The annual European Startup Prize for Mobility was awarded on Wednesday to four companies at an online ceremony and attracted over 300,000 viewers across Europe.
The Prize is awarded by the EU-founded Acceleration and Investment Programme for sustainable mobility start-ups. The programme was created in 2017 by Karima Delli, Chairwoman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism, Boston Consulting Group and Via ID.
At the ceremony, in collaboration with The Brussels Times, 12 sustainable mobility start-ups were allocated three minutes each to pitch their concept and development projects in front of an expert jury. The finalists came from a number of different countries, including Belgium (2), France, The Netherlands, Israel, Latvia, Luxembourg, Germany (2), Portugal, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
The finalists had been selected among more than 550 candidate start-ups after a rigorous assessment process which involved 15 independent evaluators. 10,000 votes were also received from the public and accounted for half of the scores.
The event, which normally is held at a physical venue, had been adapted due to Covid-19 to allow all participants to join in digitally on the virtual stage, including the moderators themselves. The concept was developed by Dan Sobovitz and Estonian based Global Virtual Solutions.
After a suspenseful voting, four start-ups were awarded the Gold Prize:
- Pony (France): The start-up offers self-service electric bikes and scooters, available to rent directly by phone.
- Fairtiq (Switzerland): The start-up offers smart public transport ticketing for the whole route travelled.
- Surve Mobility (Germany): The start-up offers software and smart infrastructure solutions for shared mobility fleets.
- Skipr (Belgium): The start-up offers an app for intermodal travel, a mobility card to get access to mobility providers in the EU and a budget management platform.
“These four brilliant European start-ups convinced the jury of the Prize on the basis of criteria of performance, innovation, sustainability and inclusion, “Karima Delli said. “It is clear to our European experts and to the public that they are mobility operators that will build the future of mobility in the years to come.”
VIP members of the jury included Prince Albert II of Monaco, Maros Sefcovic, Vice-president of the European Commission and initiator of the European Battery Alliance, Lilyana Pavlova, Vice-president for Transport at the European Investment Bank, and Karima Delli, who created the programme.
All four of them talked enthusiastically about their visions for smart and sustainable mobility in the EU. “Innovation is about taking risks,” Vice-President Sefcovic said.
European startups will be able to apply to the next edition of the European Startup Prize for Mobility as of June this year.
The Brussels Times
