MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. and
COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Singularity
University (SU), a global community with a mission to educate,
inspire, and empower leaders to apply exponential technologies to
address humanity's grand challenges, today announced it is
sponsoring a Smart City Accelerator, the first program of its kind,
in Columbus, Ohio, the winning
city of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Smart City
Challenge. The SU Smart City Accelerator will drive the next wave
of innovation, providing participants with the exponential
technologies, tools, global network of experts, mentors, and
partners they need to ensure their nascent ideas and ventures for
the smart city of the future come to market faster. The goal will
be better functioning cities that transform how residents and
communities work and live.
The smart city-focused startup accelerator begins accepting
applications May 15, 2017, and will
bring innovators from around the globe to Columbus in September. The Singularity
University Smart City Accelerator will be supported by SU in its
first long-term program outside of Silicon Valley and sponsored
locally by American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) and NCT Ventures.
Each of the 10 selected businesses will be eligible to receive up
to $100,000 in funding from NCT
Ventures.
"The SU Smart City Accelerator will attract innovators from
around the world and amplify the successes Columbus already has achieved in becoming
recognized as a global center of technology and innovation," said
Mayor Andrew J. Ginther. "I view the
SU Smart Cities Accelerator as a mutually supportive partner and
participant of Smart Columbus, and I look forward to working with
Singularity University on this transformative initiative."
"When Columbus won the U.S. Department of Transportation Smart
City Challenge, Singularity University wanted to be part of – and
contribute to – the innovation ecosystem here," said Singularity
University Vice President of Corporate Innovation, Nick Davis. "One of the primary goals of Smart
Columbus is to support the local entrepreneurial environment,
expose local corporations and entrepreneurs to cutting-edge ideas
from other cities, and provide the foundation for a sustainable
link between Columbus and other
innovation hubs across the world."
Startups, ranging from early-stage companies with a working
prototype of their products to those beginning to grow their
revenue, can learn more and apply online at su.org/sca. Singularity
University Accelerators are differentiated in the market by their
focus on exponential thinking and technologies, as well as by the
commitment SU makes to supporting innovation over the long
term.
"We are committed to giving the innovators and entrepreneurs who
participate in this world-class accelerator program full access to
our community as a living laboratory so that we can learn together
what business models and technologies are going to make our cities
better in the future for all people," said Alex Fischer, President and CEO of the Columbus
Partnership, representative of the region's business leadership and
the entity co-leading Smart Columbus alongside the City of Columbus. "There is unprecedented
investment and commitment by local and national industry leaders to
demonstrate in Columbus what the
future can be for mid-size cities, the most prevalent city size in
the world. We are proud to have SU joining the team as we embark on
this journey."
The SU Smart Cities Accelerator will choose 10 businesses
focused on one or more of the following:
- Mobility
- Connectivity
- Data and analytics
- Infrastructure and energy
- Manufacturing and production
SU will provide help accessing Singularity University
faculty and programs, identify mentors from large companies and
startups across the globe to provide expertise on industry and
technology, and assign mentors to the team for which their
expertise will be most valuable. Other sponsors will facilitate
web services, legal support, financial services, and tax
planning for the ten businesses.
With Singularity University's support, Columbus will have the opportunity to
integrate West Coast innovation concepts into its existing
networks. Over the past decade, business accelerator programs
tailored to the unique strengths of a given community have emerged
as key engines for generating innovation, new businesses and new
jobs.
"Bringing the Singularity University (SU) Smart City Accelerator
to Columbus is a catalyst for
innovation and technology in Columbus, and AEP is proud to be a part of
it," said AEP CEO Nick Akins. "In
fact we so believe in the benefits of SU's Smart City Accelerator
that we are sending an AEP team through it. The vision of Smart
Columbus is for this community to be a center of innovation and
entrepreneurship, and the SU Smart City Accelerator represents a
significant step toward the realization of that vision."
"This accelerator will empower entrepreneurs to leverage
breakthroughs in technology, from autonomous vehicles to
efficiencies made possible by object awareness, to enhance lives
and improve standards of living," said Rich
Langdale, Managing Partner, NCT Ventures. "The Smart Cities
initiative is more than a challenge. Civilization is at a turning
point and Columbus has the
opportunity to promote innovation and pioneer what it means to live
in a smart city of the future."
