EIT Urban Mobility has recently partnered up with three leading mobility players to establish a revolutionary programme for early-stage start-ups:  Smart Mobility Accelerator Programme. The Smart Mobility Accelerator Programme is unique in its offering, as it combines the strengths of the different partner organisations (Drive TLV, MobilityXlab and Startup Autobahn powered by Plug & Play) and offers start-ups the opportunities to hone their business model, gain access to mentors, and receive funding for their projects. Through this programme, participating start-ups can benefit from the expertise of the three partner organisations, each of which is a key player in the smart mobility sector.

In addition to offering the necessary expertise, the Smart Mobility Accelerator Programme also provides start-ups with investor pitch coaching, honing the product-market fit and value proposition and a sustainable development goals workshop. This gives participating start-ups the opportunity to explore different avenues for success, both in terms of funding and in terms of developing innovative solutions for the smart mobility sector.

With this tactical partnership, EIT Urban Mobility continues its ambition to become Europe’s leading impact investor in mobility, focusing on the development and implementation of technology with the intent of revolutionising the market and developing a sustainable future. Therefore, Urban Mobility will be able to further pursue its mission of creating a smart, sustainable, and equitable mobility future. If you are interested in learning more about the Smart Mobility Accelerator Programme and the opportunities it provides, please visit the landing page dedicated to the programme.

MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR START-UPS AT EIT URBAN MOBILITY

If you are a start-up looking for an accelerator programme to help your business grow, but don’t meet the requirements of the previous programme, don’t worry! There are still plenty of options out there. In addition to the Smart Mobility programme, there are 6 other accelerator programmes with open calls that could be just the fit for your business. Each of these programmes has its own individual requirements, so be sure to review them closely before applying. Below, you can find the links to each of these programmes, so take a look and see if one could be a good fit for you.

(1) Sustainable City Logistics Accelerator 

(2) E+ Mobility Accelerator 

(3) Energy & Public Realm Accelerator

(4) Urban Air Mobility Accelerator 

(5) Future Mobility Accelerator

(6) Inclusive Mobility Accelerator

(7) Smart Mobility Accelerator

Submissions for all seven Thematic programmes must be made through AwardsForce and must be received by 21 April 2023.

Learn more about our strategic partners for this new adventure here.

(1) Drive TLV is a leading Israeli innovative hub that supports start-ups in the smart transportation industry by providing a platform that connects leading corporations with the most innovative startups in the world.

(2) MobilityXlab is a Swedish organisation that provides support and resources to develop start-ups in the future mobility sector with pioneering ideas in the fields of mobility and connectivity the opportunity to collaborate with seven of their founding companies: CEVT, Ericsson, Polestar, Veoneer, Volvo Cars, Volvo Group and Zenseact.

(3) STARTUP AUTOBAHN powered by Plug and Play is a German organisation that provides an open innovation platform where start-ups and industry leaders can come together to collaborate, share resources, and explore new business opportunities to bring to the market. This strategic partnership grants excellence to the start-ups joining the Smart Mobility Accelerator Programme, as these organisations are key players in the transportation sector.

Urban Mobility has gone through unexpected and momentous changes in 2020. COVID-19 ripped through our nations and cities bringing individual, community and societal upheaval and turmoil. Density and proximity, the very two things that make our cities the economic, cultural, intellectual, political, and innovative beating hearts of our society, were also the weakest points when faced with a new and deadly threat. 

Wise medical advice led to lockdowns that inevitably saved millions of lives while freezing personal mobility. Who we are today, how we relate to each other, and how we perceive and move around our cities has changed. Maybe forever. EIT Urban Mobility was privileged to play a small role in Covid Response Initiatives. Inclusive logistics projects protecting the elderly and vulnerable were rolled out in Budapest touching thousands. New ruggedized rickshaws were designed for handicapped and reduced mobility passengers in the hilly cities of Bergamo and Bilbao. As road space was taken back for public space, citizens in 5 cities were able to design and manufacture their street furniture for their own public spaces. New nanotech sprays covered the surfaces of our buses and metros, to ensure we got home safely. In the RIS region, not just special projects have been done, but also our network has been strongly extended to be locally present in the RIS countries in this challenging time. 

It has been an unforgettable year that has shaped our thinking on where EIT Urban Mobility needs to go. We learned we could move fast and innovate at a pace. We learned that the right thinkers and doers are there – you just need to find them. We learned that innovation can be financially beneficial and contribute to sustainable growth. 

In 2021, we launch a call for the EIT RIS Programme 2022 focused on our City Challenge Areas. All activities of the RIS programme have the mission to connect all innovation talents in Europe and support them to work together. If the talents are working in more challenging innovation ecosystems of the RIS countries the RIS programme should help them to have the same chances for success. Accordingly, the RIS call is focusing on all activity areas of EIT Urban Mobility Innovation, Education, and Business Creation. 

