Discover the selected start-ups of the Accelerators and Scale-up Programmes 2023

Out of 470 applications received, 86 promising start-ups were selected to participate in the seven Accelerators and Scale-up programmes, resulting in an 18% success rate for applicants. The high number of applications provides evidence of 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. In 2022, the thematic accelerators and Scale-up programmes provided support to 74 start-ups.

EIT Urban Mobility’s Accelerators and Scale-up programmes will provide the selected start-ups with an extensive array of services and support spanning over a six-month period. This support includes personalised mentoring, enabling start-ups to tap into the expertise and guidance of professionals. Additionally, living lab testing of solutions allows for real-world validation and optimization of their innovative offerings. The programmes also facilitate valuable matchmaking opportunities with cities and industry partners, fostering collaborations and strategic partnerships. Furthermore, start-ups gain access to important industry events, enabling them to showcase their solutions, network with key stakeholders, and gain crucial visibility.

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.”

Scale-up Programme 2023

The Scale-up Programme will be a precursor and will support 12 start-ups during 2023 with a
cross-thematic focus so that they develop and implement innovative solutions in the field of
urban mobility.

The Scale-Up programme consortium partners managing the programme are CARNET – UPC Technology Cente, Digital Hub Logistics Hamburg, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Niedersächsisches Forschungszentrum
Fahrzeugtechnik (NFF), PowerHUB and UnternehmerTUM (UTUM).

Accelerate2MOVE – Future Mobility 2023

Accelerate2MOVE will provide support to start-ups generating solutions (TRL4 to TRL7) in advanced technologies and concepts that contribute to the sustainability of urban mobility, more specifically in AI, blockchain, 5G, vehicle-2-everything (V2X) and IoT.

The Accelerate2MOVE consortium partners managing the accelerator are Innovation Centre Nikola Tesla (ICENT), LMT, Ljubljana University Incubator (LUI), North-West Croatia Regional Energy and Climate Agency (REGEA), Poslovna inteligencija (BIRD Incubator) and VEFRESH.

Better Mobility Accelerator – Inclusive Mobility 2023

The Better Mobility Accelerator will be a precursor and will support 12 start-ups during 2023
with a focus on inclusive mobility so that they develop and implement innovative solutions in the
field of urban mobility.

The Better Mobility Accelerator consortium partners managing the accelerator are Impact Hub Vienna, Productized and Punkt vor Strich.

E+ Mobility Accelerator 2023

The E+ Mobility Accelerator proposal is a continuation of the EIT Urban Mobility Hub South Acceleration Programme, with a specific focus on the mobility & energy, micro-mobility and shared mobility thematic fields.

The partners of this programme are Barcelona Activa, Carnet, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), Connected Mobility Hub (CMH), Automotive Technology Center of Galicia (CTAG), Italian National Agency for New Technologies Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Ferrovial, Polytechnic University of Catalonia and Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF).

Energy & Public Realm Accelerator 2023

The EIT Urban Mobility Public Realm Accelerator provides support for innovative mobility solutions, focusing on creating a better public space and improving the well-being of residents by addressing energy- and mobility-related aspects.

The partners of this programme are Zone Cluster, PowerHUB and SpinLab Accelerator GmbH.

Smart Mobility – DMS Accelerator 2023

The DMS Accelerator focuses on smart and sustainable mobility so that they develop and implement innovative solutions in the field of urban mobility.

The partners of this programme are Drive TLV, MobilityXLab and Startup Autobahn, powered by Plug and Play.

Sustainable City Logistics Accelerator 2023

The Sustainable City Logistics Accelerator will support you to transform your sustainable city logistics solution from local to global.

The partners of this programme are UnternehmerTUM, Polihub, AZO, DTU Science Park’s Futurebox, TU Munich and ISBAK.

UAM Plazza Accelerator 2023

The UAM Plazza accelerator programme aims to help start-ups in the field of Urban Air Mobility boost the introduction of their solutions to the market.

The partners of this programme are Toulouse Métropole, Aerospace Valley, CARNET and Ferrovial.

To follow the progress and results of the programmes, connect to our social media channels. In case of interest to apply for the next open call for the accelerator programmes, please register here.

The art of acceleration – why is it needed?  

On 20 February, EIT Urban Mobility will launch the call for applications for its thematic accelerator programmes. This year, EIT Urban Mobility expanded its portfolio of programmes with three new themes: Future Mobility, Inclusive Mobility and Smart Mobility. They complement the four continuing programmes: E+ Mobility, Energy & Public Ream, Sustainable City Logistics and Urban Air Mobility.  

