News

Slush, Helsinki


TOP 10
This year, the EUSP winning startups rocked Helsinki by pitching on stage, holding booths, and… shaking the dancefloor!. Our dedicated side session inside Messukeskus Slush venue was packed with investors, developers, and mobility experts who were eager to learn more and meet this year’s winning startups.
The event reaches its crescendo with a memorable afterparty that leaves a lasting impression. As a special bonus, we capture the highlights in a podcast, recorded in a cosy studio hidden from the snow, ensuring that the insights and experiences from this concluding event will be shared with a broader audience. Stay tuned for more details!

Winning startups live pitches in Lisbon


TOP 10
The Pitching clean mobility event, co-hosted by the European Startup Prize and Unicorn Factory in Lisbon – brings this year’s winning startups to pitch on stage in front of interested investors, corporate representatives, and mobility experts. We are lucky to enjoy the beautiful premises of our event partner Concentrix + Webhelp, as well as strong support from Brisa, EMEL, and OVH Cloud. Post-pitching, attendees engage in a networking session, fostering conversations about driving innovation in the mobility sector.
We also enjoy a keynote speech by Sacha Michaud, Co-Founder of Glovo, who shares insights into Glovo’s story and their vision for a cleaner, more sustainable mobility society.
In essence, the event provides a platform for pragmatic discussions and showcases tangible solutions that contribute to a more sustainable future in clean mobility.

EUSP Joins at Lucerne Dialogue

TOP 10
Winning startups of the 5th edition European Startup Prize for Mobility were invited to participate in the Lucerne Dialogue and pitch on stage.
Lucerne Dialogue an annual two-day gathering in the spectacular Swiss scenery that defies conventional conference norms. This event serves as a hub for European decision-makers, facilitating dynamic exchanges across generations, nations, and disciplines to mould a more robust and united continent.
The winning EUSP startups presented each presented their innovation, creativity, and contribution in the clean mobility sector. Ranging from cutting-edge technologies to visionary business models, each of our Top 10 winners contributes a distinct perspective to the ongoing dialogue.
In this unique setting, the intersection of the European Startup Prize for Mobility and the Lucerne Dialogue not only showcases the entrepreneurial vitality within the clean mobility sector but also provides a forum for in-depth discussions on sustainable and innovative solutions driving the future of mobility.

Top 10 startups for 2023

For the 5th edition of the European Startup Prize for Mobility, we truly had our work cut out for us. With more than 700 applicants, the task of picking 50 finalists was in itself a challenge. Now, out of those 50 mobility trailblazers, our jury has come to a decision. The top ten startups, the winners of EUSP 2023, are here!

These companies offer some of the most innovative and more sustainable solutions in the field and are an inspiration to all of us who have come to follow their journey. They stood out in their interviews with the jurors as particularly promising and ready to scale up across Europe. We could not be more proud to announce them.

We look forward to hosting these amazing companies in the European Parliament at our awards ceremony on 26 October and taking them on tour across Europe to be presented to potential partners and investors.

 

So, with all that said, on a sky with fifty stars shining bright, these ten shine slightly brighter still:

Top 50 startups for 2023

Any competition will tell you that the choice was hard. But we mean it. We received a record number of over 700 applications, from all across Europe (and its neighborhood), covering all sectors of mobility, proposing various business models, company sizes and maturity levels.

Our journey to identify the continent’s Top 50 startups was therefore no simple feat; it was accomplished through a rigorous and uncompromising methodology, based on clear criteria ranging from the business model to the environmental and societal contribution. Over 100 independent evaluators were recruited in order to ensure that each application is properly evaluated.

In the next weeks, our jury members will interview each and every one of our Top 50 in order to determine the final Top 10 of this edition who will be invited to pitch at our Final Ceremony and take part of our acceleration programme.

Now, without further ado, here are Europe’s clean mobility rising starts to look out for:

Welcome ALD Automotive | Lease Plan, our new European partner

Our list of partners continues to grow with the addition of ALD Automotive | Lease Plan! In addition to becoming a European Partner, ALD Automotive | Lease Plan is also sponsoring this year’s Female Entrepreneur special category award.  

