Two Reston-based companies have secured a $750,000 federal grant to lead the Northern Virginia Smart City Initiative, which aims to bring government, private and nonprofit partners to advance the area’s smart city technology innovation cluster.

Smart City Works, a Reston-based nonprofit business accelerator, and Refraction, a co-working innovation hub that supports startups and high-growth companies, will advance the initiative in order to improve the livability and resilience of cities.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration awarded grants to 26  application from a pool of 183 submission. The Reston companies received the maximum amount of available funding.

Here’s more from the EDA on the initiative:

With the i6 Challenge grant, the Initiative will: 1) accelerate the development and lower the risk profile of companies seeking to provide innovative solutions to infrastructure challenges; 2) grow the number of startups and highly skilled tech talent in the region; (3) accelerate the commercialization of innovative products and 4) strengthen the regional smart city cluster supporting innovation, entrepreneurship, and commercialization.

Over the three-year grant period, the Northern Virginia Smart Region Initiative will create a stronger innovation cluster that will attract talent and capital to the region, stimulate economic development that benefits the entire community, and help to solve the region’s infrastructure challenges.

More than 45 companies are expected to graduate from the accelerator program, which could launch more than 30 new smart city products. The initiative is expected to generate 90 new jobs.

Photo via U.S. Department of Commerce