Investor directory

Techstars

Techstars Central LLC, founded in 2006 and based in Boulder, Colorado, operates as a startup accelerator and venture capital firm focused on supporting early-stage technology-oriented companies. It specializes in a mentorship-driven accelerator program, selecting ten startups each summer to participate in a three-month incubation period, offering funding of $120,000 in exchange for equity. Techstars invests primarily in sectors such as fintech, artificial intelligence, blockchain, augmented reality, and IoT, while avoiding investments in medical devices, healthcare technology, and local service-oriented businesses. In addition to its primary accelerator, Techstars has various specialized programs, including those focused on music, retail, mobility, and social impact, with global reach extending to regions such as Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The firm prefers taking minority stakes, typically between six and ten percent, without seeking board representation or investor rights. Techstars has built a robust network of entrepreneurs, mentors, and corporate partners to foster innovation and growth within its portfolio, which includes over 1,000 companies with a significant collective market capitalization.

Focus

Pre Seed RoundSeed RoundArtificial IntelligenceMachine LearningSeries AShow more
http://techstars.com/ventures
https://crunchbase.com/organization/techstars
https://facebook.com/techstars
https://linkedin.com/company/techstars
https://twitter.com/techstars
https://www.capitaliq.com/CIQDotNet/company.aspx?companyId=431767203
https://www.privateequityinternational.com/database/#/profile?id=14977

Ethan Austin

MD of the Techstars Western Union Accelerator

Mark Tortorella

Advisor

Nathanial Zola

MD

Past deals in Smart Cities

Iomob

Seed Round in 2022
Iomob Technologies OÜ is a company based in Tallinn, Estonia, that specializes in creating an open, decentralized mobility marketplace powered by blockchain technology. Founded in 2018, Iomob focuses on facilitating collaboration between various mobility providers, including established companies, startups, and public transit authorities, to enhance urban mobility systems. The company's platform integrates public transport with private mobility services, enabling a seamless and efficient experience for users. Through its innovative approach, Iomob aims to support the development of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) solutions, allowing residents and visitors to navigate cities more effectively and sustainably.

Moduly

Pre Seed Round in 2021
The Future of Smart Home Energy

Urban Sky

Seed Round in 2021
Urban Sky is developing the first-ever reusable 'micro-sat' version of a near-space balloon, armed with sensors that collect high-value Earth observation data over entire cities, serving a multi-billion dollar imagery market and making daily and weekly aerial imagery collection a cost-effective reality. Leveraging advances in component miniaturization, first-of-its-kind balloon reusability, and the high vantage point of the stratosphere, the Microballoon drastically reduces the cost of high-resolution remote sensing and weather-related data capture over broad areas, leading to more impactful data over more areas than ever before. With a new wealth of data from the stratosphere - this completely untapped layer of Earth’s atmosphere - we can fundamentally change the collective human understanding of the surface of our planet and urban centers.

Valyuu.com

Seed Round in 2021
Circular Economy Marketplace

Empowrd Apps LLC.

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Civic engagement eco-system that removes all knowledge-based or network-based barriers that typically block effective 2way civic engagement.

Urban SDK

Seed Round in 2020
Urban SDK, Inc. specializes in developing software that enhances mobility systems for smart cities. Founded in 2018 and based in Atlantic Beach, Florida, the company offers a software as a service platform that integrates real-time location analytics with predictive capabilities. This platform assists public agencies and policymakers in making informed decisions by providing tools for data visualization, performance tracking, and analysis of mobility patterns. Urban SDK's technology helps reduce traffic congestion, improve accessibility, and predict safety incidents using machine learning. The platform also features a data marketplace that automates performance dashboards, enabling transportation authorities to visualize and interpret significant data on traffic, parking, and pedestrian movement, thereby enhancing operational efficiency and safety outcomes.

H2Ok Innovations

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Using artificial intelligence and data science to empower communities with the knowledge for sustainable access to clean water.

Irys

Seed Round in 2020
Irys, formerly known as Cityflag, Inc., develops a mobile application that enables users to report service requests and community issues while facilitating communication between citizens and local government. The app allows users to track the status of their reports, view other submitted requests, and earn badges for their engagement. By empowering individuals to address problems in their neighborhoods, Irys strengthens community involvement and enhances the efficiency of local governance. The platform also assists city leaders in identifying patterns and trends, ultimately saving time and resources. Founded in 2017, Irys is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, with an additional office in Mexico City, Mexico.

