The new accelerator, Urban X has opened amidst pomp and colour. The new accelerator is the brainchild of two entities: Mini and SOSV. Mini is a small company that is fully owned by BMW.
SOSV, a venture capital firm, has been investing exclusively in start-ups that it mentors in its accelerators. Currently, the VC firm has eight accelerators spread across various countries in the world.
According to sources, Urban X is set to change the manner in which things are done in Greenpoint, a special tech-zone within New York. It has been reported that Urban X now occupies a space in Greenpoint that measures about 5,000 square foot.
Urban X has announced that it intends to bring to Greenpoint new frontiers in design.
The recent unveiling of Urban X within Greenpoint comes at a time when SOSV has intensified its incubation model across the world.
Since its establishment, the VC firm has focused its attention on investing in the companies that pass through its rigorous mentorship program.
Under the mentorship program, start-ups operate in a shared environment. The new companies share resources such as office space and addresses in a bid to cut down their operational costs and speed up their process of entering new markets.
In return, the nascent companies benefit from industry-specific mentorship programs offered by industry veterans.
The accelerator model has been praised for the manner in which it lets established firms and VCs quickly determine the viability of new business ideas.
In the case of SOSV, it has been reported that the company is able to assess whether or not to invest in new ventures within a very short time, thanks to the manner in which its accelerators operate.
According to Micah Kotch, of Urban X, the idea is to make sure that start-ups which do not have a future are eliminated as fast as possible.
Established companies are now using this model as a way of remaining relevant in an ever-changing global business environment. the likes of Samsung and Barclays now have various accelerators evenly distributed in different countries in the world.
