South African Tech Startups To Face Challenging Start Of 2023

According to EIT Urban Mobility, 86 promising startups were chosen out of 470 applications received, representing an impressive 18% success rate for applicants.

South African Tech Startups To Face Challenging Start Of 2023
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology’s EIT Urban Mobility project announced on Friday, July 7, the inclusion of 86 new startups to its fourth edition of accelerator programs throughout Europe.

The programmes provide a wide range of services over a six-month period, including mentoring, solution testing in real-world settings, matching with cities and business, and participation in significant events.

According to EIT Urban Mobility, 86 promising startups were chosen out of 470 applications received, representing an impressive 18% success rate for applicants.

The 2023 cohorts’ chosen startups come from 21 different European nations, showcasing the diversity of the continent’s entrepreneurial talent.

Over 30% of the businesses chosen for the 2023 promotion are led by female CEOs or founders, in keeping with EIT Urban Mobility’s commitment to reducing the gender gap in startup leadership and promoting an inclusive ecosystem.

More than 74 startups took part in the most recent iteration of accelerator program.

“The European transportation sector has undergone significant changes driven by technology and a global shift towards sustainable and accessible choices,” claims Raül Feliu, Impact Ventures Programs Manager. EIT Urban Mobility’s goal is to support start-ups whose products have a positive impact while facilitating this paradigm shift to create a long-lasting, sustainable change.

He continues, “Through our scale-up and accelerator programmes, we foster valuable connections within a unique urban mobility ecosystem, and curate a funnel of top-performing companies to our investments. We provide crucial support to early-stage companies through these programmes.”

The key to constructing a better future for all of us, says Feliu, is to foster innovation and entrepreneurship while changing the current state of urban mobility.

7 startups that will take part in the programmes to support their growth include:

Nemi Mobility Solutions

HQ: Spain

Through its software solution, Nemi makes flexible bus services possible in low-density areas, enabling the viability of public transport.

Ridergy

HQ: Germany

By utilizing cutting-edge algorithms, RiDERgy has created software that creates the most effective charging schedules for businesses.

Luna Systems

HQ: Ireland

Luna provides smart camera technology to operators and cities, enabling them to proactively reduce sidewalk riding, collisions and disorderly parking in real-time. This technology addresses challenges in micromobility growth and scale.

Walking talking

HQ: Sweden

An app for connecting people, encouraging motivation, and facilitating meaningful conversations during walks has been created by the organisation walking talking. Healthy habits are promoted by the app’s sustainable business model both during and outside of the working day.

Vivadrive

HQ: Poland

A cost-effective and sustainable fleet management solution is Vivadrive. They concentrate on fleets of both gasoline-powered and electric vehicles, speeding up the switch to EVs and enhancing efficiency and safety. The solution from VivaDrive makes it possible to save a lot of money per vehicle and helps to create a more sustainable urban mobility environment.

Revoltz

HQ: Israel

Revoltz creates and sells mini-electric vehicles that offer the advantages of conventional models but at a fraction of the operating and environmental costs. The Portto, their first offering, is a small, three-wheeled electric light scooter with a large loading deck.

Lumen

HQ: Romania

Lumen creates glasses that make life easier for the blind. The lumen glasses can compute interaction paths to desired objects or more generally based on context, understand the environment, objects, their positions, and movements in three dimensions, and transmit information to the blind using haptic and auditory impulses.

Thematic accelerator programs

EIT Urban Mobility Accelerator Programs consist of seven thematic EU-funded programmes implemented through more than 30 key partners throughout Europe, from:

UnternehmerTUM (Germany) the Technical University of Munich

CARNET (Spain): initiated by SEAT, VolksWagen, and UPC. CARNET is an Open hub for industrial and academic partners from the areas of automotive and mobility research and innovation

PowerHUB (Czech Republic): PowerHUB is an industrial partner focused on the Transfer of Technologies in City Safety, Mobility, and Energy

Aerospace Valley (France): Cluster of the aerospace industry in the south-west of France

Startup Autobahn (Sweden): an open innovation platform that provides an interface between innovative tech companies and industry-leading corporations

Punkt vor Strich (Austria) is a knowledge & data platform

Poslovna inteligencija (BIRD Incubator) (Croatia): An AI thematic incubator among others.

The seven accelerators for 2023 cohorts are Accelerate2MOVE –

Future Mobility,
Inclusive Mobility (Better Mobility Accelerator)
E+ Mobility Accelerator
Energy & Public Realm
Smart Mobility – DMS Accelerator
Sustainable City Logistics Accelerator
UAM Plazza Accelerator

EIT Urban Mobility is an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.

EIT Urban Mobility works to avoid fragmentation by facilitating collaboration between cities, industry, academia, research, and innovation to solve the most pressing mobility challenges of cities.

Using cities as living labs, its industry, research, and university partners will demonstrate how new technologies can work to solve real problems in real cities by transporting people, goods, and waste in smarter ways.