The accelerator programmes are run by different consortia of partners, each with their own unique combination of expertise, variation in pan-European locations and networks. The thematic programmes offering to early-stage start-ups includes their participation in Living Labs and business coaching as well as urban mobility-specific expertise such as technology or market validation, product-market fit or market entry strategies. Ultimately, the six-month long accelerator programmes are intended to be a funnel to the EIT Urban Mobility investment arm for the top performers of each programme. 

Scope of the programmes… 

Being linked to most of daily activities and routines of inhabitants, mobility is one of the most complex topics and end-to-end journey requires seamless integration of various components and close cooperation between different stakeholders.  

Due date, the following programmes have been actively helping entrepreneurs to validate their ideas, strengthen business models, and equip them with soft skills for successful commercial kick-offs:  

(1) Sustainable City Logistics Accelerator – urban logistics is a hot topic in mobility agendas worldwide. The rapidly increasing e-commerce demand and pressure to limit traffic in cities to meet climate goals contribute to this. To meet sustainability goals, new goods transportation methods must be developed and implemented. UnternehmerTUM GmbH, along with an international consortium of partners with experience in logistics, support start-ups with resources to develop and implement innovative freight transportation and management interventions. 

(2) E+ Mobility Accelerator – a rapidly growing sector that is changing the way we move around, providing us with alternative, sustainable, and affordable transportation options. This programme has a specific focus on mobility & energy, micro-mobility, and shared mobility thematic fields. Given the importance of the topic with mobility being tied to global energy markets, strong consortium of TIER 1 industry players, research centres and SMEs led by Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) is supporting selected start-ups.

(3) Energy & Public Realm Accelerator – as cities become increasingly dense and populated, it is important to consider how energy is used and how public spaces can be made more efficient and accessible. This acceleration programme led by Zone Cluster seeks start-ups to contribute to better living spaces by addressing energy and mobility related aspects. Thus, addressing social and environmental well-being. The aim of the accelerator is to work closely with local communities to define and embrace the most frequent bottlenecks.  

(4) Urban Air Mobility Accelerator – involves the use of vehicles that are able to fly and are powered by electricity or alternative fuels, as well as systems supporting their operations. We are at the very beginning of a mobility revolution with the inclusion of air transport systems. Nevertheless, sustainable adoption of urban air mobility solutions will rely on very specific use cases which require time critical transports, for example the use of drones for transport of medical goods, rescue operations in remote areas or traffic surveillance. With the advancement of technology, urban air mobility is quickly becoming a reality and is gaining a lot of attention from the public, industry, and government. Toulouse Metropole with its well-established Urban Air Mobility (UAM) ecosystem became an EIT UM hub for this acceleration programme. 

…and new Thematic Accelerators at EIT Urban Mobility 

Thanks to the continuous evaluation of market trends as well as demand side monitoring, EIT Urban Mobility decided to launch dedicated programmes and focus on three new verticals, namely:

(1) Future Mobility Accelerator – with the rise of electric and autonomous vehicles, the potential to better manage traffic flows, reduce emissions and improve the overall quality of life in cities is huge. This programme is open to all cutting-edge and high-impact technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI)-driven platforms, blockchain, 5G, vehicle-to-everything (V2X), Internet of Things (IoT) or edge computing that could be applied to the sector and leverage on their advantages. Led by North-West Croatia Regional Energy Agency, cooperation will be stretched over 3 countries (Croatia, Slovenia, Latvia) with 5 more partners: VEFRESH, North-West Croatia Regional Energy Agency, Innovation Centre Nikola Tesla, ABC Accelerator, LMT, and Poslovna Inteligencija.  

(2) Inclusive Mobility Accelerator – increasing awareness of inequalities embedded already in urban design, high-level planning and systemic solutions makes public debate shifting nowadays towards identification of mobility patterns that should be re-designed to serve the whole society. To address range of the existing issues as well as to ensure that developed innovations are inclusive, Impact Hub Vienna as a lead partner, together with Ocean Strategy Unnipessoal Lda and Punkt vor Strich GmbH, will be working with entrepreneurs with the aim to create a frontrunning incubation center for inclusive mobility. 

(3) Smart Mobility Accelerator – implementation done in close cooperation with ecosystem stakeholders is pivotal for any innovation to succeed and grow exponentially in its first phase. Following that belief, EIT Urban Mobility is delighted to host an ¨accelerator of accelerators¨ – a consortium founded by 3 leading start-up accelerators: DriveTLV in Israel, MobilityXLab in Sweden, and Start-up Autobahn powered by Plug and Play in Germany. The consortium will create an impactful transcontinental collaboration between leading mobility stakeholders and start-ups thanks to proven and in-house tested methodologies, and with access to facilities, experts, and direct channels of engagement with key corporations and investors. 

