These partnerships bring added value to all participating startups, meaning more support and opportunities for those who apply! Give your startup a jump-start! Making startups a success story for 5 years in a row now, is what keeps this initiative a success! Always great to stand with our co-founders Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Via ID – Mobivia, and we welcome those returning for more startup action or joining us for the first of many!

We welcome on board EIT Urban Mobility, Voies navigables de France, Roland Berger, CA Auto Bank, European Climate Foundation, ECTA – European Clean Trucking Alliance, Volta Trucks, Die Autobahn GmbH des Bundes, Shift4Good!

No matter what stage you find yourself in your startup, with this all-star team, we can take your sustainable mobility vision all the way up! to new EU heights! Get support, coaching, financing, find your audience, advocate at EU level and curate your market opportunities.

Bigger, smarter, cleaner and more powerful. The European Startup Prize for Mobility is back for its 5th (!) edition. With new and returning partners, EU institutions, multinational corporations, and influential non-for-profit organisations; we are jointly offering startups in clean mobility a one stop shop European booster for their business. Apply once and benefit from all the participating partners!

Our new call for applications is opening 19 April 2023 and will remain open until 20 June. This goes out to all mobility startups in Europe, and in countries which are part of the Horizon programme! So regardless of which sector of mobility you are in, wherever in Europe you are based (in or outside the EU), or how advanced your startup is – we are waiting for your application. 

Learn more about the Prize, its partners, conditions, process, and more at our upcoming Opening Ceremony of the 5th edition, broadcast live from the  French Ministry of Transport in Paris by the Brussels Times. The opening ceremony is also an opportunity to hear from Europe’s  experts and leaders in clean mobility discussing and reflecting on the future of clean mobility in Europe.

Hold on tight. This is going to be one hell of a (clean) ride!

Last night we finally all met together, under one roof, like in the good old pre-Covid times for an incredible celebration of innovation, sustainability, and inclusion! Gathered at the ChangeNow summit in Paris as an official event of the French Presidency of the EU, our final ceremony allowed our ten winning startup to pitch their innovation and… compete!

Following live pitching and votes by both a professional jury and the public, a Gold Award was granted to:

– NOWOS(NL): software for predictive maintenance and recycling of electric batteries
– REVOLVE AIR (DE): a foldable wheelchair that makes all public transport accessible
– Storkjet (PL): software that reduces fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in the aviation sector
– Zeleros (SP): a hyperloop technology (1000km/h) for passenger transport and freight transport

Our Silver Award went to:

– BAQME (NL): a platform for shared electric cargo bikes, reducing short distance car trips in cities.
– Bia Power SL (ES): smart electric vehicle charging (EV) software platform.
– GO Sharing  (NL): electric shared transport  app, offering E-scooters, e-bikes and e-cars.
– Heex Technologies (FR): next generation of AI enabler, allowing companies to get to the data that they need.
– OTIV (BE): assistance and autonomous systems for rail vehicles in complex urban/industrial environments.
– Vianova (FR): uses connected vehicles data to help cities and mobility operators build more efficient and sustainable transport systems for people and goods.

Our winners will now start their six-month acceleration programme consisting of business mentorship, visibility exercises, funding opportunities, policy impact, and more. 

Final count: 10 startups; 2 Vice Presidents, a dozen EU institutions, private companies and joint undertakings, +100,000 viewers and… one prince. But forget about the numbers, we had an amazing night! Our winners will now start their six-month acceleration programme consisting of business mentorship, visibility exercises, funding opportunities, policy impact, and more.

REPLAY THE CEREMONY 2022

PHOTOS GALLERY

Our yearly highlight is our Award ceremony when we invite the new winning startups to pitch on one stage in front of our entire ecosystem of major companies, EU institutions, VIPs, and investors – all eager to discover Europe’s best clean mobility entrepreneurs. This year, we’ll bring the best of our previous versions; we’re back to a full physical location but we’re still going to broadcast a high level digital version. We’re proud to be part of the ChangeNow Summit and an official event of the French Presidency of the EU. But if you can’t make it to Paris, our media partner, the Brussels Times, will broadcast the event on its Facebook page and website. As always, viewers have an active role to play. Together with our professional jury – YOU will get to vote among the 10 pitches which ones were the best, deserving this year’s GOLD award.

