New European accelerator programme has been launched for start-ups offering solutions to the specific problems of the coronavirus crisis.
The European institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has bolstered its activities in addressing the coronavirus crisis with the launch of an Accelerator programme for mobility solutions. The successful start-ups offer innovations such as smart dash-cams for cyclists and high-tech electric road systems. It comes on the tails of other EIT initiatives with a similar focus in other thematic Knowledge and Innovation Communities (see Swisscore article). This is in addition to a raft of other start-up support programmes launched over the past month. The Accelerator programme has selected 23 start-ups from across EU Member States and countries associated to Horizon 2020 such as Switzerland and Israel.
For the next three months, these companies will receive a tailored programme including one-on-one coaching, mentoring, peer-to-peer learning, training, workshops, access to international start-up and mobility events, and unique access to transport providers, cities and investors. The beneficiaries propose solutions across the mobility value chain, from offering better management of public transport to smart roads providing auto-charging of electric vehicles, to high-tech sanitary surfaces. The programme is co-run by four European acceleration partners: Futurebox, PoliHub, Technion DRIVE Accelerator and UnternehmerTUM.
EIT Urban Mobility was launched in 2019 with the mission to encourage positive changes in the way people move around cities and thereby make them more liveable places. Co-funding of up to EUR 400 million (2020-2026) from the EIT, a body of the European Union, will be provided to the consortium of 48 partners from 15 countries, including BMW Group, Czech Technical University, City of Copenhagen, TomTom, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Automotive Technology Centre of Galicia, and Siemens.
Using Europe’s cities as living labs, EIT Urban Mobility’s industry and university partners will demonstrate how new technologies can work to solve real problems in all aspects of our transportation systems. Other innovation initiatives that have been launched include Furnish, a project funding the design of urban elements that help adapt to the new challenges and opportunities posed by COVID-19. Scale-up Hub provides equity funding for promising start-ups seeking to deploy pilots of their solutions in cities across Europe. Also, the GoGlobal programme, developed by the EIT Urban Mobility and coordinated by PowerHUB and CARNET (an initiative by CIT UPC), contributes to enabling a growth environment for mature start-ups with a thematic focus on urban mobility.