Mobility Lab, a startup programme to help market and scale innovative prototypes in the field of mobility, announced on Tuesday that it has selected 19 startups, out of a total of 42, for Mobility Lab 2022.
Founded in 2017, Mobility Lab was originally an initiative of ‘De Verkeersonderneming’, which in recent years focused on better accessibility of the Rotterdam region. In addition to the municipality of Rotterdam, the innovative mobility programme in the south of the Netherlands SmartwayZ.NL and the province of Limburg are also partners.
This year, the province of Utrecht will also join the programme as a partner. Mobility Lab aims to improve mobility and make it more sustainable with innovative startups.
For the 6th edition of Mobility Lab, startups registered from the Netherlands as well as abroad. Ultimately, 19 Dutch and international startups were selected for the nine-month programme. 10 startups are from the Netherlands and the other participants are from Belgium, the UK, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Turkey, Singapore, and the US. The startups will test their innovative solutions in the regions of Rotterdam, Noord-Brabant, Limburg, or Utrecht.
What’s next for the selected startups?
In the coming months, the 19 selected startups will work together with companies or governments to test their solutions for various mobility problems. During a nine-month programme, Mobility Lab will help connect entrepreneurs with an “appealing” first customer to validate the innovation in the real world under the motto “Don’t talk – test!”
Founder of Mobility Lab, Hans Stevens, says, “Once again we are surprised by the creativity of the startups for this 6th edition of Mobility Lab! We see practical applications and solutions that can make people’s lives healthier and more liveable. We also see a trend: there are more solutions for parts of mobility concepts, but fewer disruptive concepts as a whole. We will use that insight to ensure that the upcoming editions of Mobility Lab remain relevant.”
Sustainable, safe and shared mobility
Work is being done both throughout the Netherlands and internationally to create smart, safe, and sustainable mobility. Sustainability is given primary emphasis in all of this year’s Mobility Lab entries. For instance, work is underway on 100 per cent fossil-free, off-grid charging hubs for electric cars and trucks, and on high-pressure air motors for the propulsion of all vehicles and vessels that currently use diesel, petrol, or gas.
Besides mobility, a number of this year’s participants are also active in the field of safety. For instance, a firm that provides a safer method to anchor at a quay or lock using a sensor technology has been chosen.
Another participating startup makes sure that data is sent between machines and infrastructure in a dependable and safe manner, something that is crucial in the area of mobility. By making the driver aware of factors like exhaustion, aggressiveness, fear, and distraction while driving, another invention from this year hopes to make driving experiences more enjoyable and, above all, safer.
Shared transport will also be addressed once again this year during Mobility Lab. Some of the participating solutions include a startup that offers neighbourhood parking facilities filled with shared transport; a customised delivery of shared electric cars from a zip code pool; and a SAAS platform for organising and optimising shuttle services for employees. This latter system also provides accurate maps of CO2 emissions and the reduction of employee transport. This will be required starting January 2023 for businesses with more than 100 employees.
Testing with launching customers
In a statement, Mobility Lab says it will organise speed dates in the upcoming months to connect the chosen entrepreneurs with so-called launching clients. These are parties who have a particular mobility issue that a new invention might be able to address. Following the creation of a bespoke innovation pilot, the mobility solution is removed from the drawing board and put to the test in the actual world once the fit between the company and the launching client has been established.
Paul Bevers of the SmartwayZ.NL programme says, “Mobility Lab will introduce the startups to more than 100 different companies and governments in the coming months. For example, Ahoy Rotterdam, Achmea, Brabant Mobility Network, and Zuid-Limburg Bereikbaar are participating. It is a nice mix of organisations that support smart mobility and want to give the startups a big boost. In this way, the selected startups will ultimately contribute to a smarter mobility system and thereby a safer, cleaner, more sustainable, and more accessible Netherlands.”
Brief about Mobility Lab
Mobility Lab was founded in 2017 and was originally an initiative of ‘De Verkeersonderneming’, which in recent years focuses on better accessibility of the Rotterdam region. The company aims to work with innovative startups to improve mobility and make it more sustainable.