Outlook for 2023 

All seven Thematic programmes will be launched on 20 February, with the deadline of 21 April. All the submissions should be delivered via AwardsForce. If you would like to be reminded of the call opening, please fill in the following form.  

Supporting socially conscious innovators: introducing the new European Bauhaus Booster 2.0

Five Knowledge & Innovation Communities of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) are launching today the New European Bauhaus Booster 2.0.

On a mission to foster the New European Bauhaus transformation, EIT Digital, EIT Climate-KIC, EIT Food, EIT Manufacturing and EIT Urban Mobility are looking for the most innovative ventures developing solutions that make Europe more sustainable, inclusive and improve citizens’ quality of life, to support their business growth and help them become international gamechangers.

European startups or scaleups driving sustainable change for cities, industries, climate, food, wellbeing and overall quality of life are encouraged to apply.

The 20 best companies will receive acceleration support services worth a total of 1 million Euro (€50,000 each). They will benefit from business coaching, mentoring, internationalisation- and fundraising support as well as access to the vast network of the most prominent innovation community in Europe.

Applicants must demonstrate the social and economic impact of their solution and how it embodies the three core principles of the New European Bauhaus:

  • sustainability, from climate goals, to circularity, zero pollution, and biodiversity
  • aesthetics, quality of experience and style, beyond functionality
  • inclusion, from valorising diversity, to securing accessibility and affordability

Initially announced by President Von der Leyen in her State of the Union address and launched by the European Commission in early 2021, the New European Bauhaus, or ‘NEB’ in short, translates the European Green Deal into a tangible, positive experience in which all Europeans can participate and progress together.

The EIT Community is ideally placed to support implementation of the NEB as it has created Europe’s largest innovation ecosystem with over 2,000 partners (business, research, education, cities) cooperating in over 60 hubs across Europe.

By engaging with European innovators and civil society at large, the community is promoting business through startup creation and growth, as well as contributing to citizens’ education and engagement.

Join the New European Bauhaus Booster 2.0 and let your innovative solution contribute to the realisation of a carbon-neutral, digital, circular, and inclusive European society!

Applications are open until March 13, 2023. Click here to learn more and apply

Discover the selected startups of the accelerator programmes 2022

Out of the 244 applications, 62 startups were selected to participate in the five thematic accelerator programmes of EIT Urban Mobility. With their wide variance of innovative ideas, the startups aim to solve challenges regarding sustainable city logistics, urban air mobility, e+mobility, energy and public realm, and 5G technologies. Together they represent various mobility subsectors – from cybersecurity and software-based products enhancing connectivity and autonomy, to hardware that shapes and visually changes the public realm.

In the next six months, the startups will receive support and training via our partner run accelerator programmes. Among other offerings, the programmes include personalised business coaching, access to investment initiatives and funding instruments, and participation in the EIT Urban Mobility community of pan-European cities, corporates, and sister organisations. 

All startups contribute to the goal of EIT Urban Mobility to have a sustainable impact while creating more liveable cities. Furthermore, they cover all European regions by coming from 20 countries. Below, grouped per accelerator programme, you can find the full list of participating ventures.

5G Turbo 

The 5G TURBO Accelerator will support 20 startups working on 5G technologies and connectivity services so that they develop technologies in the field of urban mobility. The selected startups are: 

This programme is run by: NextMove, Carnet, CTAG, Niedersächsisches Forschungszentrum Fahrzeugtechnik, Mobile World Capital Barcelona and FundingBox.  

E+ Mobility 

The E+ Mobility Accelerator has a specific focus on mobility & energy, micro-mobility, and shared mobility thematic fields to introduce these startups-led solutions in the market. 

The partners of this programme are Barcelona Activa, Carnet, CERTH, Connected Mobility Hub, CTAG, ENEA, Ferrovial, UPC and Universitat Pompeu Fabra.  

Energy and Public Realm 

The Accelerator provides support for innovative mobility solutions, focusing on creating a better public space and improving the wellbeing of residents by addressing energy- and mobility-related aspects. 

The programme partners are ZONE Cluster, PowerHUB and SpinLab Accelerator.  

Sustainable City Logistics 

This programme is for startups facing the challenges of creating more sustainable freight and goods transportation in cities and overall sustainability in city logistics. 

The consortium consists of: FutureBox, Technion Drive Accelerator, Technische Universität München, UnternehmerTum, Isbak, PoliHub, and AZO.  

UAM Plazza 

With a consortium made of international company experts in the field of mobility, aeronautics and developing urban air mobility as well as the city of Toulouse, the UAM Plazza Accelerator programme is looking for startups in urban air mobility. 

The consortium partners are Toulouse Metropole, Aerospace Valley, Carnet and Ferrovial.  

