Thank you so much to all the wonderful and innovative women-led companies that applied for this year’s Empower Women in Shared Mobility 2023 Award! To recap, our Empower Women in Shared Mobility Pitch is a program dedicated to encouraging and empowering women-led companies within the shared mobility industry. This year, the prize package is the biggest one yet! See below. The EmpowerWISM panel of judges have begun the extremely difficult task of choosing the top 5 finalists and winner from this years cohort!
It’s time to meet the this year’s 17 candidates – but first, here is the list of prizes on offer for this years winner…
EmpowerWiSM 2023 Prize Package
EmpowerWiSM 2023: Meet the 17 Candidates
Behava
Behaviour change consulting for a nicer, better, greener and more equal world
“Behava’s vision is to help accelerate a systemic, sustainable social change by offering behaviour change consulting – the most effective approaches and methods to change behaviours – to sustainable projects and ventures.
Given our background in sustainable transportation – 8 years spent promoting fast and ultra-fast chargers for electric passenger cars and buses by the founder, Natalia Le Gal – and our commitment to better, cleaner, and more equal transport for all, Behava has a particular interest in shared mobility providers. Promoting shared mobility and rooting it in the habits of humans the world over requires a deep understanding of why humans do the things they do – why they move the way they do – and how to encourage them to switch to new, shared models. With Behava, we want to help shared mobility providers include the thorough understanding of transport behaviours, including the key moments of when people are the most susceptible to change, and to capitalise on them to accelerate a switch to shared mobility.
Behava has already secured its first clients and projects on behaviour change for sustainability and health, but none of them is related to transport. We now strive to secure our first shared mobility client by doing outreach and networking at industry events. We hope it will give us legitimacy in this sector and help generate referrals. A successful project implementation based on behavioural sciences will also give us a solid base from which to argue on the importance of including this type of approach in building shared mobility solutions. We then plan to build on this success, get more involved in industry events, grow the team and eventually become the go-to player in shared mobility for behaviour change consulting.”
Natalia Le Gal | Behaviour Change Consultant | Behava
EcoTaxi
Safe, inclusive, and sustainable mobility
“EcoTaxi is the first inclusive and sustainable logistics company in the Baltics that intends to solve emission problems by providing a platform for sustainable vehicles only. The platform will actively reduce male to female assault by onboarding more female drivers and make accessibility easier for differently-abled persons. ExoTaxi’s customers are people who care about the planet and are interested in using sustainable methods to get to wherever they need to go.”
Ojochide Obidi | Product Designer | EcoTaxi
emicro
A cargo bike subscription service for urban families
“Bikes and cyclists will be at the heart of urban mobility. Owning a bike is set to become more popular than owning a car. As bikes take this central role in people’s daily commutes, their safety becomes important. Commuters who are financially vulnerable can even lose their jobs if they don’t make it to work because their bike got stolen. Hence, it will become a norm to provide sufficient secure bike parking all around the city – near bus and metro stations, when building new bike lanes, designing office buildings and so forth.
Emicro’s state-of-the-art no-theft bike stations are installed so that there is no way to lift or break them. Cyclists can instantly lock and unlock their securely parked bikes with just one swipe. Seamless and secure parking with Emicro saves time and gives people a piece of mind. These stations also benefit cities and establishments as they make streets and building entrances neat and welcoming.
Local businesses and the economy prosper, too, when people actually use the streets to get around. Several studies have shown that compared to car-users people who walk and cycle purchase more from small businesses.
So when a city wants to make the shift towards greener mobility, it simply has to make it easy and carefree for people to move around without a car. With that, cities will create healthy and inclusive communities that benefit everybody. In fact, each time a city has started to design better environments, the results have been so good that it has continued to invest in pedestrian- and cycling-friendly areas.”
Fulle
AI Battery Platform for Powered Equipment
“Fulle is the Smart Battery Power for a more sustainable future. The software gives our customers peace of mind by offering visibility in useful battery data. They can see the vitality of the cells and accurately track their usage. Our customers therefore get extended service life and rich functionality beyond just energy. The batteries universally fit into a number of our product range and this increases their versatility and reduces the overall cost of our customers’ transition to renewable powered equipment and solar storage. This, in turn helps accelerate the transition of the world to net zero We put the ‘smart’ into batteries. Each battery is internet-connected and many batteries can work together to power your larger devices.”
Molly Fullee | COO & CoFounder | Fulle
HERide
Female friendly rideshare app
“HERide is a female friendly rideshare app that is focused on the safety and empowerment of women Built with the needs of women in mind, we aim to improve the lives of women everywhere through safer transportation, job creation, and financial security. Our drivers are personally vetted and undergo comprehensive background checks so you can have peace of mind knowing they meet the HERide Standard. What is that standard you might ask?