A leading global sustainability mobility player, ALD Automotive | Lease Plan provides full-service leasing, flexible subscription services, fleet management services and multi-mobility solutions to a global client base of large corporates, SMEs, professionals and private individuals. 

All of our partners bring added value to our ecosystem of participating startups, meaning more support and opportunities for those who apply; ALD Automotive | Lease Plan is no exception. The company has 15,700 employees worldwide, direct operations in 44 countries, a total fleet of 3.4 million vehicles and EUR 400 million in digital investment firepower. Add to this a focus on innovation and technology-enabled services and a commitment to achieving net zero emissions, shaping the digital transformation and driving the large-scale adoption of sustainable mobility – and it’s clear that ALD Automotive | Lease Plan makes for a perfect match with our mission.     

“To remain the leading global sustainable mobility player we are today, it is essential that we foster a culture of innovation and stay ahead of the trends impacting our industry,” adds John Saffrett, Deputy CEO of ALD Automotive | Lease Plan . “Working with start-ups is not only inspiring but also a sure-fire way to find innovative new inroads to further improving mobility for our customers and partners.”  

ALD Automotive | Lease Plan, whose majority stakeholder is Societe Generale, is the listed company on Compartment A of Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR001328662 / Ticker: ALD).

EUSP has suspended its foreseen delegation to Israel, In light of government’s judicial coup

In light of yesterday’s vote by the Israeli government to undermine the country’s independent judiciary, the European Startup Prize (EUSP) has decided to cancel the foreseen delegation of our winning startups and partners to Israel as part of the upcoming European tour.

We will visit major tech events only in countries where democratic values are respected and independent judiciary is safeguarded. Our tour this year will therefore consist of Belgium (European Parliament), Portugal (Web Summit) and Finland (Slush). Israel was foreseen for early next year but in the new circumstances we can no longer maintain the visit.

Our decision is made with a heavy heart but it is taken in solidarity with the masses of brave Israeli women and men who are protesting and fighting for their democracy. These include major tech companies and thousands of startups. Almost 50 Israeli startups applied this year to our Prize – Europe’s largest acceleration programme for clean mobility startups – following a recent EUSP Delegation to Tel Aviv EcoMotion. We welcome each of the Israeli startups and are proud of the high Israeli turnout. Their status as candidate startups will not change for this edition.

EUSP will remain the ‘Promised Land’ for Israeli startups who wish to scale up in Europe because sustainable innovation can only happen in a stable, inclusive and democratic environment. Our Prize was founded based on values which we cherish. These include inclusion, gender-equality, and of course climate action. We hope that the Israeli government will rethink its actions, which are of major concern for its economy and innovative sector. EUSP will be delighted to bring its startups and partners to Israel as soon as the current judicial coup is off the table.

Discover the candidates’ profiles.

After a 2-month call for projects, the European Startup Prize for Mobility (EUSP) closed its 5th edition on June 20 with a record number of applications. As co-founder of the EUSP – alongside Karima Delli and the Boston Consulting Group – Via ID has drawn up a portrait of the innovative companies in intelligent and sustainable mobility that are candidates for this edition (based on eligible startups).

The automotive and micromobility sectors well represented

In terms of mobility fields, over 40% of candidate companies specialize in the automotive sector. Also on the podium are micromobility (19%) and air transport (12.8%).

Market

Mobility startups at the forefront of the ecological transition and gender equality

The EUSP gives priority to companies offering innovative sustainable mobility solutions with a positive environmental and societal impact. The candidates are on target: 63% of startups that applied to the EUSP contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of mobility. Over 20% of startups are working to reduce air pollution.

Candidates for the 5th edition are also particularly ahead of the game when it comes to gender parity. This year, 33% of startups that applied have at least one woman in the founding team, well above the European average of 10% (according to the 4th barometer carried out by SISTA and BCG in June 2023 on gender parity in the creation and financing of startups – all fields combined – covering 5 European countries: France, UK, Germany, Spain, Sweden).

France, fertile ground for mobility startups

39 European countries are represented among the EUSP 2023 participants (compared with 32 for the 4th edition). Among the most represented countries are France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, Israel, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Poland.

