Cities Today - Turbocharging the Digital Transformation
Even with the great migration into the suburbs due to the pandemic, still around 81% of the US population currently live in cities. This number is meant to rise to 87% by 2050. Cities are therefore having to get creative and implement various programs in an attempt to make cities smarter and more livable.
One of Teem’s current projects, the Love Our Montclair online business directory, works to keep more money circulating locally and support small businesses. Cities Today featured this program in a recent article. Get a sneak peek below:
“During the pandemic, Raj Amin, Founding Partner, Teem Ventures, helped convene a small business working group in the township of Montclair, NJ, made up of volunteers with paid ‘day jobs’ who wanted to help their community during a difficult time. With the backing of the mayor but working independently, the group and its three sub-committees brought together small businesses, non-profits and community stakeholders to help keep money circulating locally.”
Read the full article ‘Cities have turbocharged digital transformation – can they sustain it?‘ here.
Cities That are Making a Difference
Photo via smart-energy.com
With natural resources becoming limited and populations rising, many cities are already making big moves to become more sustainable – and it’s working. Some methods being used by the top sustainable cities today include: using smart sensors to detect air quality, temperatures, and more around the cities in order to know what needs work, making buildings with smart controls and low-energy heating, and investing in electric public transportation.
Read about the most sustainable smart cities today here.
The incredible thing about smart cities is that there is no one definition of what they should look like or how they should operate, which gives each city an opportunity to tackle key issues in different, innovative ways.
Aside from sustainability, there are issues like social divide and lack of equity that equally need to be considered when making innovative changes to a city. For example, some cities have formed partnerships with the private sector to get things done quicker and mutually benefit local companies and government.
Partner Success Spotlight
Teem Ventures portfolio company Fetch Trucks has just secured a next round of funding of $3.5 Million to continue scaling their on-demand truck rental platform to more markets. We supported their pilot program in 2018 and 2019 and it’s inspiring to see how they’ve continued to thrive even in the toughest of times. Their product is an excellent example of innovation in bringing on-demand access to light commercial vehicles to more cities.