EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, a body of the European Union, welcomes 86 new start-ups joining the fourth edition of its accelerators’ programmes across Europe.
EU, 7 July 2023. As the urban mobility sector continues to experience rapid growth, EIT Urban Mobility’s Accelerators and Scale-up Programmes, implemented through strategic partnerships with over 30 organisations throughout Europe, have emerged as a catalyst for start-ups support and growth within urban mobility verticals. By offering a comprehensive range of services over a six-month period, including mentoring, living lab testing of solutions, matchmaking with cities and industry, and participation in key events, the Programmes provide unique curriculums and opportunities to the most innovative and impact driven start-ups.
A total of 470 applications were received from which 86 promising start-ups were selected, resulting in an 18% success rate for applicants. The high number of applications highlights the rapid growth and immense potential of the urban mobility and transport sector. For the 2023 cohorts 21 European countries are represented in the start-ups selected. Among the selected ventures in the 2023 promotion, over 30% are led by female CEOs or founders, in line with EIT Urban Mobility’s dedication to narrowing the start-up gender gap and fostering an inclusive ecosystem. The last edition of the accelerator programme has seen more than 74 start-ups participate in it.
The below 7 start-ups highlighted will be part of the programmes to continue their expansion:
- Nemi Mobility Solutions (Spain): Nemi enables the feasibility of public transport in low-density areas through its software solution, facilitating flexible bus services.
- Ridergy (Germany): RiDERgy leverages cutting-edge algorithms to develop software that generates optimal charging schedules for businesses, maximizing efficiency.
- Luna Systems (Ireland): Luna addresses challenges in micromobility growth and scale by offering smart camera technology that enables operators and cities to proactively reduce sidewalk riding, collisions, and disorderly parking in real time.
- Walking talking (Sweden): Walking talking has developed a community app that connects individuals, promotes motivation, and supports meaningful conversations during walks. The app’s sustainable business model encourages healthy habits both within and outside of the workday.
- Vivadrive (Poland): Vivadrive is an AI-driven solution for sustainable and cost-effective fleet management. Their focus spans both petrol-based and electric vehicle fleets, streamlining the transition to EVs and improving safety and efficiency. VivaDrive’s solution enables significant savings per vehicle and contributes to a more sustainable urban mobility landscape.
- Revoltz (Israel): Revoltz designs and commercializes mini-electric vehicles with the benefits of traditional models but at a fraction of environmental and operational costs. Their first product, the Portto, is a compact electric three-wheeled light scooter with a spacious loading deck.
- Lumen (Romania): Lumen builds glasses that help the blind live a better life. The .lumen glasses understands the environment, objects, their position and movement in 3D, compute interaction paths to wanted objects or generally, based on context and transmits the information to the blind using haptic and auditory impulses.
Raül Feliu, Impact Ventures Programmes Manager: “The European transport sector has undergone significant changes driven by technology and a global shift toward sustainable and accessible choices. EIT Urban Mobility is on a mission to facilitate this paradigm shift to build a long-lasting sustainable change while supporting start-ups whose solutions provide a positive impact. Through our accelerator and scale-up programmes, we provide crucial support to early-stage companies, foster valuable connections within a unique urban mobility ecosystem, and curate a funnel of top performing companies to our investments. We aim to change the present of urban mobility while fostering innovation and entrepreneurship; This is the key to shaping a better future for all of us.”
EIT Urban Mobility Accelerator Programmes consist of seven thematic EU-funded programmes implemented through more than 30 key partners throughout Europe, from UnternehmerTUM (Germany) the Technical University of Munich, CARNET (Spain): initiated by SEAT, VolksWagen and UPC, CARNET is an Open hub for industrial and academic partners from the areas of automotive and mobility research and innovation; PowerHUB (Czech Republic): PowerHUB is an industrial partner focused on Transfer of Technologies in City safety, Mobility and Energy; Aerospace Valley (France): Cluster of the aerospace industry in the south-west of France, Startup Autobahn (Sweden): an open innovation platform that provides an interface between innovative tech companies and industry-leading corporations; Punkt vor Strich (Austria) is a knowledge & data platform; to Poslovna inteligencija (BIRD Incubator) (Croatia): An AI thematic incubator. One additional programme focuses on “scaling up” already mature start-ups in the mobility sector, with a selection of 12 candidates every year. The seven accelerators for 2023 cohorts are Accelerate2MOVE – Future Mobility, Inclusive Mobility (Better Mobility Accelerator), E+ Mobility Accelerator, Energy & Public Realm, Smart Mobility – DMS Accelerator, Sustainable City Logistics Accelerator, UAM Plazza Accelerator