Mobility Lab’s purpose is twofold. On the one hand, it wants to help organisations solve their mobility problem. On the other hand, it wants to give starting companies the opportunity to test their prototype in practice as startups need to scale up before they can have an impact. A pilot (with real users, in a real situation) is essential for this. Mobility Lab provides plenty of space for this in the regions of Rotterdam, Utrecht and the South of the Netherlands.
Here are the 19 selected startups
Sensor Maritime: The business has created a sensor system that makes it safer for inland vessels to moor at a wharf or lock.
Student Mobility: It offers foreign students in the Netherlands mobility options. Although the startup’s goods are largely geared at students, it also has young people, educational institution staff, and anybody looking to travel sustainably around Europe in mind as its target market.
Appacar: The business uses a zip code pool to provide customised electric shared automobiles. Employees of businesses and those who live in locations where parking a car is difficult to make up Appacar’s end consumers.
Buurtstallingen: The platform provides parking facilities for specific neighbourhoods, which are densely populated with shared transportation options, rather than the broader vicinity. Consider bikes, e-bikes, cargo bikes, delivery bikes, and e-scooters. The products from Buurtstallingen are mostly aimed at lower- and middle-class consumers.
Buus: A SAAS platform for setting up and enhancing shuttle services. Buus assists business owners in organising and automating employee group transportation so that they can effectively plan routes.
MyMove: The platform enables corporates, governments, car rental companies and car dealers alike to offer an end-to-end digital car-sharing or rental experience to their users. The startup’s solutions allow users to explore the benefits of shared mobility without disrupting their existing business models.
Real-time Road Inspection: The startup provides a mobile app that enables users to digitally document the condition of a road or public area while driving. Due to the real-time information, this is useful for improving the sustainability of road maintenance.
Swugo: The platform provides a subscription service that allows users to convert their existing bicycles to electric ones without having to worry about maintenance. Due to the lower buy-in costs, electric bicycles are made possible for more people.
THEO: It claims to be Europe’s first semi-autonomous delivery robot, especially suitable for cycling paths. THEO can travel 20 km/h and can carry a load of 100 kg. Its products are intended for the food and grocery delivery market and for order delivery needs.
Solution Air: The company has developed a high-pressure air motor. It is an emission-free engine that runs on air rather than diesel, gasoline, or gas.
ANGOKA: It provides safe connectivity even over shaky networks as a cyber security solution. These sorts of secure connections are essential in a future where mobile and smart data services increasingly intersect.
WingDriver: The startup is on a mission to build the “best” aftermarket solution for driver and vehicle monitoring. Its app supports driver safety using facial and eye analysis. This way, drowsiness and distraction are detected in time and accidents can be prevented.
Bia: The company makes smart charging software to monitor and optimise the charging of electric vehicles, making charging greener.
CMS (Crowd Management Service): The platform’s dashboard provides information on crowds in a certain area or place to forecast crowds. On the basis of the dashboard’s trigger being set off by crowds, safety precautions can be performed. Products from CMS are aimed toward local governments, urban areas, event planners, and tourists.
FlexiModal: The company offers solutions that minimise the impact of transloading. It produces two types of self-designed bicycle trailers for professional users; the BicyLift and the Runner. Both trailers can carry up to 200 kgs and enable the last mile transport of relatively large loads in the city centre.
Green Caravan: It develops 100 per cent fossil-free charging hubs for electric cars and trucks, which are separate from the electricity grid. This way, they tackle the two most important global challenges of charging electric vehicles: the roll-out of charging infrastructure and the fossil footprint of electricity.
Levante: The startup makes energy accessible everywhere through a patented, smart, modular, foldable and origami-inspired solar panel. Compact and therefore convenient to take with you on the road.
Opsis: The Emotion AI startup helps to make drivers aware of, for example, fatigue or emotions such as aggression and fear while driving. This makes the driving experience more pleasant and safer.
Optiyol: It offers route optimisation, distinguishing itself by autonomously planning efficient and practical routes while taking driver preferences and business strategies into account.
