Giving Compass' Take:

• Smart Cities Dive interviews the managing director of URBAN-X, an accelerator in Brooklyn, NY, that helps city-based startups tackle challenges in the areas of energy, transportation, waste and more.

• What could nonprofits do to support more tech innovations for cities across America? How would those efforts differ from companies like URBAN-X?

• Here's how Silicon Valley is helping cities test a radical anti-poverty idea.

With cities focused on the challenges that face them and their citizens, a new wave of technology companies are stepping up to help, led in part by the likes of URBAN-X.

A startup accelerator based in Brooklyn, NY, URBAN-X works with early-stage companies and provides them with 20 weeks of development, helps them network and then give them guidance on raising capital.

It recently announced its fourth cohort of startups, with a focus on challenges around cities including government procurement, mobility, energy, food, water and waste. And each year, it goes on what it dubs a "world tour" to spread the word about its work, while also hosting events to discuss pressing issues like the need for congestion pricing in New York City.

Kansas City, MO is one city that does similar work with its Innovation Partnership Program, part of a trend URBAN-X Managing Director Micah Kotch said shows that the relationship between technology companies and the cities where they are based is growing at a fast pace.

Read the full article about how startups can help solve city challenges by Chris Teale at smartcitiesdive.com.