Shaun Abrahamson and Stonly Baptiste aimed to invest in what they called "urbantech superheroes." At Urban Us, the seed-stage urban technology-focused venture capital firm the two started in 2012, they looked for startups innovating around the future of cities. By 2017, they had assessed over 700 potential deals. Each one required a go/no-go decision, and four along the way were no different in that regard. Of Remix, SeamlessDocs, Starcity, and One Concern, which should they back? Setting aside the question for the moment of why urbantech startups needed superpowers, which of these possessed them?
Keywords: public entrepreneurship; govtech; urbantech; seed investing; Urban Us; Shaun Abrahamson; Stonly Baptiste; Remix; One Concern; Starcity; SeamlessDocs; Venture Capital; Public Sector; City; Urban Development; Entrepreneurship; Miami; San Francisco; New York (city, NY);
Citation:
Weiss, Mitchell, and Phoebe Peronto. "Urban Us." Harvard Business School Case 818-115, May 2018. (Revised October 2018.) View Details
