CitiLogics is growing, along with its software designed to help city governments and public utilities better manage water infrastructure. Founders Jim Uber and Stu Hooper have added a third partner, and CitiLogics is one of eight companies picked for Northern Kentucky's inaugural
UpTech accelerator program.
CitiLogics is working on a modern solution to a modern urban challenge. The company's Polaris is a real-time forecasting platform that uses existing water management data to help utilities better control their water distribution systems.
The software will allow utilities to better pinpoint leak sources, and improve water quality in the distribution system, among other things. It will also forecast how a particular part of the infrastructure would hold up in an emergency or a heavy use period. The software then allows departments to share that information easily.
"We've been focusing on software development and fundraising, and we're excited to get started with UpTech," says Uber, an environmental engineer. "We've been working with our utility partners to prove the business case for our software."
Sam Hatchett, a mechanical and environmental engineer, decided to join the company as a partner because he believes in the work and is looking for a challenge.
"I know myself and my character," Hatchett says. "I was not going to fit into a large corporate environment."
The company, founded in 2009, will be moving from the
Hamilton incubation County Business Center, to offices in Newport as part of the UpTech program.
UpTech is a new business informatics incubator launched by several Northern Kentucky institutions, including
Northern Kentucky University,
Tri-Ed,
ezone and
Vision 2015. It's an intense, six-month accelerator program that includes $100,000 in funding. Companies selected to participate will also be working with students and faculty at NKU's College of Informatics.
The company is meeting with municipalities for potential early sales, and the software is being tested through a pilot at the
Northern Kentucky Water District.
The company believes UpTech will be a springboard to increased financing and more software development.
"There is a lot of open space in the area of business analytics in the water utility industry, and we want to fill that space in a valuable way," Uber says. "We definitely don't plan on being the Stu, Sam and Jim show forever. We plan to take this across the county and across the world."
By Feoshia Henderson
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