In RIS Innovation we have a special programme to connect RIS and non-RIS stakeholders on everyday project activities, this is called RIS Innovation Twin Projects. Innovation projects on the four innovation focus areas: Active Mobility. Sustainable Logistics, Energy and Mobility and Future Mobility, can have twin projects with RSI stakeholders, who are working on the same topic. The RIS twin project must have a high added value to the innovation project. 

Besides the RIS Innovation Twin projects are projects focusing on the RIS specific innovation needs, education, and business creation also welcome. 

We expect great things from our own EIT Urban Mobility community and hubs. Moreover, having seen how our community responded to COVID with rapid, agile, and impactful projects – we expect more. Higher. Faster. Better. And as the saying goes “Don’t tell me how it cannot be done. Tell me how it can”. 

We look forward to receiving your applications for inclusion in the Business Plan 2022. 

Main features of the call (Aim and segments) 

The First Call for proposals for RIS for the BP2022 – 2024, the RIS programme will address the following main areas: 

1. RIS Innovation 

Looking for new products/services or business models developed in or for RIS countries. 

1.a) RIS Innovation Twin Projects are projects in strong link to projects of the Innovation call. The RIS twin project members (non-KIC member RIS stakeholder) are working for the same goal, with the same team, have clear added value to the innovation project, with which they are linked. RIS Innovation Twin Projects have a clear preference in the RIS innovation portfolio. 

RIS Innovation Twin Projects are working on the topics defined by the Innovation call: 

• Active Mobility 

Active mobility is regular physical activity undertaken as a means of transport. It includes travel by foot, bicycle and other vehicles which require physical effort to get moving. The expected outcome would be higher levels of use of active mobility in target demo cities. 

• Future Mobility 

The expected outcome would be new services and disruptive technologies which have the potential to reshape the way in which we will live and work and how we move within the city. 

• Sustainable city logistics 

The expected outcome would include new vehicles, new procurement/ purchasing models, new consolidation solutions, new hub services, new production models (e.g. so that goods are produced “close-to-home”), new software solutions for optimising freight, new solutions for managing loading/ unloading etc. 

• Mobility and Energy 

Increased use of cleaner fuelled vehicles in one or more European city. The measure implemented should have the potential for replication and scaling in other European contexts. 

1.b) RIS Innovation projects for specific RIS needs are innovations reacting on special needs of the RIS region. As result of the project an innovative product must be introduced on the market with high scale up potential. Pilots with city involvement are strongly preferred. 

2) RIS Education 

• Supporting cooperation in the RIS education activities,  
• Offering new courses or special professional education programs for RIS professionals,  

• University-city cooperation to raise awareness for new local challenges and connected possible innovative solutions of young talents 

3) RIS Business Creation 

• Systemic approach to integrate all RIS start-up support and other business creation activities to a harmonised international system for better efficiency,  
• introduce best practice of business creation activities to adapt them in the RIS regions,  
• cover uncovered RIS areas for urban mobility business creation with a long-term financial sustainability concept. 

4) RIS community building 

• Actions to support the integration of local RIS innovation communities in the innovation community, 
•  Actions for strengthening the local innovation community and local knowledge triangle integration. 

Call summary 

First call for proposals for RIS for BP2022 – 2024: Main Features 

Find all the information about this call below!

Supporting documents:

NEW! Additional document:

Contact details 

Events-Webinars 

You can find the calendar on the main events here

Urban Mobility has gone through unexpected and momentous changes in 2020. COVID-19 ripped through our nations and cities bringing individual, community and societal upheaval and turmoil. Density and proximity, the very two things that makes our cities the economic, cultural, intellectual, political, and innovative beating hearts of our society, were also the weakest points when faced with a new and deadly threats 

Wise medical advice led to lockdowns that inevitably saved millions of lives while freezing personal mobility. Who we are today, how we relate to each other, and how we perceive and move around our cities has changed. Maybe forever.  EIT Urban Mobility was privileged to play a small role in Covid Response Initiatives. Inclusive logistics projects protecting the elderly and vulnerable were rolled out in Budapest touching thousands. New ruggedised rickshaws were designed for handicapped and reduced mobility passenger in the hilly cities of Bergamo and Bilbao. As road space was taken back for public space, citizens in 5 cities were able to design and manufacture their street furniture for their own public spaces.  New nanotech sprays covered the surfaces our buses and metros, to ensure we got home safely.  

It has been unforgettable year that has shaped our thinking on where EIT Urban Mobility needs to go. We learned we could move fast and innovate at pace. We learned that the right thinkers and doers are there – you just need to find them. We learned that innovation can be financial beneficial and contribute to sustainable growth. 

