The final of the Startup Challenge was the highlight of the world sustainable mobility summit Movin'On 2020. This year it was in the form of an interactive digital event which fully lived up to its promises.
The ten startup finalists pitched to an exceptional jury. Five won, each in a sustainable mobility related category.
As never before, Movin’On is acting and supporting startups in order to contribute to the emergence of concrete solutions for sustainable mobility
Despite the cancellation of the World Summit on Sustainable Mobility, which was to take place in Montreal in June 2020, Movin'On wanted to continue with the long-awaited final of the Startup Challenge and so offer the startups in its ecosystem a great opportunity to help them develop. This event was held virtually on Thursday, 4 June and was watched live on Movin'On's YouTube channel by more than 3,500 people. The final attracted a large audience, generating a lot of interactions, both before and during the event.
Of the 326 startups from 61 countries that took part in the Challenge, the final brought together the 10 most innovative startups in a position to present solutions to enhance the expected shift towards more sustainable mobility. The startups were thus able to pitch live to a jury of 22 expert professionals, two by two, across the five Movin'On categories.
The jury and public votes produced five startup winners, one per category, judged on the basis of six criteria: the creativity of their video pitch, the enthusiasm and conviction of the speakers, the originality of the proposed technology, their ability to convince investors on the basis of a demonstration of the robustness of their business model, the impact on sustainable mobility and the scalability of the solution: in a nutshell, their ability to move from ambition to action.
Five talented winners
The five winning startups were thus able to propose innovative solutions in each of the categories.
The category winners were as follows:
- Tackling climate change and air pollution: GBatteries | Advanced Charging, a startup based in Ottawa, Canada, which is developing a technology focusing on ultra-fast recharging of lithium-ion batteries.
- Improving multimodal mobility: ONO, a Berlin-based startup offering clean and sustainable transport solutions for urban areas.
- Promoting safe and accessible mobility: N-Vibe, a French startup that has devised vibrating GPS bracelets for people who are blind or have a visual impairment.
- Designing more efficient global transport: Everty, an Australian startup based in Sydney that has developed innovative recharging software for electric vehicles.
- Conserving resources: Addionics, a startup based in the UK and Israel providing rechargeable batteries which have redesigned architecture and a new 3D metal fabrication method.
The five winners will participate in the Movin'On Summit to be held in Montreal in June 2021.
The winners will receive an invitation to attend the Movin'On 2021 Summit in Montreal, from June 1 to 3.
In addition, all the 42 startups expected to attend the Montreal Summit in June 2020 will benefit from:
- Bespoke tailor-made e-coaching with the Solar Impulse Foundation as part of their #1000efficient solutions program.
- Debriefing on their pitch from Carlos Diaz, member of the jury and famous Silicon Valley investor.
- Personalized support through skills sponsorship, an incubation or acceleration program, and dedicated, tailor-made meetings with key partners or experts from our network to help them move their projects forward.
"We are very honoured to be one of the winners of the Startup Challenge 2020, the exposure our company has received has been fantastic. We hope to see you in Montreal in 2021," said Casey Helmer - Gbatteries.
"We were really impressed with the global dimension of Movin'On this year. The event mobilized startups, investors and stakeholders from all over the world, all united by the desire to build ever more sustainable and innovative mobility. It was a very inspiring experience," reported David Johnson, jury member for Maddyness.
"I am convinced that sustainable mobility is key to a better future and that startups can be the source of new and really concrete solutions. We must bring together all actors in the mobility sector to find collective solutions that will make mobility greener, more inclusive and safer. Which is why initiatives such as the Movin'On Startup Challenge are essential. I was honoured to be co-chair of the jury, alongside Bertrand Piccard, President of the Solar Impulse Foundation, for this edition of the Movin'On Startup Challenge 2020", said Karima Delli - MEP, President of the European Parliament's Committee on Transport and Tourism.
About the Movin'On community and the Movin'On Summit
Created and inspired by Michelin, Movin'On is the world's leading community developing concrete solutions to meet the challenges of sustainable mobility. Movin'On and its partners work all year round in an ecosystem, notably through the Movin'On Lab – a think and do tank - to move from ambition to action.
Every year the Movin'On community organizes a summit to drive its projects forward in concrete terms. For three days, 5,000 participants from major companies, start-ups, international organizations, public authorities and academia work together.
Due to the Covid-19 epidemic, this year Movin'On transformed its world summit into an online meeting to continue to advance sustainable mobility projects.
Movin’On will be back in Montreal from June 1 to 3, 2021.
More on www.MovinonConnect.com