What we're reading this week in urban tech news. 

Here are our tips for meeting with new VCs and potential investors. 

In a recent interview with First Round, New York-based investor Kevin Ryan discussed some fundraising strategies that he has picked up over the years. Here are a few of his recommendations for founders. 

Check out what we're reading in health tech news this week. 

If you are working to create a more innovative and connected city or in a private sector job related to smart cities, data, or IoT, these are the conferences that you should not miss this year. 

Accenture has completed a pilot program that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and the ease of voice to help older people manage the daunting challenges of navigating their care delivery and well-being. The Accenture Liquid Studio in London developed an AI-powered platform (the Accenture Platform) that can learn user behaviors and preferences and suggest activities to support the overall physical and mental health of individuals ages 70 and older.

Here is what we're reading in urban tech news this week. 

Navigant expects around 35 million e-bikes to be purchased this year. In comparison, electric vehicles currently account for about 1% of all vehicle sales around the globe, with about 1.15 million units to be produced worldwide.E-bikes have become popular in Europe and are now viewed as an alternative to cars, according to the New York Times.  

Tampa is outfitting a fleet of 1,600 privately owned vehicles with technology that will communicate with roadways and other cars in order to receive various warnings and alerts about roadway conditions, speed limit changes, dangers and more. The project also will connect 10 buses in the area to communicate with traffic signals, which will then prioritize the buses’ movements so they can stay on schedule. 

Dreamit Health alum Somatix is a data analytics software company and creator of the Somatix BMD (Body Motion Data) Management platform. Today, they announced the results of a pilot study testing SmokeBeat, the company’s smoking cessation monitoring solution. The results were published by Oxford University Press’ peer-reviewed journal, “Nicotine and Tobacco Research.”

What we're reading in urban tech news this week. 

Meet Dreamit HealthTech’s most recent cohort. 

In this interview, Jeff Vinik, owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning, discusses market trends, investments in stocks and mutual funds, the real estate development, and the growth of Tampa. 

Strategic Property Partners (SPP),  the joint venture between Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and Cascade Investment, the investment fund launched by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, is leading the development of Tampa’s first new for-purchase residential tower in nearly a decade. 

Whether you’re pitching an investor, speaking at a conference, or simply delivering meeting talking points to peers, this webinar will give you the tools to connect with your audience.

Listen to our recent discussion led by Dreamit Chief Investment Officer Karen Griffith Gryga and featuring with Chris Mayer, Chief Innovation Officer at Suffolk Construction, and Camille Renshaw, CEO of RenshawCo. Guests discuss trends and tactics for investing in real estate tech and construction tech. 

Waterfront Toronto and Sidewalk Labs have partnered to build a mixed-use, complete community in Toronto. Google will be the flagship tenant for the new neighborhood, anchoring the eastern waterfront, to be called “Quayside.” Sidewalk Labs has committed $50 million to kick off pilot testing and planning in partnership with the City of Toronto. 

Since first launching in 2008, Dreamit has received thousands of applications – heck, I’ve personally reviewed thousands of applications in the not quite three years since joining Dreamit. I’ve had the pleasure to read some really excellent applications that crisply and concisely showcased what made that startup shine. And then there were those other applications. 

Some of the construction tech trends we’re watching this year are closely related to tech trends we started watching in 2016 (mobile apps and big data). Others have been percolating for a few years now (thermal imaging and cloud computing), and we expect big advances this year. And others are just plain cool (holographic headsets and construction exoskeletons), and we want to see if they’ll make it into the mainstream this year.

In smart cities and urban tech,  BIM is one of the main generators of the embedded digital information required to achieve connected cities. more smart building sensors, and enhanced IoT capabilities.  Contractors' understanding of how people really use the built environment (and their own projects) will improve beyond anything previously imagined. Learn how blockchain technology can enable higher levels of BIM adoption.