Startups to tackle shared mobility issues

Last week Chicago housed the National Shared Mobility Summit. Besides the big shared mobility players, 9 startups took the stage, showing how they can tackle the main challenges of the new mobility industry. 

The 9 start-ups faced three judges and 120 conventioneers over two days, however only one could win. Here are the nine in short, with the winner at the end.

CLEVR

A three-wheeled scooter with a seat for disable persons might already be seen on the streets, but the ones of CLEVR are really clever, since they are equipped with precise GPS tracking with an accuracy to within three feet. The vehicles can be geofenced and speed-controlled in order to keep sidewalks safe and prevent another scooter war.

Koloni

While CLEVER takes scooter sharing to a next level, so does Koloni with bike sharing. Rather than only sharing bikes, it created shared storage lockers so citizens can share whatever comes up in your mind. The same technology to unlock a bicycle can now unlock a wide spectrum of shared objects.

Bellhop

Taking all before-mentioned solutions together and you end up with Bellhop, who aims to build a mega-aoo that integrates all rideshare, bikeshare and public transit apps, making it not only convenient to have an all-in-one application, but gives the consumer an easy tool to compare rates and options. 

Mobility 4 All

Providing shared mobility for those who cannot ride their selves, is the mission of Mobility4All. Via its app MO, one’s caregiver can arrange a ride for a disabled or elderly rider with a third party – a certified driver from other transportation companies.

RideOn

RideIT aims to clean up the scooter mess by providing universal docking stations for multiple scooter brands. The platform of RideOne will provide universal charging and universal tracking keys. 

SomEV

Related to the service of RideOn are the universal batteries of SomEV. Scooters and e-bikes equipped with SomEV batteries can be charged by swapping the empty battery at a kiosk, rather than needing to hire an employee to charge the batteries of bikes and scooters on the road or at the different stations. 

Vostok

Similar is the service of Vostok who developed a e-scooter with a removable battery pack. The 60-mile range battery pack can be charged in any standard electric socket. 

TIKD

Shared mobility comes with shared parking issues as well. TIKD monitors 700 ticket-issuing agencies to notice whenever a shared vehicle is ticketed. Rather than having the parking companies stalking the driver or rider company, the startup interacts directly with the offending driver to satisfy the fine. 

Velocia

With the rice of congestion taxes and ride hailing caps, Velocia comes right on time with its solution to modify positive behaviour rather than punish bad behaviour. By rewarding people for parking in a specific area or for taking public or shared transport, they want to establish the real modal shift, The virtual currencies Velos can be redeemed for bus tickets bikesharing rides or other sustainable mobility modes.

Most promising startup

RideOn, Velocia and TIKD made it to the top 3 chosen by the jury members Beth Bond, head of city development for Bosch; Jason Dietrich, a principal at A3Ventures; and David Leopold, director of product management for the City Tech Collaborative, UI Labs. Out of them, summit attendees selected TIKD as the most promising startup.