Introduction

Public and private investment in innovation has fallen to their lowest levels in decades, particularly in critical areas such as infrastructure modernization and construction, harming productivity and global competitiveness. And yet, significant and timely social and civic challenges in cities and urban environments—infrastructure cost and performance, cybersecurity, transportation, affordable housing, environmental sustainability, energy, decarbonization, and resilience—can all be materially impacted by digital transformation and innovation. Smart City Works Venture Studio is designed to enable urban tech startups focused on the infrastructure market to get to commercialization faster and with a higher probability of success. Through investments in human capital, operations, and business plan execution, we take corporate intrapreneurship and early-stage ventures from seed to Series A or exit, growing great businesses, expanding much-needed innovation, and building better cities for good.