings recognize building owners that invest time and energy in to operating great buildings, and helps connect them with residents trying to navigate a difficult marketplace.  Data underneath the application is harvested from the city’s 311 system.    Every week, roughly 4,000 complaints are initiated by renters about their landlords via calls to the #311 system. These complaints can include mold, heat and hot water issues, infestations, structural problems and more – all of which are used in the application.  It is Rentlogic’s aim to bring transparency and standardization to the residential real estate market.

WearWorks:  WearWorks is a New York-based haptics design company using sensory feedback systems to communicate information entirely via touch. Using vibration-based language, their product augments the senses of blind and visually impaired users through a non-visual interface, helping them to easily and effectively navigate to any destination.  Btw – WearWorks technology was worn/used by Simon Wheatcroft, a blind runner, in the 2017 New York City Marathon.

Swiftera: Swiftera’s business plan is to support citizens, businesses and municipalities in mobility, leisure and urban planning decisions. By providing access to fresh and actionable geospatial data at a competitive cost, the company leverages its novel urban-imagery technology to help customers analyze the past, explore the present and be the first to see the future.  While still in development, Swiftera anticipates delivering unprecedented urban imagery: available all-the-time, in real time.  For more information visit their website or contact them at info@swiftera.co. 

Summary:

URBAN-X provides an excellent opportunity for startups – including those in the geospatial space – to get started in a way which would otherwise be financially and logistically very difficult.    URBAN-X is itemized in a 2017 Dreamit article as one of the leading voices in the New York City “nascent urban tech movement”.  In the broader statewide context, the Empire State Development corporation supports several regional certified business incubators.  The New York State geospatial community is fortunate to have both the access and ability to work with companies such as URBAN-X.

Contact:

Micah Kotch
Managing Director
URBAN-X
Micah.Kotch@urban-x.com
Mobile: +1.646.645.0459
www.urban-x.com

SAVI Builds a Metro NYC Presence

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The last couple years I’ve been watching the growth of GeoNYC Meetup group and continue to be amazed at the far-reaching representation of individuals and companies now involved in the broad field we call “geospatial”.  One person shops, start-ups, open source/open data techies, apartment and loft based companies, strong business and private sector representation, community based mappers, and everything in-between.  A much different composition and representation than that of the other existing statewide geospatial/GIS communities and organizations that I and other colleagues of my GIS generation came through.   To date I have published three previous blog posts focusing on other contacts made through GeoNYC:  Mapzen, Mapillary and NiJel.

Spatial Analysis and Visualization Initiative (SAVI)

Also establishing a niche in the expanding geospatial space are community facing programs associated with and supported in academia environments.  One such program, which I was also introduced to through GeoNYC, is the  Spatial Analysis and Visualization Initiative (SAVI).  It was launched in 2013 and is at Pratt Institute.  SAVI is a GIS-based research lab and service center that focuses on mapping, data analysis, and visual storytelling, providing students, faculty, and community groups with the resources they need to communicate information in compelling ways. The first and only New York City college-based GIS lab open to community organizations and civic groups, SAVI offers computer access, technical assistance, professional training, workshops, and research that empower local organizations to create their own visions to improve the quality of life for their clients and constituents. At Pratt, SAVI supports students and faculty whose work reaches beyond the Institute’s campus to engage and benefit New York City.

Leading the SAVI program is Jessie Braden, who was appointed Director in the Fall of 2013.  Prior to SAVI, Braden spent three years at the Pratt Center for Community Development, a non-profit affiliated with Pratt Institute that provides technical services to community organizations.  She has also been an adjunct professor of GIS in Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation Program since 2010.  Braden initially started SAVI with Pratt Programs for Sustainable Planning and Development (PSPD) Professor Juan Camilo Osorio as a volunteer side project in 2011 with the guidance of then Department Chair John Shapiro.  In addition to PSPD, Pratt Center and the Graduate Communications Design Department offered their official support, allowing the lab to come to fruition and solidifying SAVI’s focus on communities AND design.  Pratt Center also secured a $670,000 grant from NYC City Council to renovate a physical space on Pratt’s campus so SAVI can serve community organizations and students.  During the time the program was being institutionalized at Pratt, Osorio took a full-time position as Director of Research at the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance. Though not involved in day to day operations, Osorio remains a trusted advisor to SAVI.

SAVI consolidates the Institute’s GIS resources with an eye to social benefit. This means putting data analysis in the hands of community activists, students, and faculty. It also means making the products of GIS expertise visually legible and compelling so that the stories they tell will have as much impact as possible.

“At the end of the day, visual representation is as important as the quality of data analysis,” Braden observes. “Our vision for SAVI is to produce outstanding multidisciplinary projects  with the highest-caliber visual display— making the invisible visible, both inside and outside Pratt’s gates.”  Its Jessie’s belief, which I share,  that a well designed map should be able to stand on its own.  Such a product enables the reader to conduct the “spatial analysis” based on the distribution and rendering of the map data itself – with only minimal accompanying narrative to explain or describe the map.

Braden points to specific mapping projects which exemplify the SAVI cause:
Continue reading →

NiJeL Expands its New York State Presence

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Established by Nancy S. Jones, JD Godchaux, and Lela Prashad in 2007, NiJeL is a company founded on the goal of helping organizations and communities building interactive dashboards, infographics and maps, building strong advocacy tools, and to connect with their communities and sponsors.  Ms. Prashad (CEO) currently leads NiJeL, while Mr. Godchaux (CTO) serves as the primary interactive developer, and Ms. Jones provides management oversight and strategic direction.  NiJeL began after the three had volunteered as American Friends for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Phoenix, Arizona while attending Arizona State University as graduate students.

After the successful launch of one of their early online mapping applications in support of Duet – a metro-Phoenix nonprofit dedicated to supporting and improving the quality of life for senior citizens – NiJeL relocated main staff in 2011 to Brooklyn, and since then have been engaged in a number of Empire State oriented geospatial projects.

NiJeL uses standard statistical, mapping, and database software, and develop custom open applications for websites, mobile devices, and desktop computing.  “What makes us different from other groups like us in this space is our custom process to assess current data, metrics, and technology workflows with regards to the organization’s culture and specific goals” notes JD Godchaux .   NiJeL works with  a wide variety of organizations and their focus on using open-source components allows the firm to be flexible in how projects are approached and ultimately designed.  Their commitment to open-source tools allows to provide training for technical staff to manage and make changes to the technology solution they deliver to the client.  Illustrative projects include: Continue reading →