Discover the full infographic

Tel Aviv

Hello Tel Aviv, Europe is in town!

We were in the neighbourhood. Yes, Israel’s is part of Europe’s Neighbourhood Policy, part of Horizon Europe and… part of the European Startup Prize for Mobility (EUSP). Israeli startups are therefore eligible to apply and win!

That’s why we thought we might as well go and invite them in person to apply during this year’s Tel Aviv EcoMotion Week . It was an opportunity to highlight why EUSP is the best ticket for Israeli startups into the European market.

“The entrepreneurs we met with are looking for ways to export their solutions into a larger market than Israel’s,” says EUSP Managing Director Dan Sobovitz. “Many of them are intuitively oriented towards the US market and they were very interested in hearing more about the advantages of choosing Europe.”

EUSP was active throughout the event, starting with a presentation on the Mobility360 stage that introduced Europe’s largest acceleration programme for clean mobility startups. We also presented at the Side Event of our partner EIT Urban Mobility, where over 100 participants got a first-hand look at EUSP’s suite of advisory, investment, mentorship, networking and visibility boosting services.

“The power of the unicorn”

To close out an action-packed week, we hosted our very own EcoMotion EUSP Side Event, paraphrasing the title of Israel’s Eurovision entry, titled Unicorn.

This was an opportunity to remind Israelis to not only send their unicorn songs to Eurovision, but to let Europe turn their startups into market unicorns. Europe is the world’s biggest market and Israel’s main trading partner – making it a very attractive pasture for Israeli unicorns to grow.

During the side event, our local partners echoed our message on what makes the EU such an attractive market, noting that Europe is both culturally and geographically closer to Israel than the US and, in some ways, even less regulated. Jan Hauser from EIT Urban Mobility spoke the way in which they are looking for startups to invest in via the EUSP candidates. Gosia Kowalczy from the EU Delegation to Israel encouraged Israeli entrepreneurs to apply and elaborated on the European opportunities. Dina Pasca-Raz from KPMG Israel advised startups to diversify and experiment in the EU market. Ron Stern from OurCrowd highlighted that as an investor, he recognises the EUSP quality label on potential startups. Finally, past prize winner, Andrea Mocellin from Revolve Air shared the winning experience with the audience, and Vincent Cabanel  from our co-founder Via ID who spoke about the evaluation procedure of the applicants and the acceleration programme for the winners.

 

Apply today!

 

Most importantly, don’t forget to apply for the European Startup Prize for Mobility today!

All submissions must be received by 20 June. Miss that deadline and you’ll have to wait an entire year for another shot at bringing your Israeli unicorn to Europe.

Kiwi and Moroccan startups, apply now!

Please join us in saying Kia ora New Zealand, Marhaba Morocco! We are excited to announce that the European Startup Prize for Mobility is expanding its scope of eligible countries of origins.

As you may know, eligibility in our Prize is for all startups, based in the EU or countries associated with Horizon Europe in the present, past, or future. This means that startups from Tel Aviv, Reykjavik, Oslo or Kyiv are also part of the game.

Switzerland regrettably is no longer part of Horizon Europe but as we tend to get attached easily, we’re not ready to let the Alpine nation go. Swiss startups, whatever language you speak don’t miss your chance, schickt jetzt eure Bewerbungen, envoyez vos candidatures; inviate subito le vostre candidature!

But now there’s more! The UK, Morocco and even New Zealand are all in the process of negotiating their membership in Horizon Europe and already have respective provisional agreements in force. Forget the institutional lingo; what matters is that startups from these countries are now welcome to apply!

So wherever you are in the EU, Europe, Israel, Morocco or down under in New Zealand – if you have a brilliant clean mobility solution, Europe is your playground! We offer you a one-stop-shop to the European market; massive visibility, abundant financing opportunities, access to policy-makers, tailored business consultancy, acceleration programme, and more!

Don’t waste your time, registration for the 5th edition is open until 20 June 2023!

Color legend of the map

If your country is in one of these colors, you are part of the game!
Blue: EU countries
Green : Horizon Europe associated country