The COVID-19 pandemic caused completely new and unforeseen challenges for urban mobility: from health-security issues in urban environments over increasing work from home to changing commuting and travel patterns.
Are you and your startup developing products, services or solutions that handle these challenges? Then apply now for the EIT Urban Mobility Accelerator programme SPECIAL: COVID-19!
Closed: 9 August 2020, 23:59 CET
Be part of the EIT Urban Mobility Accelerator programme SPECIAL: COVID-19 and accelerate your business idea to tackle the new challenges of this global pandemic!
The “EIT Urban Mobility Accelerator programme SPECIAL: COVID-19” is an EU-funded initiative to enable startups and scaleups to develop products and services targeting urban mobility challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are looking for 23 startups and scaleups with business ideas that solve some of these various new challenges and problems that cities are dealing with since COVID-19 fundamentally changed nearly all given circumstances.
Should you have any questions regarding the application process, your eligibility or the programme, please contact us via email: covid@xpreneurs.io
Challenges and opportunities for cities and urban areas may lay in the following fields:
- Create liveable urban spaces:
Social distancing, novel disinfection, healthy living, short term land reuse, road repurpose, mental and physical well being by design. - Close the knowledge gap:
Cultivating skills for public and private providers, mobility workers, citizens and politicians and developing options for response and long-term recovery skills and knowhow. - Deploy user-centric, integrated mobility solutions:
Providing safe and secure transport systems, expanding mobility offerings, targeted mobility services for the vulnerable or essential workers, protecting urban mobility workers and public transport continuity. - Exploit new market opportunities:
Promoting circular economy, new materials adoption, data privacy and service personalisation in line with data privacy and protection. - Promote effective policies and behaviour change:
Building both economic and social resilience, modal correction, supporting rapid policy response, tracking and tracing, pricing/zoning control, business model adaptation, community empowerment and support actions.
Selected startups and scaleups receive …
1. A special COVID-19 impact assessment
Workshops with COVID-19 experts and city representatives in order to optimize and quantify their impact. We also invite and present best practices: you will learn from startups that successfully took advantage of COVID-19.
In addition to that, you will join a community of teams and ambitious entrepreneurs working on similar challenges.
2. Free 3-month acceleration programme
- All workshops, sessions, and events will be hybrid: on-site and virtual option
- Individualised business coaching & training
- Mentoring by industry experts and experienced founders
- Validation of your technology and market
- Finding your product-market fit
- Access to a strong network of mentors, customers and investors
- Getting investor-ready and establish contact to investors & VCs/funds
- Participation in UnternehmerTUM’s Ultimate Demo Day in Munich (30 November; travel expenses will be taken care of)
3. Enjoy 3-months of free office space
Benefit from free office space for your founding team from 1 September to 30 November 2020 (optional offer).
4. Direct access to the responsible entities and decision makers for the creation of new products and services
- Contacts to cities and public utility companies for pilot projects
- Access to local ecosystems & infrastructure to drive growth and internationalisation
- Access to the EIT Urban Mobility community to exchange experiences and knowledge
Locations & partners
The EIT Urban Mobility Accelerator programme SPECIAL: COVID-19 is conducted by EIT Urban Mobility and four project partners: Futurebox (DK), PoliHub (IT), Technion DRIVE Accelerator (ISR), and UnternehmerTUM (DE).
Futurebox, PoliHub and UnternehmerTUM will provide input sessions, community building, coaching and mentoring of the startups; Technion DRIVE Accelerator will focus on specific workshops.
In the application, the teams can select their preferred partner for on-site support and potential co-working space. Due to limited places, the final decision will be made later in the selection process.
Futurebox
Futurebox is Denmark’s leading incubator and accelerator for deep tech startups and university spinouts. Futurebox is part of DTU Science Park located at the Danish Technical University campus. +3500 people work in the +230 companies situated in the science park in close proximity to the technical university.
In the EIT Urban Mobility Accelerator programme SPECIAL: COVID-19, Futurebox will provide business coaching, mentoring, match making and the execution of workshops.
PoliHub
PoliHub is the Innovation Park and Startup Accelerator of Politecnico di Milano supporting high innovative startups with scalable business models, and fostering cross-fertilisation processes among university, startups and consolidated companies focused on innovation. Located in the Milan north district which has been becoming a new Innovation District with a focus on deep tech innovation. It is an incubator geared with spaces and facilities (+8000 sqm), laboratories, competences and network.
During the initiative, PoliHub will provide its unique acceleration program including access to its facilities, assigning a dedicated mentor and realizing ad hoc workshops.
Technion DRIVE Accelerator
The Technion DRIVE Accelerator is located inside the Technion campus and leverages on the Technion’s top researchers and experts, huge alumni network, labs, excellent academic programs and local ecosystem. Located in Haifa – the home to many multinational corporations, such as Intel, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Philips, General Electric, Qualcomm – the DRIVE further enjoys a nurturing ecosystem for the startups. All DRIVE portfolio startups utilise deep technology. The DRIVE provides its companies with funding, mentoring, workshops, coaching, space, access to labs, experts and talents, connection to a worldwide network of investors and multinational corporates.
During the programme, Technion will conduct workshops and provide mentoring and coaching.
More about Technion DRIVE Accelerator
UnternehmerTUM GmbH
UnternehmerTUM, the biggest entrepreneurship center in Europe, offers founders and startups a complete service: from the development of an initial idea to IPO. A team of 240 experienced entrepreneurs, including scientists and investors, support startups with the development of their products, services and business models and a curated mentor network. The experts accompany the startup teams actively to help them build their companies, with market entry strategies and financing as well as with connections to business angels and venture capital.
As part of the EIT Urban Mobility Accelerator programme SPECIAL: COVID-19 you will be part of UnternehmerTUM’s incubation programme XPRENEURS and all its workshops and other benefits – including office space for three months.
More about UnternehmerTUM and its incubator programme XPRENEURS
Application details
Who should apply?
We are looking for startups and scaleups from EU plus EIT participating countries with a properly validated, clear, scalable and innovative business idea, that solves a mobility-related customer problem and deals with the special challenges the COVID-19 pandemic brought to cities and urban regions.
Eligibility criteria
To participate in the EIT Urban Mobility Acceleration programme you need to fulfil the following eligibility criteria:
- A team (NOT a single founder)
- At least one founder pursuing the startup full time
- A clear, scalable business idea
- Properly validated (min. TRL 6* according to TRL definition in Horizon 2020)
- Already incorporated in EU or EIT participating countries
Startups have to fit with the EIT Urban Mobility criteria of the COVID-19 sidecall: solutions take into consideration wider issues related to COVID-19 such as, capacity management, data privacy, community resilience, business models, social psychology, micro mobility, potential modal shift reversal and environmental pollution.
Application process
Four steps to your successful future!
- Apply through our application form here!
- A panel of qualified evaluators will review your application
- Up to 50 startups or scaleups will be invited to pitch in front of a jury on 24 or 25 August 2020
- The best teams will be notified shortly after the pitches to join the acceleration programme on 31 August 2020.
Should you have any questions regarding the application process, your eligibility or the programme, please contact us via email: covid@xpreneurs.io
