In exactly one week, the European Starup Prize for Mobility will open its third edition. Right before we start taking new applications from startups across Europe, let’s take stock of the past two editions; who were the winners and front-runners? What countries did they come from? What sector of mobility did they focus on? How advanced were they? Read on, we’ve got you covered…
What moves you?
We recognised a wide distribution of services and products. However, there does seem to be a tend towards B2B services for urban mobility. Sartups clearly recognise the dire need of more and more cities to provide better, smarter, and cleaner mobility solutions and the prefernce of comuters to consume mobility services rather than owning them.
Where’s home?
As enthusiast Europeans, we like to think that Europe is a whole is our home and playground (and we indeed received applications from all 28 EU Member States). And yet, it was interesting to see where the top performers come from.
We notice a concentration of top performers in Western Europe (both Nordic and Mediterranean), following a loose correlation with levels of wealth and development.
What next?
These figures are an interesting indication of the pace and direction of European innovation. However, this year could still prove very different. First, we expanded the eligibility of the startups (slightly) beyond the EU. This year, we welcome startups from across the EU as well as all assciated countries with the EU Horizon2020 programme. These include strong performers like Israel, Turkey, Norway, and Switzerland. (Oh yeah, and the UK, as far as we’re concerned, you’re still part of the European club! 😊)
Finally, for the first time we’re kicking-off this year’s edition from Berlin, the beating heart of the German ecosystem but also geographically closer to central and eastern Europe. We know there’s tremendous potential of talent and innovation all across this region, which is yet to be revealed. We therefore hope that our voice will be heard even louder this year and that we’ll get more applications from the newer EU Member States as well.
With this in mind, we can’t wait to see where the 3rd edition of the European Startup Prize for Mobility will take us! Who will be the front-runners of this year? Where will they come from? What will they focus on? That’ sup to you! Apply for the 2020 edition between 20.02.2020 and 31.3.2020.
Europe is your playground. We’re just here to boost your game.