Inclusivv

Seed Round in 2020
Civic Dinners works with cities, state agencies, corporations, and nonprofits to design and launch conversations that spark real and lasting change. We provide both a high touch and high tech solution for organizations and regions looking to build stronger relationships across silos, raise consciousness around issues that matter, and help build solutions that make communities more vibrant and resilient.

WeavAir

Seed Round in 2020
advanced sensors & predictive analytics solution

Urban Sky

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Urban Sky is developing the first-ever reusable 'micro-sat' version of a near-space balloon, armed with sensors that collect high-value Earth observation data over entire cities, serving a multi-billion dollar imagery market and making daily and weekly aerial imagery collection a cost-effective reality. Leveraging advances in component miniaturization, first-of-its-kind balloon reusability, and the high vantage point of the stratosphere, the Microballoon drastically reduces the cost of high-resolution remote sensing and weather-related data capture over broad areas, leading to more impactful data over more areas than ever before. With a new wealth of data from the stratosphere - this completely untapped layer of Earth’s atmosphere - we can fundamentally change the collective human understanding of the surface of our planet and urban centers.

Inclusivv

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Civic Dinners works with cities, state agencies, corporations, and nonprofits to design and launch conversations that spark real and lasting change. We provide both a high touch and high tech solution for organizations and regions looking to build stronger relationships across silos, raise consciousness around issues that matter, and help build solutions that make communities more vibrant and resilient.

Downtown.AI

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Downtown.AI provides human movement SaaS platform, which enables users to explore the data and generate analyses, forecasts, and dynamic human movement maps. The cloud platform uses machine learning algorithms, mobile location data, and other sources. It offers solutions, which includes smart mobility services, transportation authorities, and car OEMs to enable autonomous cars. The company is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Lauretta.io

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Lauretta.io is a developer of an artificial intelligence platform that utilizes deep learning and computer vision technology to enhance the management of smart buildings. The company integrates data from various sources and employs patent-pending algorithms to analyze incidents, predict future events, and identify root causes of issues. By transforming 350 million closed-circuit cameras worldwide into a unified smart camera system, Lauretta.io enables facility owners and managers to monitor occupant activities, behaviors, and intents through pattern analysis, facilitating real-time responses. Currently operating in four countries and covering 90,000 square feet of real estate, the platform has demonstrated significant benefits, including a 30% reduction in property management costs and an 8% increase in retail revenue. Additionally, its capabilities extend to real-time contact tracing for COVID-19, showcasing its adaptability to contemporary challenges.

Sensgreen

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Sensgreen develops artificial intelligence based energy and time-saving solutions for commercial real estate. It offers SensNODE, a battery powered plug and play sensor that transmits real-time data to SensCLOUD using LoraWAN Gateways; SensCloud, an artificial intelligence analysis and prediction technology built with reinforced learning algorithms; and sensAPP, a mobile application customized for environment. The company was founded in 2018 and is based in Ankara, Turkey.

Inclusivv

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Civic Dinners works with cities, state agencies, corporations, and nonprofits to design and launch conversations that spark real and lasting change. We provide both a high touch and high tech solution for organizations and regions looking to build stronger relationships across silos, raise consciousness around issues that matter, and help build solutions that make communities more vibrant and resilient.

Urban SDK

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Urban SDK, Inc. specializes in developing software that enhances mobility systems for smart cities. Founded in 2018 and based in Atlantic Beach, Florida, the company offers a software as a service platform that integrates real-time location analytics with predictive capabilities. This platform assists public agencies and policymakers in making informed decisions by providing tools for data visualization, performance tracking, and analysis of mobility patterns. Urban SDK's technology helps reduce traffic congestion, improve accessibility, and predict safety incidents using machine learning. The platform also features a data marketplace that automates performance dashboards, enabling transportation authorities to visualize and interpret significant data on traffic, parking, and pedestrian movement, thereby enhancing operational efficiency and safety outcomes.

SquarePlan

Pre Seed Round in 2019
By leveraging automation and data analytics, SquarePlan gives back control to commercial real estate managers. The company won the Columbia Venture Competition 2019 and is part of Techstars NYC 2019.

Sensefinity

Seed Round in 2019
Sensefinity is working as social machines,which provides Internet of Things for the Masses. Sensefinity offers a simple way for Small and Medium enterprises to benefit from the information acquired by their assets. Compatible sensors are already pre-integrated into the platform. This means that by turning the sensors on the data will start to flow to the platform. Data becomes immediately insights.

