WHAT IS CITYMAKERS?
The Groupe Renault partners with NUMA, a leading startup accelerator, to launch CityMakers in partnership with AXA, Nissan, RCI Bank and Services and the City of Paris.
CityMakers is a 10-month open innovation program to experiment solutions and accelerate the transition toward a flexible and sustainable urban mobility.
You can find more information in the video below:

WHO CAN APPLY?
CityMakers is open to international startups. Startups can apply here until July 28th.
“I am happy to benefit from the support from movmi and its international network to identify promising mobility startups to work with” says Clara Terrien, who launched Citymakers as Innovation Ecosystem Manager at Renault Innovation Lab and Nissan Research Center in Silicon Valley.
WHY LAUNCHING CITYMAKERS?
Improving mobility requires coordinated actions from the private and public sectors. To bring forward solutions the Renault Group, NUMA, and the partners have created CityMakers, which brings together startups, experts, public and private stakeholders.
“I have no doubt that the transition toward an integrated transportation system requires to build a common vision between private companies, local governments, entrepreneurs, universities, and citizens” explains Clara.
“This transition is a complex challenge that requires practical management recommendations both for local governments and private companies. Our approach is the result of a joint study with Susan Shaheen, a professor at the University of Berkeley and Co-Director at Transportation Sustainability Research Center. We developed a qualitative and multi-case study framework that has allowed us to study one-way carsharing services. The study highlighted practices for public and private players to drive change based on collective experience”.
WHAT MAKES CITYMAKERS SPECIFIC?
In Citymakers, the program partners will select seven startups to work on the transportation-related challenges below:
- How to offer fun, interactive and immersive information to passengers in a vehicle?
- How to simplify the use of different means of transport while travelling in Ile-de-France?
- How to promote the deployment of electric vehicles and their infrastructure in urban areas?
- How can mobility services be improved or created thanks to the data generated by unused cars?
- How to use car data to provide a predictive road maintenance tool?
- How do you ensure the income of someone sharing your vehicle on a platform while integrating mobility services?
Each selected startup will collaborate with the partners and mobility experts to develop an innovative solution that meets a challenge. They will have three months to experiment their solutions within the city of Paris before they present their results.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS FOR STARTUPS?
During the program the selected startups will have the chance to work with public and private leaders in their sector. Among others they will:
- Receive a €10,000 grant to support their experimentations
- Access exclusive resources (experimentation field, data sets from the corporates partners, …)
- Benefit from NUMA expertise and a network of experts to accelerate their business
WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS?
The names of the seven selected startups to take up the challenges will be announced on September, 28th. The experimentation phase of the program will run from October to December 2017. The solutions will be presented in January 2018.
The partners will also organize monthly events on urban mobility and innovation in order to better understand the challenges of tomorrow’s cities. These events will take place at Renault’s Open Innovation Lab in Paris in partnership with OuiShare and Silex ID. Launched in March 2017, Renault Open Innovation Lab – Le Square aims to define new ways of working and to explore the future of mobility by opening up the company’s boundaries and encouraging cooperation around new kinds of business organization with players from the French ecosystem.
Interview with Clara Terrien
Clara is responsible for innovation programs at Renault Innovation lab and Nissan Research Center in Silicon Valley. She is specialized in how large corporations engage with startups, universities, and local governments to advance urban mobility innovation and improve our cities.
https://movmi.net/women-in-shared-mobility-autonomous-future/
Connect with Clara on Linkedin or connect with us to learn more.