To follow the progress and results of the programmes, connect to our social media channels. In case of interest to apply for the next open call for the accelerator programmes, please register here. 

The EIT Urban Mobility Accelerator South Programme welcomes its Batch #3 participants

From over 100 applications from all over Europe and associated countries, EIT Urban Mobility selected the 25 most-promising startups to be part of the third cohort of this 6-month Accelerator Programme. Out of these, five will be participating in the South Programme, kicking-off officially on 12 July.

The selected companies will benefit from financial support, mentoring, training, expert workshops, free office space, access to local ecosystems, and infrastructure, and a lot more provided by the acceleration partners in the five Innovations Hubs.

All the teams and their dedicated founders are solving mobility-related problems with innovations that make our lives easier and happier. Learn more about the startups from Innovation Hub South and how they are transforming urban mobility to adapt it to society’s needs.

Participants – Innovation Hub South

  • Volvero (Italy)
    Volvero is an app for sharing vehicles that connects owners with people who need one, saving time and money. Through AI and advanced technologies, they improve quality and security. Built to be Airbnb for vehicles, the app brings a significant social and environmental impact. Volvero is a game-changer in mobility as it targets several problems faced by society and our digital-only solution allows for a full and unlimited scalability. Learn more
  • Pendel Mobility (Spain)
    Pendel enables Public Transport Operators (PTOs) to offer travellers a more accessible, sustainable and safer mobility option. They do this by providing the next-gen of Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) service through integrating electric, intelligent, automated shuttles (AS). Learn more
  • Inteligg PC (Greece)
    Inteligg P.C. develops products, provides services, and engages in research in the fields of energy, transport, environment and rural applications, focusing on social innovation, sustainable mobility and economy, environmental impact assessment, energy efficiency and renewable energy, as well as ICT solutions, aiming to become a global player in Smart Cities solutions in the next few years. Learn more
  • Deeptraffic (Greece)
    As traffic, congestion, safety and the environment pose ever increasing challenges for urban and highway road networks, the technology offered by deeptraffic, is envisioned as the new paradigm for the effective management of traffic, in view of today’s increased vehicles’ connectivity, as well as of the upcoming increased vehicles’ automation. Learn more
  • MinervaS (Italy)
    MinervaS provides a suite of integrated solutions for smart & future mobility, from driving advisors (TruckY) to fleet management tools, all tailored to the vehicle and size of the customer’s business. TruckY is the ADAS plug&play device capable of increasing the environmental sustainability of heavy-duty vehicles thanks to its patented method, offering a reduction in fuel consumption up to 10% and the containment of the related polluting emissions. Learn more

We are looking forward to six months of intense collaboration and support to these teams that solve urban mobility related problems affecting citizens across our cities, that will conclude in December with our Demoday event.

The programme, financed by the EIT Urban Mobility, is developed by the acceleration partners from the Innovation Hub South: UPC – Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona City Council, CARNET, CTAG and UPF.

Discover more information about the EIT Urban Mobility Accelerator programme here.

CALL opening! Accelerator programme batch#3 and ScaleTHENGlobal programmes 2021

Does your startup develop products, services or solutions related to urban mobility?   Check our call openings for Accelerator programme batch#3 and ScaleTHENGlobal programmes 2021 and apply now!

EIT Urban Mobility opens two calls on 06/04/2021:   Accelerator batch#3 (July-December) will take place in the five Innovation Hubs (South, Central, North, East and West) with 25 startups in total. ScaleTHENGlobal (June-December) is a pan-European programme that will support 20 startups.  

Accelerator batch#3 is a programme tailored for early stage startups conducted by Business Creation and our project partners in five different Innovation Hubs:   South (Barcelona Activa, city of Barcelona, CARNET, CTAG, UPC, and UPF) Central (ENEA, TUM, UnternehmerTUM, ISBAK, PoliHub) North (Aalto University, Aalto Startup Centre, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Kaunas University of Technology  and cities of Helsinki and Stockholm) East (Zone Cluster, PowerHUB and SpinLab) and West (AMS Institute, Brainport Development, Eindhoven University of Technology, and cities of Amsterdam and Eindhoven). Accelerator programme batch#3 call will close on 09/05/2021

Learn more about the Accelerator programme

ScaleTHENGlobal targets companies with solutions placed at TRL 7 – 9 with demonstrable business traction. The EIT Urban Mobility Business Creation supports the partners running the programme are CARNET, PowerHub, UnternehmerTUM, Digital Hub Logistics, Fraunhofer, the NFF and city of Hamburg. ScaleTHENGlobal call will close on 02/05/2021

UPDATE: Extended deadline 09/05/2021

Learn more about the ScaleTHENGlobal programme