Geospiza

Seed Round in 2019
Geospiza is a tech startup that changes the way crisis and emergency management decisions are made. The Geospiza software platform integrates real-time IoT, big data, advanced analytics, and evidence-based consequence projections to support decision making that saves lives and protects the environment.

Urban Data Eye

Seed Round in 2019
Urban Data Eye is an analytics platform that provides data to optimize large spaces. It utilizes AI algorithm to analyze any public space in real-time. UDE applies the algorithm on the thousands of cameras that already exist in cities and businesses, in order to extract data that will generate maximum economic profitability for businesses, advertising companies, town halls or land developers. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.

Irys

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Irys, formerly known as Cityflag, Inc., develops a mobile application that enables users to report service requests and community issues while facilitating communication between citizens and local government. The app allows users to track the status of their reports, view other submitted requests, and earn badges for their engagement. By empowering individuals to address problems in their neighborhoods, Irys strengthens community involvement and enhances the efficiency of local governance. The platform also assists city leaders in identifying patterns and trends, ultimately saving time and resources. Founded in 2017, Irys is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, with an additional office in Mexico City, Mexico.

Climasens

Pre Seed Round in 2019
SensCity is an integrated decision support platform (SaaS) that provides urban climate intelligence, to the property, construction, financial, insurance and government sectors. SensCity utilizes a variety of environmental and climatic data sources, from IoT, Satellite Imagery, and open/proprietary data to monitor, analyze and visualize climate changes risks, impacts and to monitor the performance of climate-resilient infrastructure. We can provide monitoring and analysis in real-time at a hyper-local scale from IoT sensors all the way to precinct and regional resolutions through ongoing satellite monitoring. Our software helps ensure communities, businesses, researchers and government decision-makers have access to the best available information and tools to understand how climate change may impact them and how resilient their investments are into the future. We work collaboratively with research and industry partners to deliver robust climate change analysis and compelling data visualizations to enable greater insights into planning, designing, insuring and preparing for climate change in our cities.

Iomob

Seed Round in 2019
Iomob Technologies OÜ is a company based in Tallinn, Estonia, that specializes in creating an open, decentralized mobility marketplace powered by blockchain technology. Founded in 2018, Iomob focuses on facilitating collaboration between various mobility providers, including established companies, startups, and public transit authorities, to enhance urban mobility systems. The company's platform integrates public transport with private mobility services, enabling a seamless and efficient experience for users. Through its innovative approach, Iomob aims to support the development of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) solutions, allowing residents and visitors to navigate cities more effectively and sustainably.

Replica

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Developer of an urban planning tool designed intended for transportation planning and city design development. The company's tool figure out how people move around cities through third-party sources, like mobile phone apps, and is then combined with demographic data from public sources, such as censuses, as well as public transit data creating a synthetic population, enabling city to make infrastructure decisions around transport, schools, parks, hospital.

Geospiza

Angel Round in 2018
Geospiza is a tech startup that changes the way crisis and emergency management decisions are made. The Geospiza software platform integrates real-time IoT, big data, advanced analytics, and evidence-based consequence projections to support decision making that saves lives and protects the environment.

Geospiza

Pre Seed Round in 2018
Geospiza is a tech startup that changes the way crisis and emergency management decisions are made. The Geospiza software platform integrates real-time IoT, big data, advanced analytics, and evidence-based consequence projections to support decision making that saves lives and protects the environment.

Invision AI

Seed Round in 2017
Invision AI is focused on transforming the Internet of Things (IoT) into the Internet of Intelligent Things by developing advanced artificial intelligence software that operates directly on edge devices. This approach allows these devices to generate valuable situational insights without the need for costly hardware or reliance on cloud services. By enabling intelligent processing at the edge, Invision AI enhances the capabilities of IoT devices, making them more efficient and effective in gathering and analyzing data.

Pulse Labs

Convertible Note in 2017
Connected sensors and grow management for cannabis cultivation.

RoadBotics

Pre Seed Round in 2017
RoadBotics empowers governments and communities to make objective, data-driven decisions about their public infrastructure assets. We automate image mapping and road assessments, generating interactive maps, unbiased ratings, and practical tools to save time and taxpayer dollars for hundreds of communities across the country and around the world.

