MINI & Hax Announce First Cohort for Urban-X Accelerator Startup

Need another reason to visit a MINI dealer sooner rather than later? The iconic automaker is pairing up with the hardware startup accelerator, Hax to form Urban-X. Their mission is to “catalyze, educate, invest in, and advocate for startups who are shaping the futures of cities through technology.” A company with conscience, MINI will help fuel startups that seek to change the world – or a little corner of it.

Urban living can be dense and hectic, but Urban-X wants to make it practical. MINI brings its reputation for ingenuity in engineering, while Hax offers its investment experience and ability to bring items into the market at a remarkable rate. For this premier of Urban-X, nine startups were hand-selected because of their common goal: to improve urban living.

Some of the startups selected include:

• Brooklyness, whose mission it is to reduce our carbon footprint by encouraging bicycle usage.
• MindRider, an intuitive helmet that tracks your mind during a bike route to tell you which routes will provide the least amount of stress.
• Samocat, a sharable kick scooter system for getting around town.
• Numina, which uses wireless sensors to track street movement and “anything you can see.” This has practical implications in street safety and public health.
• Industrial Organic, a company that strives to process organic waste quickly and efficiently.  

All of these startups aim to make urban life more practical– and more fun. The nine companies involved in Urban-X will participate in a program designed to accelerate their success and aid in designing products, all the way to launching those products.

When you visit a MINI dealer in the future, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that this company commits its time and energy to reputable causes that will make our cities safer, cleaner, stronger, and healthier.

Urban-X has chosen the second round of companies to participate in the program, starting in August, 2016. For details you can ask your local Florida MINI Cooper dealer.