STUTTGART, 9 October 2023 – Drees & Sommer has emerged as the principal investor in BABLE Smart Cities, a visionary scale-up company in the field of Smart and Climate-Neutral City development. BABLE Smart Cities secured close to €5.7 million in private investment and is receiving additional €3.4 Million in innovation grants.
In an era where urbanisation is on an unprecedented rise and the need for sustainable, intelligent, and green city solutions is paramount, BABLE Smart Cities has positioned itself as a game-changer in the field of Smart and Climate-Neutral City development. Drees & Sommer, the leading European consulting, planning and project management enterprise, recognised the potential for innovation and progress inherent in BABLE Smart Cities' vision.
"Several cities we are actively working with are each committing to invest around €1 Billion per year on climate-neutral solutions – and more will join this group," stated Alexander Schmidt, Founder and CEO of BABLE Smart Cities. “At BABLE, we can continue doing what we have been doing, but now at the tremendous scale needed. Together we can solve urgent challenges and facilitate future-proof, smart and green cities.”
Sascha Hempel, International Partner at Drees & Sommer, adds: “Together we aim to develop the leading B2G platform and boost our reach in the consulting business for the public sector and governmental services. With this new partnership, we will be able to match the growing need for public, social, and digital infrastructure in a sustainable, innovative, and economically viable way for a world we want to live in.”
In 1970, Drees & Sommer was founded in Stuttgart, Germany and has since become a name associated with innovation in the building sector. In 2017, BABLE Smart Cities was founded, also sharing the birthplace of Drees & Sommer in Stuttgart. In the last years, Drees & Sommer has been emphasising the need for sustainable and digital practices and has also been focusing on the rise of the Smart District concept in Europe. As part of their new initiative in digitalisation and internationalisation, BABLE hits its growth stage at the ideal time to compound these goals. Together, Drees & Sommer and BABLE Smart Cities aim for joint goals in Smart and Climate-Neutral City projects with very ambitious targets, which are aligned with the urgent global need to achieve climate neutrality, and it underscores the immense impact this partnership can have on shaping sustainable and intelligent cities worldwide.
BABLE’s expertise around urban innovation with Drees & Sommer’s capabilities to manage large-scale projects creates the perfect storm to make impact at scale.
Municipalities working towards their Smart and Climate-Neutrality goals as well as companies with solutions in the area are welcome to reach out and sign up to BABLE’s free knowledge hub on www.bable-smartcities.eu
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BABLE Smart Cities is Europe's leading facilitator for Smart and Climate-Neutral Cities, born as a spin-off from Fraunhofer Research Society. With a decade of experience in the field, it offers practical insights gained by practitioners, for practitioners. Its mission is to accelerate change in the public and private sectors by providing market access and knowledge. BABLE has facilitated over €2Billion in Smart City projects with cities, towns, and regions. The BABLE free knowledge hub connects innovators and the public sector, providing access to the most comprehensive Smart City datasets and insights in Europe. To learn more about BABLE, visit www.bable-smartcities.eu
Drees & Sommer: Innovative Partner for Consulting, Planning, Construction and Operation.
The leading European consulting, planning and project management enterprise, Drees & Sommer has supported private and public clients and investors for over 50 years in all aspects of real estate and infrastructure – both analog and digital. Through future-oriented consulting, the enterprise can offer solutions for successful buildings, high-return portfolios, powerful infrastructure and livable cities. The company’s 5,100 employees in 59 locations around the world work in interdisciplinary teams to provide support for clients from a wide variety of sectors. All the services provided by the partner-run company take into consideration both economic and ecological concerns. Drees & Sommer calls this holistic approach ‘the blue way’.