Sensefinity

Pre Seed Round in 2017
Sensefinity is working as social machines,which provides Internet of Things for the Masses. Sensefinity offers a simple way for Small and Medium enterprises to benefit from the information acquired by their assets. Compatible sensors are already pre-integrated into the platform. This means that by turning the sensors on the data will start to flow to the platform. Data becomes immediately insights.

CityCop

Pre Seed Round in 2017
CityCop Inc. is a technology company that has developed a social GPS application aimed at enhancing community safety. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, with additional offices in São Paulo, Brazil, and Montevideo, Uruguay, the platform allows users to report crimes and receive real-time alerts about criminal activities in their neighborhoods. By facilitating communication among users, CityCop empowers individuals to protect themselves and their communities, making it easier to stay informed about safety issues in areas of personal concern, such as homes, workplaces, and schools. This innovative approach to crime prevention aims to create a more vigilant and connected community.

CityCop

Seed Round in 2017
CityCop Inc. is a technology company that has developed a social GPS application aimed at enhancing community safety. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, with additional offices in São Paulo, Brazil, and Montevideo, Uruguay, the platform allows users to report crimes and receive real-time alerts about criminal activities in their neighborhoods. By facilitating communication among users, CityCop empowers individuals to protect themselves and their communities, making it easier to stay informed about safety issues in areas of personal concern, such as homes, workplaces, and schools. This innovative approach to crime prevention aims to create a more vigilant and connected community.

Urban3D

Seed Round in 2016
Urban 3D is a company creating digital manufacturing technologies for the construction sector willing to solve for houselessness in the next 15 years.Its mission is to partner with governments and developers to eradicate houselessness within the next 15 years.

Invision AI

Convertible Note in 2016
Invision AI is focused on transforming the Internet of Things (IoT) into the Internet of Intelligent Things by developing advanced artificial intelligence software that operates directly on edge devices. This approach allows these devices to generate valuable situational insights without the need for costly hardware or reliance on cloud services. By enabling intelligent processing at the edge, Invision AI enhances the capabilities of IoT devices, making them more efficient and effective in gathering and analyzing data.

Create Real Estate

Seed Round in 2016
Create is a next generation property database and 3D mapping platform. Create develops smart 3D maps that instantly deliver rich data about the urban environment & property market.

Pilot

Seed Round in 2015
Pilot is a new kind of internet provider for businesses in urban cities.

LiveStories

Seed Round in 2015
LiveStories drives outreach and better decisions using civic data—how communities live, learn, work, and play. Its all-in-one data platform makes it easy to analyze local data, get benchmarks, and create interactive stories. Its customers span government, public health, and business, including the AARP, Gates Foundation, Americans for Non-Smokers' Rights, California Health and Human Services Agency, Maricopa County, and many local health departments.

Pilot

Convertible Note in 2015
Pilot is a new kind of internet provider for businesses in urban cities.

LiveStories

Seed Round in 2014
LiveStories drives outreach and better decisions using civic data—how communities live, learn, work, and play. Its all-in-one data platform makes it easy to analyze local data, get benchmarks, and create interactive stories. Its customers span government, public health, and business, including the AARP, Gates Foundation, Americans for Non-Smokers' Rights, California Health and Human Services Agency, Maricopa County, and many local health departments.

Placemeter

Seed Round in 2013
Placemeter is an urban intelligence platform. We quantify modern cities worldwide. Our platform leverages proprietary computer vision technology to make sense of both archival and live video streams. First, Placemeter detects hidden patterns in pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Then, we predict how those patterns will evolve over time. The result is stronger businesses, safer streets and highly innovative neighborhoods. The answers you need are all around us. Quantify your world at http://www.placemeter.com.

Outline

Seed Round in 2013
Outline builds public policy simulators for city and state governments. Formerly Politify

Smart Habitat

Pre Seed Round in 2011
In 2002, Smart Habitat was born. Encompassing an array of possibilities, it differs from most other companies in the industry. Smart Habitat is focused on the effects that modern technology has on the environment and is committed to creating only energy-efficient systems. Smart Habitat was created amidst the economic falter caused by the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the War on Iraq. Despite a shaky foundation, Smart Habitat successfully began the movement towards improving domestic energy consumption. Through the economic surplus and housing boom Smart Habitat soared. Today, Smart Habitat continues to trudge through the current economic slough and will emerge as a powerful leader dedicated to helping the world, building one smart habitat at a time.