In 2021, we launch a call for the Innovation Programme 2022 focused on our City Challenge Areas. This year we will focus on four simple areas: Active Mobility, Sustainable Logistics, Energy and Mobility and Future Mobility.  We expect great things from our own EIT Urban Mobility community and hubs. Moreover, having seen how our community responded to COVID with rapid, agile, and impactful projects – we expect more. Higher. Faster. Better. And as the saying goes “Don’t tell me how it cannot be done. Tell me how it can”. 

We look forward to receiving your applications for inclusion in the Business Plan 2022. 

Main features of the call (aim and segments) 

The overall purpose of the Innovation Programme is to take innovative ideas, improves them, and puts them into practice. EIT Urban Mobility aims to ensure safe urban transport, provide better data exploitation, increase modal shift, drive take-up of active transport, promote community self-help, and facilitate behavioural change. 

By emphasising market-oriented business solution, innovation, can provide valuable evidenced based data from demonstrations and living labs to support regulatory, policy and behavioural changes  to improve urban life quality.  

From over more than 250 urban mobility challenges  identified by European cities, a grouping of  9 “Challenge Areas” were identified and refined over 6 months open discussion with core EIT Urban Mobility partners and a wider public audience.   

For the Call for Proposals 2022, four challenge areas will be supported directly by Innovation: Active Mobility, Sustainable City Logistics, Future Mobility and Mobility & Energy. Additionally, there is one restricted area for the continuation of existing projects. Other Challenge Areas may be included in proceeding annual Calls for Proposals or addressed by other EIT Urban Mobility thematic areas.  

Call summary 

First Call for Proposals for Innovation for BP 2022 – 2024: Main Features 

Find all the information about this call below!

Supporting documents:

NEW! Additional document:

Contact details 

Events-Webinars 

You can find the calendar on the main events here.

Urban Mobility has gone through unexpected and momentous changes in 2020. COVID-19 ripped through our nations and cities bringing individual, community and societal upheaval and turmoil. Density and proximity, the very two things that make our cities the economic, cultural, intellectual, political, and innovative beating hearts of our society, were also the weakest points when faced with a new and deadly threat. 

Wise medical advice led to lockdowns that inevitably saved millions of lives while freezing personal mobility. Who we are today, how we relate to each other, and how we perceive and move around our cities has changed. Maybe forever.  EIT Urban Mobility was privileged to play a small role in Covid Response Initiatives. Inclusive logistics projects protecting the elderly and vulnerable were rolled out in Budapest touching thousands. New ruggedised rickshaws were designed for handicapped and reduced mobility passenger in the hilly cities of Bergamo and Bilbao. As road space was taken back for public space, citizens in 5 cities were able to design and manufacture their street furniture for their own public spaces.  New nanotech sprays covered the surfaces of our buses and metros, to ensure we got home safely.  

It has been an unforgettable year that has shaped our thinking on where EIT Urban Mobility needs to go. We learned we could move fast and innovate at pace. We learned that the right thinkers and doers are there – you just need to find them. We learned that innovation can be financially beneficial and contribute to sustainable growth. 

In 2021, we launch a call for the Innovation Programme 2022 focused on our City Challenge Areas. This year we will focus on four simple areas: Active Mobility, Sustainable City Logistics, Energy and Mobility and Future Mobility.  We expect great things from our own EIT Urban Mobility community and hubs. Moreover, having seen how our community responded to COVID with rapid, agile, and impactful projects – we expect more. Higher. Faster. Better. And as the saying goes “Don’t tell me how it cannot be done. Tell me how it can”. 

We look forward to receiving your applications for inclusion in the Business Plan 2022 – 2024. 

Main features of the call (aim and segments) 

As cities in Europe and worldwide are bouncing back stronger and more resilient after the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a growing momentum to rethink our cities and promote more sustainable and healthy urban living by building beautiful, sustainable, inclusive places to live together after the pandemic. New research shows that the rediscovery of proximity provides a window to shift faster from a target of increasing mobility to one of enhancing accessibility by revisiting public space, urban design and planning. We are yet unsure about how the near post-pandemic future will look like, however, this crisis has undoubtedly changed our relationship with city streets, the public realm and local facilities.  

The transformation of our cities has started already in many ways. Some of the most forward-thinking cities, small and big, have set out ambitious strategies and plans to cater for the growing demand for housing and travel in urban areas, reduce the impact of transport on societies and the environment, and make cities more attractive places where to live and work. And there are also a growing number of examples of grassroots movements for shaping urban environments. The citizens and local communities in Europe and worldwide are reclaiming the streets and public infrastructure to create vibrant neighbourhoods by implementing placemaking and tactical urbanism projects that have a remarkable impact on public spaces.  

Cities that have successfully put people and the environment at the centre of planning have a vision for great public space. But space is a scarce resource especially in dense urban centres and there are many competing demands for the little public space available. City stakeholders need to navigate the competing demands to offer inhabitants liveable spaces, free of pollution, where nature can retake its place for environmental benefits and benefits of the city’s inhabitants while providing inclusive opportunities for social exchange. 

