Mobility in Europe: analysis of 3000 start-ups
If you believe the news, the automotive industry is in crisis. Sales have slumped both in Germany and worldwide, and in Germany in particular there have been many complaints from the industry as the economic incentives for purchasing electric vehicles have been restricted.
But in Chinese, the word crisis is made up of two characters - one meaning danger and the other opportunity. And many entrepreneurs are trying to seize this opportunity.
Alex Kiltz has analyzed the market in this regard and the Results of this impressive study published. Below is my summary in German.
4 Trends in the mobility sector
There are several trends in the mobility sector that are shaking up the industry. On SE-Trends already has a lot to say about automotive. The four most important ones that Alex addresses are:
- Autonomous driving - Apart from the fact that technology is finally making autonomous driving possible, politicians are hoping that this will drastically increase safety (over 90% of accidents are due to human error). There are also economic factors. For example, around 30% of the costs fall on the driver of the truck.
- Electrification - This trend is primarily driven by high emission standards and subsidies from the legislator. In addition to the vehicles themselves, a corresponding infrastructure must also be established.
- New mobility services - Alternatives to cabs (Uber, elevator) and new transport options (e.g. electric scooters) have become possible thanks to the widespread use of smartphones. Customers now accept the pay-per-ride model as an alternative to owning a means of transportation, especially in cities.
- Connectivity - Data is the new gold. This involves not only the personal data of users (personal data), but also the data from vehicle sensors (inside-out), as well as the data used by vehicles, such as traffic data (outside-in).
Mobility start-ups in Europe
In his study, Alex Kiltz examined the start-up scene from an investor's point of view, as he works as an associate for the VC firm UVC. The following bio shows the logos of many of the 3,000 start-ups he examined, grouped into 11 categories.
At the time of the study, 7.5 billion US dollars had been invested in these companies. The UK and Germany dominate the list, with the UK having the most start-ups (32%), while Germany had the highest investment (30%). Let's take a closer look at the 11 categories:
- Autonomous vehicles and systems - This includes assistant systems through to Level 5 autonomyboth for people and loads, on wheels and in the air. Prominent representatives are companies such as Navya or One ride. China and the US invest considerably more in this category.
- Maps and navigation - It is now clear that autonomous driving requires good map material. But a good, machine-friendly solution does not yet exist. The potential here is huge, possibly even greater than web search. Prominent representatives are Wayray and Artisense.
- Sensors and training data - A lot is being invested worldwide in the field of sensor technology, particularly in Lidar. But training data is also extremely important. This includes not only data from real journeys, as collected by Google (Waymo) in particular, but also virtually generated data. OEMs are also active here with acquisitions. Examples here are Innoviz or Field of vision.
- Networking (V2X) - There is a wide range of possible applications here, from communication between individual vehicles, data collection for repairs to the utilization of passenger data. Examples here are Wejo and Aurora Labs.
- Mobility services - This category includes "classic" car sharing, but excludes micromobility (next point). With over 700 start-ups, this is the largest category. In Germany, Flixbus is a prominent example, others are Gett and Cluno.
- Micromobility - The majority of all car journeys are shorter than 10 km. If you no longer own a car, you don't necessarily have to cover this "last mile" by car. This market - visible in many cities through electric scooters and bicycles - has in principle been created by mobility services. Examples are Voi or Fazua.
- Electromobility and battery technology - There are an incredible number of unresolved problems in this area: Battery capacity, charging infrastructure, charging times, etc. All of this is partly driven by legal requirements and incentives (e.g. purchase premiums), which is why something needs to be done here. For example StoreDot and Silicon Mobility.
- Marketplace for vehicles and parts - OEMs have left a gap in the market that many start-ups are trying to fill, and the OEMs are of course trying to fill it too. Representatives are Car1which are now considered unicorns, and BrumBrum.
- Financing and insurance - OEMs have long recognized the value of this category, but there is a lot of movement due to changing ownership. Examples are Fri:day and Vehiculum.
- Hardware & Materials - This category includes completely new mobility solutions such as hyperloop space travel, as well as the development of new materials that could turn out to be game changers. Here, companies such as Softwheel and Spacetrain.
- Parking & Smart City - This category has become interesting due to new technologies (e.g. robot parking) and access to data - apart from the fact that parking is becoming an ever greater problem, especially in cities. Examples of start-ups are Optibus and Stanley Robotics.
Conclusion
I am currently hearing a lot of skepticism that Europe in general, and Germany in particular, is capable of rethinking mobility. One problem is certainly that for many people the activities taking place here are barely visible. But this work by Alex Kiltz makes these activities visible in an impressive way. I can only recommend it to anyone interested in the topic of mobility, read the entire article.
Image source: Piqsels
