A remote-control vehicle and other mobility incubator solutions to be tested in VEF pilot territory
At the end of the summer, remote-control autonomous vehicle, electric minibus, vehicle charging options, last-mile solutions, and other ideas promoting the city's development will be tested in the VEF pilot territory within the framework of the "Urban mobility incubator". Six teams enrolled in the first mobility-focused business incubator program in Latvia will work on the challenges of climate-neutral mobility defined by the city of Riga. The incubator is offered by innovation movement “VEFRESH” in cooperation with the Institute of Electronics and Computer Sciences, Riga City Council, co-working space “Teikums”, and supported by EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.
A total of 38 mobility ideas from the Baltic States, Poland, Sweden and even Canada were submitted for participation in the incubator, which were at various stages of development - both newly formed teams and established startups. Six teams from Latvia were selected for the incubator, which will start working on prototype development and deployment at the end of June. Among the participants are four teams of new ideas, where "SimpleCharge" will work on a solution for charging electric vehicles from lampposts and "Velorūme" will develop safe and convenient bicycle storage for housing districts. The team "E-stop" will develop a solution for charging and storing electric scooters, while the team "Mikropoint" will work on the development of the modular platform to solve last-mile transportation problems. Two startups are also selected for the incubator program - the remote-controlled vehicle solution will be further developed by the team “getUgo” and the operation of the retro-fitted electric minibus will be tested by the team “Electrify”.
Inese Andersone, a member of the jury and chairwoman of the City Development Committee of the Riga City Council, expresses confidence in the successful selection of participants in the incubator program: “In the selection process, we got acquainted with very promising solutions promoting mobility and climate neutrality, which development will promote the improvement of the functionality of the Riga micromobility network and develop it in a new quality. At the same time, the choice was not easy, but I expect that the selected teams will be able to deliver product prototypes in the autumn, which then can be further developed not only as elements of Riga mobility services, but also as an intercity export offer to other countries.”
The 10-week incubator program will start at the end of June during which selected teams will work on the development and deployment of their mobility solution prototype in VEF district, where special testing points will be set up in cooperation with the municipality. The physical location of the incubator is planned in the vibrant coworking space “Teikums”, but in line with the epidemiological conditions in Latvia the program might switch to an entirely online format. The teams in their daily work will be supported by internationally experienced business, technology, and product sales mentors. The latest technological and scientific input will be provided by experienced researchers and engineers of the Institute of Electronics and Computer Science, while safe prototype deployment in real urban environment will be provided by the Riga City Council City Development Department. After the deployment of prototypes this autumn, the incubator participants will pitch their solutions to invited investors to attract seed capital for further development of the product.
“VEFRESH” is an innovation movement that brought together the largest companies in the VEF district in 2019 to jointly develop the territory as an urban innovation centre. The participants and supporters of the movement are “Accenture Latvia”, Institute of Electronics and Computer Science, LMT, IT Education Fund, real estate developer “Pillar”, city in the city “Jaunā Teika”, as well as VEF Culture Palace.
This project is funded by EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union. EIT Urban Mobility acts to accelerate positive change on mobility to make urban spaces more liveable. For more information visit www.eiturbanmobility.eu.