The goal of this call for projects is to generate social innovation by improving and transforming streets and public spaces with tactical urbanism and street experiments as part of a city-wide approach for liveable cities, and building on adopted mobility strategies and plans in cities. 

Projects will implement pilots for inclusive, safe and accessible public realm design in a city or town, and build momentum for long-term policy change in communities – especially in disconnected and less central neighbourhoods – to help improve liveability for all local residents.  

Partners 

For the 2022 Public Realm Call, any EIT Urban Mobility partner, including new potential project partners can be the Lead Applicant or participate in the call.   A minimum of two cities and at least one other type of partner from the private sector, academia and research can form a consortium. 

Call summary 

First Call for Proposals for Public Realm for BP 2022 – 2024: Main Features 

Find all the information about this call below!

Supporting documents:

NEW! Additional document:

Contact details 

Events-Webinars 

You can find the calendar on the main events here.

The EIT Urban Mobility Innovation Days are your chance to engage with EIT Urban Mobility and mobility innovators across Europe.

Why get involved?

• Learn about the upcoming Innovation Call for Proposals 2022 and the development of Action and Interest Groups. 
• Gain insights on the four challenge areas prioritised by the EIT Urban Mobility Innovation activities. 
• Hear from thought leaders on key innovations in each area and see corporate and organisational pitches on latest innovations.  
• Hear from city representatives on their current engagement with EIT Urban Mobility and the mobility challenges they wish to address. 
• Become a part of an EIT Urban Mobility’s Innovation Action and Interest Group 
• Start a dialogue with EIT Urban Mobility 

There will be four online sessions, for which registration is free and it is open to any European Organisation or those with EU research agreements. Sessions will focus on four thematic Challenge Areas: 

• Future Mobility (18 February, 13:30 – 15:30) 
• Active Mobility (23 February, 13:30 – 15:30) 
• Sustainable City Logistics (24 February, 14:00 – 16:00) 
• Mobility and Energy (25 February, 14:00 – 16:00) 

These Challenge Areas will be core to the upcoming Innovation Call for Proposals 2022, and the EIT Urban Mobility Innovation Days are a key first step in building Action and Interest Groups across all of EIT Urban Mobility’s Challenge Areas.  

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) welcomes the political agreement reached between the European Parliament and EU Member States on its legal basis and its new Strategic Innovation Agenda 2021 – 2027.

Trilogue negotiations have now concluded, pending the final approval of the legal texts by the European Parliament and the Council.

Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel said:  ‘I welcome the political agreement on the future of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, which is an integral part of the new Horizon Europe programme 2021-2027’.

I particularly welcome the improvement made in the EIT to ensure a greater geographical reach of the EIT to tackle the innovation divide, and the fact that the EIT will launch two new Knowledge and Innovation Communities in the coming years, one operating in the field of the Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries and one on Water, Marine and Maritime Sectors and Ecosystems. Both fields of activity are important for the Commission given their contribution to addressing existing and future societal challenges.’

Chair of EIT Governing Board, Gioia Ghezzi said: ‘We will boost the EIT Community’s impact, including in higher education, regional development, and by setting up two new EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities.’

The proposals adopted will align the EIT with Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation programme for 2021 to 2027, delivering on the EU’s commitment to further boost Europe’s innovation potential. With a budget of nearly EUR 3 billion, representing a 25% increase or an EUR 600 million compared to the previous funding period, the EIT will drive the recovery of the economy as well as the green and digital transition to build a more sustainable and resilient society. The EIT will boost innovation increasing the impact of its activities and by helping 750 higher education institutions become more innovative, supporting 30 000 entrepreneurial students, bringing 4 000 innovations to the market and powering 700 start-ups. 

The EIT brings leading companies, universities and research centres together across Europe in Knowledge and Innovation Communities. With its new strategy, the EIT will put increased emphasis on its regional dimension: the strengthened Regional Innovation Scheme will provide targeted support to countries who lag behind in innovation performance. Also, a new pilot initiative will increase the entrepreneurial and innovation capacity of higher education institutions. Finally, the EIT will scale up its collaboration with the European Innovation Council (EIC), which will help boost Europe’s overall innovation capacity.

Background:

The EIT is one of the three components of the ‘Innovative Europe’ pillar of the Horizon Europe programme. Horizon Europe provides the funding for the EIT under the EU’s long‑term budget 2021-2027 and defines its rationale, added value, areas of intervention and broad lines of activity. The legal basis of the EIT remains the EIT Regulation that sets out its mission, its key tasks and the framework for its functioning. The Strategic Innovation Agenda 2021-2027, in turn, outlines the strategy and priorities of the EIT for the next programming period, its objectives, key actions, activities, mode of operation, and expected impacts.