The HERide standard is a commitment towards awareness around gender-based violences which affects 1 in 3 women globally. The HERide standard also advocates for women who are actively seeking work after stepping away from the workforce and now looking to prioritize flexibility.
The HERide standard amplifies the voices of women who have experienced gender pay gaps that affect their opportunities for advancement and career progression. Our goals towards safer transportation are inclusive of our drivers. We place the power to choose in our driver’s hands so that they are able to choose the type of rides that they accept, the hours they desire to work and ultimately how much they desire to earn.”
Jillian Anderson | Founder | HERide
itselectric
Curbside EV charging specifically built for cities
“We are itselectric, bringing EV charging to the millions of drivers who cannot charge at home as they park their cars on city streets. We do this by overcoming city electrical grid limitations by using energy from buildings to power a publicly accessible curbside charger. In return, we share revenue with the property owners.
Our mission is to bring curbside EV charging to cities across the U.S. and advance the adoption of electric vehicles by partnering with property owners to unlock access to untapped electricity. itselectric provides property owners with the option to earn a passive income while making it easier for everyone to charge EVs.”
Tiya Gordon | COO & CoFounder | itselectric
Liigu
Rent a car - for hours or years
“The challenge we are tackling is how to provide convenient access to transportation for everyone at the time and place of need. Specifically when travelling over longer distances. How to keep the options flexible, safe, and convenient while also remaining sustainable in the long run? Regardless of different modes of mobility that are available and developed, personal cars still are and will remain to be the most convenient way of transportation in many use cases.
However, the people’s attitudes towards owning personal cars is changing. In the future, cars are no longer a product, but a service. We will use cars only if and when we need to. With Liigu, the customer can have a car anytime anywhere without having to own it and worry about its maintenance, cost, and sustainability. Our vision is a future, where the convenience of personal mobility and environmentally friendly car usage can go hand in hand. In the next 2 years, we focus on providing short-term scheduled rentals and car subscription.”
Annemari Muru | Leading Bustler | Liigu
Metacar Mobility Systems
Mobility solution of the future
“Metacar aims to be the world reference (at horizon 2027) for nearby SUSTAINABLE mobility thanks to KIWEE redistributed carsharing, available to EVERYONE and EVERYWHERE.
- SUSTAINABLE: carsharing complementing public transport and/or other shared transport solutions, thus a strong incentive to get ride of one’s own car for everyday work-home trips, including « last mile »
- EVERYONE: especially those without a car and/or a driving license.
- EVERYWHERE: the innovative redistribution technology makes it sustainable for many demanding (periurban) areas.
Current shared transport solutions do not fulfil users’ needs: providing the service at the right time and in the right place, and prove too costly (operation + infrastructure), especially in periurban areas.
METACAR develops KIWEE, a disruptive micro-mobility solution for people and goods, particularly relevant for near-by mobility outside cities, including last mile in complement to public transport or shared transport, such as carpooling. For the end user, KIWEE consists of small cars, electric quadricycles, available in carsharing 24/7 for direct trips, designed for everyday uses (e.g. seat booster for a child, storage for groceries,…). KIWEE is available to users without a driving licence (limited to 45km/h), which enhances accessibility to employment and competencies for various use cases : commercial activity areas and business parks, industrial areas, campuses, etc. in general, all mobility hubs. For the operator, KIWEE can nest into a 10-unit roadtrain, drastically improving the efficiency of redistribution, charging and parking as the system only needs 1 driver to redistribute the cars where they are needed, and 1 charging station for 10 units.”
Tiphaine Deheuny | CEO | Metacar for Kiwee Mobility
NINA Mobility
Smart cities, safer people
“More than 65% of paying public transport users are women, especially black members of the underclass – in Brazil CDE class (ITDP, 2018). However, sexual harassment, for example, was only criminalized in Brazil in 2018. Since then, there are still no clear reporting channels, guidelines, or plans to combat gender violence in the context of urban mobility. There is still a lack of consolidated data on official government bases and clear public combat policies.
In this sense, NINA’s vision is, in up to 10 years, to provide companies and the government with grounded information to understand why public spaces are unsafe and to favor combat and safety actions for these women. This way ensures that no woman suffers gender-based violence when traveling.
Through our solution, NINA enables the construction of safer, more inclusive, and livable cities for all people, especially women. We encourage complaints and collect data to influence important decision-making to improve the city, especially for those at the bottom of the social pyramid. By combating gender violence in mobility, we increase women’s perception of safety, encourage them to belong to their cities, and prevent them from leaving schools, universities, and the job market, for example.”