Here’s our programme for the event:

Award Ceremony – 4th edition May 19th, 2022, 16h – 18h CET

Introduction

Dan Sobovitz, Moderator and CCO at the EUSP
Karima Delli, Chairwoman of the Committee on Transport at the European Parliament,
President of the EUSP

Greetings

HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco

First Pitching Session: 3 minutes per pitch + 1 minute for Q&A

Berenice van Gessel, Co-Founder of BAQME

Candace Saffery Neufeld, CEO&Founder of Bia Power SL

Lloyd Drop, Chief Growth Officer of GO Sharing

Bruno Mendez DaSilva, CEO of Heex Technologies

Ambre Eppler, Co-Founder of NOWOS

 
Round-table: What is Europe doing to foster Green innovation in the aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis?

Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-president of the European Commission, in charge of the European Battery Alliance

Lilyana Pavlova, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank

Second Pitching Session: 3 minutes per pitch + 1 minute for Q&A

Sam De smet, CEO of OTIV

Andrea Mocellin, Founder of REVOLVE AIR

Piotr Niedziela, VP Business Development at Storkjet

Thibaud Castagne, CEO and Founder of Vianova

Clémence Lukowski, Chief Financial Officer of Zeleros

Round-table: How can we ensure ethical human-centric innovation according to European values?

Helena Dalli, EU Commissioner for  Equality

Carlo Borghini, Executive Director Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking

Jury vote & announcement of winners of the special prizes

• Maros Sefcovic, European Commission Vice-President for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight | Coordinating the EU Battery Alliance >> Special Prize “Electro-Mobility”
• Helena Dalli, European Commissioner for Equality >> Special Prize “Accessibility and Inclusive Mobility”
• Karima Delli, Chairwoman of the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee >> Special Prize “Smart Territories”
• Lilyana Pavlova, Vice President at European Investment Bank (EIB) >> Special Prize “Scale-Ups”
• Carlo Borghini, Executive Director Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking >> Special Prize “Rail Mobility”
• Edward Arkwright, Deputy CEO Groupe ADP >> Special Prize “Smart City”
• Catherine Leboul Proust, Chief Strategy Officer at GRDF >> Special Prize “Logistic and freight”
• Côme Berbain, Head of Innovation at RATP Group >> Special Prize “Urban experience and services”
• Alain Siebert, SESAR JU Chief Economist & Master Planning >> Special Prize “Future Skies”
• Jehan de Thé, Group Public Affairs Director at Europcar Mobility Group
• Claire Baritaud, Director of the French Agency of Transport Innovation (Agence de l’Innovation dans les Transports)
• Joël Hazan, Managing Director & Partner, Boston Consulting Group
• Marie Bonniol, Ecosystem & Marketing Director, VIA ID

Announcing the 4 Gold Winners of the 2022 edition.
Inviting winners and our jury on stage.

+++

18:30 – 20:00 Ceremony will be followed by a cocktail at the Earth Village

The time has come! We are thrilled to announce the 10 most promising European startups in clean mobility of our 4th edition. These startups stood out among the 563 applications that we received this year and went through a long and rigorous vetting process; the first phase consisted of 60 independent evaluators who ranked all the valid applications. The top 50 startups then went through in-depth interviews with our professional jury where they had to pitch their business; showing their ability to make mobility more sustainable and inclusive. The following ten are the grand winners (in alphabetical order).

	BAQME is a platform for shared electric cargo bikes, on a mission to reduce short distance car trips in cities. We currently operate with a fleet of >200 bikes in 2 cities in the Netherlands.	🇳🇱
	Bia Power SL offers smart electric vehicle charging (EV) software platform featuring high-performing forecasting algorithms and a powerful optimization engine to intelligently manage, predict, and optimize EV charging.	🇪🇸
	GO Sharing offers 100% electric shared transport all via one app. E-scooters, e-bikes and e-cars are all available to reduce private owned transport and make more sustainable transport accessible.	🇳🇱
	Heex Technologies enables the next generation of AI companies to get to the data that they need and deliver on the promise of ground-breaking innovations.	🇫🇷
	NOWOS aims to support the circular economy for lithium-ion batteries. NOWOS extend the life of products by repairing damaged and defective batteries, by reusing and recycling the raw material.	🇳🇱
	OTIV offers assistance and autonomous systems for rail vehicles in complex urban/industrial environments. We disrupt the industry by upgrading existing fleets with smart sensors and algorithms.	🇧🇪
	REVOLVE AIR is a revolutionary foldable active wheelchair that saves up to 60% of its space when both frame and unique 24 inches foldable wheels are folded.	🇩🇪
	Storkjet is producing software for the aviation industry which helps airlines save 4% of fuel and reducing CO2 emissions.	🇵🇱
	Vianova uses connected vehicles data to help cities and mobility operators build more efficient and sustainable transport systems for people and goods.	🇫🇷
	Zeleros is the EU company leading the development of a scalable hyperloop, a new transport system to connect cities and logistics hubs at 1000km/h, 0 direct emissions and high energy efficiency.	🇪🇸