Organizations to Benefit from Supporting Smart Columbus
Accelerator
Partners and sponsors of the SU Smart City Accelerator can also
benefit from getting involved beyond raising awareness and linking
their brands to thought leadership and innovation. Sponsoring
companies can choose to develop new products outside their
traditional - often slower - R&D processes and gain the help of
outside experts and resources. They will also get a first look at
the most cutting-edge startups as well as possible market
disruptions these startups represent, helping them to formulate
better strategies for their own futures. Sponsors and partners will
gain full access to all accelerator classes and presentations from
subject matter experts in all areas around smart city technologies
and innovation. Companies outside Columbus will gain invaluable access to the
city's existing corporate, industry and academic expertise, while
local startups will benefit by forging critical relationships with
entrepreneurs and thought leaders from across the country.
To learn more about how local businesses, organizations and
individuals can get involved in the SU Smart Cities Accelerator as
a sponsor, partner, mentor, or by investing resources, expertise or
other in-kind support go to su.org/sca.
About Smart Columbus
As the sole winner of the U.S. Department of Transportation's
(USDOT) Smart Cities Challenge, Columbus was awarded funding and designated
America's Smart City; but more importantly it also won the coveted
job as global teacher for cities around the world on how to "become
Smart" by embracing the reinvention of transportation to accelerate
human progress. Columbus received a total of $50 million in the form of two grants:
$40 million from USDOT and
$10 million from Vulcan, Inc., a
Paul Allen company. These dollars
provide the seed funding for Smart Columbus, a region-wide Smart
City initiative co-led by the City of
Columbus and Columbus Partnership. The City of
Columbus, under the leadership of Mayor Andrew J. Ginther, is the lead recipient of the
$50 million and will administer the
deployment of these funds for the duration of the grant period,
which concludes at the end of 2020. The Columbus Partnership,
representing the Columbus Region's private sector, is the lead
implementation partner for the grant program and is responsible for
the initiative's Acceleration Fund, which is credited as a
significant factor in Columbus'
winning of the challenge. The Acceleration Fund, which started out
as $90 million now totals more than
$360 million and is composed of
coordinated and aligned investments by the private sector to
complement, scale, and sustain Smart Columbus projects and
programs. This number will continue to increase as new
partnerships are formed with companies like Singularity University
to reach the goal of $1 billion by
2020.
About AEP
Headquartered in Columbus,
American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in
the United States, delivering
electricity and custom energy solutions to nearly 5.4 million
customers in 11 states. AEP owns the nation's largest electricity
transmission system, a more than 40,000-mile network that includes
more 765-kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all
other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP also operates 224,000
miles of distribution lines. AEP ranks among the nation's largest
generators of electricity, owning approximately 26,000 megawatts of
generating capacity in the U.S. AEP supplies 3,200 megawatts of
renewable energy to customers.
About NCT Ventures
NCT Ventures is a Columbus-based venture capital firm dedicated
to providing a platform for entrepreneurs to succeed in turning
their ideas into profitable business models through hands-on
operational support. Over the last 20 years, NCT has helped build
many successful companies across a variety of industries. NCT
empowers entrepreneurs to develop disruptive technologies that
improve market efficiencies. For more information, visit
http://www.nctventures.com/.
About Singularity University
Singularity University is a global learning and innovation
community using exponential technologies to tackle the world's
biggest challenges and build an abundant future for all. SU's
collaborative platform empowers individuals and organizations
across the globe to learn, connect, and innovate breakthrough
solutions using accelerating technologies like artificial
intelligence, robotics, and digital biology. SU was founded in 2008
by renowned innovators Ray Kurzweil
and Peter H. Diamandis and is
partnered with leading organizations including Google, Deloitte,
Genentech, and UNICEF. To learn more, visit SU.org, join us on
Facebook, and follow us on Twitter @SingularityU.
Media Contacts:
Dan
Williamson
614-593-9510
dwilliamson@paulwerth.com
Anna Roubos
774-232-2460
anna.roubos@ogilvy.com
Melissa McHenry
614-716-1120
mmchenry@aep.com
Calvin Cooper
(614) 794-2732
calvin.cooper@nctventures.com
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SOURCE Singularity University