Cities occupy just 3% of the land on Earth but account for 75% of carbon emissions. With the urban population expected to grow 1.5 times to 6 billion people by 2045, developing sustainable cities is a crucial component of the fight against climate change.
Innovation is key to launching sustainability initiatives in the face of challenges – from driving decarbonization to modernizing mobility. The culture of innovation surrounding startups has put them at the forefront of developing the next generation solutions that can transform cities and address the challenges of the climate crisis.
This is why Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched the Clean Energy Accelerator in 2021, to help startups working in clean energy accelerate their impact, access additional resources, and expand their reach. This accelerator resulted in funding and growth opportunities for the participating startups including; multiple commercial pilot deployments opportunities and series B funding rounds, signifying the ability to expand rapidly to new markets.
Building off this success, AWS is now launching a new accelerator focused on the rapid growth of clean tech innovations: the AWS Sustainable Cities Accelerator. The new accelerator will focus on mobility and transportation with a goal of helping companies learn how to innovate and accelerate their mission growth by leveraging advanced cloud-based technologies.
The AWS Sustainable Cities Accelerator
The AWS Sustainable Cities Accelerator is a virtual six-week, technical, business, and mentorship accelerator delivered by Freshwater Advisors and Public Spend Forum from May 15 – June 30, 2022. Over the past nine years, Freshwater has run tech scouting programs for more than 20 leading corporations in the energy, public sector, and industrial sectors seeking to work with the brightest emerging technology-based startups to bring new innovative solutions to market.
As part of the program, the 10-15 selected startups can qualify for:
- Collaboration opportunities with AWS customers and members of the AWS Partner Network (APN)
- Specialized AWS training
- Up to $100,000 in AWS Activate credits
- Mentoring from subject matter experts in technical and related domains
- Business development and investment guidance from Freshwater Advisors and Public Spend Forum
- Networking opportunities with other participating startups
“The AWS Sustainable Cities Accelerator will provide a unique platform to catalyse these collaborations and bring new solutions to market,” said David Weinstein, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Freshwater Advisors. “We are delighted and honored to be working with AWS to launch this accelerator to develop solutions to support sustainable cities and address the energy and climate crisis.”
Public Spend Forum founder and CEO, Raj Sharma says, “Providing emerging and diverse companies the knowledge, data, and access they need to accelerate their impact in the government market is exciting work and so fundamental to our growth programs. This AWS accelerator provides an amazing opportunity to further our mission to help government market buyers find cutting edge companies while providing emerging companies a high visibility platform that shines a light on their cutting-edge work.”
AWS is now accepting applications from mature clean tech startups working on solutions for mobility and transportation, including: micro-mobility, last mile-delivery, urban parking and route optimization, electronic vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and applications, Internet of Things (IoT) transportation and traffic solutions, or other solutions to promote sustainable transportation and mobility in urban settings.
“AWS Clean Energy Acceleration gave us global exposure, markets, mentors, potential customers, and investors,” said James Larson, CEO of E-Zinc, which participated in the 2021 AWS Clean Energy Accelerator. “As a part of the acceleration, we were able to learn how to pitch our solution differently and it helped push our sales globally. We were able to leverage our association with AWS to build trust among our clients and investors.”
Applications for the 2022 accelerator will be judged on several factors including innovation, the overall value the solution will bring to the industry, the potential application of AWS to solve problems, and the team’s ability to deliver on an identified opportunity. Applications are open today and proposals are due by April 15, 2022.
