22 Capital Partners, a venture builder private equity company, announced the formation of 22 CityLink to create the “Smart City In-a-Box” platform.
22 Capital Partners has formed 22 CityLink to build the foundation for the development of smart cities by linking together all aspects of real estate development with a pre-configured, intelligent framework to provide the ultimate citizen, business and government experience.
22 CityLink’s “Smart City In-a-Box” platform will be used to power the $500 million Gramercy District Smart City development in Loudoun County, Va.
“We believe that modern technology is going to be a major force in urbanization projects and can improve the overall quality of life for the citizen. By using a holistic approach where we control all aspects of the development, we can improve the way people live, the way people learn, and the way people socialize,” said Minh Le, a former managing director with Accenture and the current managing partner of 22 Capital Partners. “What we’re looking to do is build the next great tech real estate company using the 22 CityLink Platform.” 22 CityLink is building the first ever “Smart City In-a-Box” platform through partnerships with marquee technology companies and innovative startups.
Instead of lumping technology into vertical applications like smart retail, intelligent buildings, connected health, etc., 22 CityLink breaks up the smart city into layers and pillars and takes a horizontal approach, looking at the total consumer experience across all aspects of the smart city.
“By separating bandwidth, connectivity, applications, data and intelligence into layers, 22 CityLink is able to create a foundation for sustainable development and constant improvement,” said Dave Ladouceur, CEO of Denver-based software company Neon Mobile and strategic advisor for 22 CityLink.
“The pillars are where data is aggregated into functional areas and includes our smart city components: smart building, smart education, smart energy, smart engagement, smart finance, smart healthcare, smart mobility, smart operations, smart retail and smart safety.
“With the use of artificial intelligence and big data analytics looking across all applications, it is possible to create the next generation citizen experience that will only get better with time.”
The vision is a city that learns from its interactions, filled with citizens that have a personalized, yet unified living experience.