What’s next? On 19.5.22 we will hold our Final Ceremony, which is an official event of the current French Presidency of the EU. During the event, the ten winners will present their technology, we will reveal the ten additional winners of special category prizes, and of course  you will hear from our VIPs and market leaders who are part of the Prize ecosystem. If you can’t make it to Paris, worry not, the event will also be livestreamed by the Brussels Times.

The ten winners will present their technology in front of our grand jury and the general public at our Final Ceremony on 19/5 at the ChangeNow fair in Paris. Our ceremony, an official event of the French Presidency of the EU, will  It will also be livestreamed by the Brussels Times, so stay tuned!

The moment has come. Our 57 independent evaluators have worked tirelessly over the past two months to evaluate and rank the applications we received this year from 563 startups in 38 countries, following a very rigorous methodology and clear criteria. It’s a bit cliché to say that the choice was hard but we do see both the quantity and quality of the applications increasing year by year.

Aggregating their results, we are now proud to present Europe’s top 50 most promising startups in sustainable mobility, in alphabetical order:

We are extremely excited to launch the two-months application period of the 4th EUSP Edition on 30 September 2021, 18h Tallinn time (EEST)/ 17h Brussels time (CEST). The event brings together the political, business and tech leadership from across Europe into a hybrid event with a physical smart stage in Tallinn, Estonia; Broadcast by the Brussels Times. Our very distinguished speakers will provide insight about innovation in clean mobility and also explain to startups what why they should apply, what their organisations are offering startups, and how they could apply.

Programme

Moderated by Dan Sobovitz, EUSP CCO and Moderator

18:00 PM – 18:30 PM: “VIP Reverse-pitch”:

8 EU institutions pitching to startups why apply and win their respective Special Prizes

• Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the European Commission for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight
• Helena Dalli, Commissioner for Equality at the European Commission
• Lilyana Pavlova, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank
• Karima Delli, Chairwoman of the Transport and Tourism Committee at the European Parliament
• Rodrigo da Costa, Executive Director of the EU Agency for the Space Programme
• Carlo Borghini, Executive Director at Shift2Rail
• Richard Frizon, Executive Director ad Interim at SESAR JU
• Jennifer Dungs, Head of Mobility at EIT InnoEnergy

18:30 PM – 18:40 PM: Round-Table of the Co-founders of the EU Startup Prize: The future of European Mobility Innovation

• Marie Bonniol, Co-founder, Marketing and Ecosystem Leader at Via-ID
• Joël Hazan, Co-founder, Partner and Managing Director at Boston Consulting Group

18:40 PM – 19:00 PM: Startups, global players are looking for you!

Meeting our European ecosystem for sustainable mobility (Part I)

• Catherine Leboul-Proust, Director of Strategy at GRDF
• Alban Negret, Head of Innovation and Corporate Venture at Groupe ADP
• Stéphane Cobo, Head of Open Innovation, Foresight & Disruptive Businesses at RATP group
• Paul Holthus, CEO at World Ocean Council

19:00 PM – 19:20 PM: Startups, our ecosystem is here to help you scale! Meeting our European ecosystem for sustainable mobility (Part II)

• Ave Lauringson, Managing Director at e-Estonia
• Jehan de Thé, Public Affairs Director at Europcar mobility group
• Carmela Canonico, Manager at ERTICO – ITS Europe
• Dorothée Dayraut, Public Affairs and Communication Director of the CNPA
• Keith Whelan, Event Director of the Electronomous – International Mobility Summit

19:20 PM – 19:25 PM: Application process for 2020

• Charles Thou, CEO and Co-founder at Agorize

7:25 PM – 7:30 PM: Final countdown towards the opening of the 4th edition with Karima Delli, Chairwoman of the Committee on Transport at the European Parliament and President of the EU Startup Prize for Mobility

Rail mobility offers tremendous opportunities for businesses, travel safety and above all sustainability. While Europe is a global leader in the rail sector, the potential for further innovation remains tremendous. That is why the European Commission has announced 2021 as the European Year of Rail.

That is why we, in the European Startup Prize for Mobility, recognise our responsibility and this great opportunity to bring the voices of startups in the rail sector to decision-makers at the highest level. 

Startups are the engine of innovation but they rarely have a place around the table where decisions about innovation are made by policy-makers or even corporations. This is especially true in the field of rail where the incumbent are often state-owned monopolies. We’re here to change that. 

What do startups need from the EU in order to be more disruptive, innovative, and creative in the rail sector? We’re about to find out! 

Introducing: EUSP CrowdTank  

Apart from serving as a ‘ranking agency’ on European mobility startups, an acceleration programme for the best startups,  and a matchmaker between investors and startups, we have decided to also create the first Think Tank of mobility startups; or CrowdTank as we like to call it, since we always develop our proposals in a large-scale collaborative manner.  

Last year, we asked mobility startups what they needed from the EU; we got +400 entrepreneurs to join our co-creation of the first European Mobility Startup Manifesto and we jointly presented the results to the EU institutions in a public event.  

This year, we’re a bit more focused. We’d like to find out how the EU and rail companies can better collaborate with startups specifically in the field of railtech. We are therefore rolling up our sleeves one more time; over the next weeks and months we will crowdsource our startup community, co-creating the European Startup Manifesto on Rail.  

How do we ensure the Manifesto represents our rail startup community? 

Excellent question! By using a very robust design-thinking methodology and a collaborative  stakeholder approach taking place between April and June 2021.

Together with our partners*, we will conduct dozens of interviews with rail entrepreneurs and startups in order to research their needs, priorities, and suggestions. Based on our preliminary findings, we will launch an online survey, inviting startups from across Europe to participate. The findings from this knowledge-crowdsourcing phase will be condensed in a synthesis process over several weeks. Finally, we will organise workshops in order to refine and fine-tune the results with our partners and contributors. The final version will then be available online for other startups to sign and endorse.  

We are very proud to be an official partner and event of the European Commission’s Year of Rail. This will allow us to present the results of this exercise in June to the highest level of the EU institutions, to our partner organisations, and to some of Europe’s largest rail companies.

This will ensure that decision-makers at the highest levels, take onboard the unique perspective and needs of railtech startups. This perspective is critical!  Only by joining forces among policy-makers, rail companies and railtech startups – can we ensure a smarter, more sustainable and inclusive railway system!

The time is now! 

The success of this exercise depends on YOU. No one knows better than you do what you need in order for your startup to succeed. Stay tuned (on our social media and newsletter) for our upcoming online survey. Meanwhile, if you’d like to get involved, feel free to drop us a line and we’ll get you on board.  

This train of innovation is just about to leave the station. Hop on and join us in shaping shaping Europe’s railtech for the years to come! 

* The European Startup Manifesto on Rail is made possible thanks to our ecosystem of partners: The Morph Company, and our co-founders BCG and Via ID who are focusing on the methodology. Thank you also to our rail partners who have committed themselves to active participation throughout the process: GRDF, Shift2Rail, AllRail, EU Travel Tech, Railcoop, RATP Group, and CER.

#PRESSRELEASE:

Selected among 550+ candidate startups, 12 European sustainable mobility startups pitched their concept and development projects last night in front of a VIP jury of the European Union and innovation sector during the 3rd Final Ceremony of the European Startup Prize for mobility.

4 startups were awarded with a Gold Prize :

• Pony (France) / 369 points
• Fairtiq (Switzerland) / 339 points
• Surve Mobility (Germany) / 305 points
• Skipr (Belgium) / 285 points

More information on the 12 finalists here.

“These four brilliant European startups convinced the jury of the Prize on the basis of criteria of innovation, sustainability, inclusion and market traction. It is clear to our European experts and to the public that they are mobility operators that will build future of mobility in the years to come. ” said Karima Delli, Chairwoman of the Transport Committee in the European Parliament and President of the European Startup Prize for mobility.

The Ceremony has already been viewed 270,000 times and received 10,000 votes from the public. Public interest in green innovation has never been higher. Watch REPLAY.

Press contact:
Grégory Merly, Managing Director
gregory@startupsprize.eu
+336 58 88 80 95