Simony Cesar | Founder & CEO | NINA Mobility
NOCA Mobility
Purchase Association for bicycle components with a vision for more sustainable (urban) mobility
“NOCA’s goal is to accelerate sustainable urban mobility through supply chain transparency and efficiency – starting with micro mobility and specifically the bicycle. As a SaaS-enabled marketplace, we provide an overview of available components, digitalise the procurement process, bring more sustainability, transparency and cost-efficiency into the supply chain, and analyse data so that users can make better planning and forecasting decisions. We strongly believe that a competitive and resilient supply chain is the key for micro-mobility vehicles to becoming the best mode of transport for individual and commercial use cases.”
Anna Buchmann | CEO & CoFounder | NOCA Mobility
One Mobility Ltd.
To Make Mobility Work for Everyone
“One Mobility’s Core Purpose is to offer convenience, easy in app, and web access to subscribe mobility services in comprehensive monthly package deals which meets demand of consumers, and businesses. Marketplace also allocates resources more efficiently with multiple types of vendors. It becomes a destination to everyone. The One Mobility Marketplace performs for consumers a playground where they can lease different types of services related to cycling and mobility, and get the best services close to them. Marketplace also enables shorter period leasing, renting and different types of mobility subscriptions offered by multiple types of vendors. One Mobility Marketplace allows products and services ultimately be purchased online – anywhere, anytime by anyone. One Mobility activates people, and creates more business for locals focusing on sustainable, affordable cycling, and mobility. The core of One Mobility Marketplace is to make people’s daily life valuable by subscribing to convenience.”
Jaana Ylikoski | Founder | One Mobility Ltd
Place Intelligence
Get the evidence you need to create the places people love
“Place Intelligence provides big data at a human scale to support evidence based design and place based decision making.
In increasingly volatile urban environments, access to quality data to inform city decision making is more critical than ever. But this data is hard to find, cost prohibitive, and difficult for practitioners to work with. We address this information asymmetry by providing efficient and cost effective tools to help city shapers access big data, locational insights and predictive intelligence.
We operate globally and aim to see place based data integrated into all place based design and decision making to ensure more liveable, sustainable, and equitable places for all.
Our work in transport and mobility focuses around the delivery of data for movement and place planning, network demand mapping, and advanced telemetry. This work is trusted by most of the major transport engineering firms and several state government agencies and transport authorities. Our work in this area is acknowledged as some of the most advanced in the world and underpins billions of dollars of infrastructure investment.”
Bonnie Shaw | Co-Founder | Place Intelligence
Po Campo
Making gear as mobile as you
“Imagine looking out your window and seeing the streets full of people using micromobility. There’s less congestion, less pollution, more green spaces, more movement. People are happily going from one place to another because they can rely on Po Campo to support their micro-mobile lifestyle.
We’re building Po Campo to become the lifestyle brand of the micromobility movement, helping make micromobility a better and more seamless part of people’s lives so that they can experience its freedom, joy, and strength every day.
We started by solving an immediate problem that micromobility enthusiasts face every day: how to carry things on and off your bike/scooter with style and ease. But that is just the beginning. By focusing on serving this rapidly growing consumer base, we will expand into apparel and gear to support them as they move through their days in cities around the world. When you look out your window, you’ll see a piece of Po Campo on everyone riding by.”
Maria Boustead | Founder | Po Campo
Tummoc
Reversing the downwards trend of the use of public transport in urban India
“We are working on a feature in the app where users get an option to customize their rides with single QR. For example, a user can tell us that he needs a minimum walking distance for the first file, or ask for a suggestion where the first mile is not needed. And we give him all the options of reaching his closest public transportation mode without using the first mile.
Our goal in the future years to be the only B2B and B2C transit system provider in the industry. Right now, our focus is on B2C, but we plan to expand to B2B in the near future. Once it is accomplished, we can truly declare that we are building an effective transportation network for India. We are also further eyeing to go live in around 25+ cities by the end of this Financial Year.”
Monalisha Thakur | CoFounder | Tummoc
Voi
Providing the most actionable citation data and insights in the industry
“At Voi, we support the global shift to sustainable transportation. Today, we provide the most actionable citation data and insights in the industry. We want to stop the wasted resources spent on snail-mailed citations. We want to provide a better user experience for drivers to resolve citations.
Voi logistics is the first and only automated violation management solution for fleets, saving mobility fleets 30-50% on tickets and tolls. We integrate with agencies directly to find and resolve parking, camera, and toll violations so companies can focus more on their core competencies and save precious operating capital.”
Megan Broccoli | CEO & Founder | Voi
Vostok Electric
Making affordable, easy and clean mobility the norm
“Our vision is to be the first globally known female e-mobility founded company. The goal is to build a global brand around innovative, quality and sustainable micro-mobility solutions, for all genders,from a female perspective . We have started with manufacturing electric mopeds in asia, and we have just launched a 100% Spanish manufactured electric kickscooter with the spirit of a bicycle in the north of Spain. We want to be a company that truly represents sustainablilty through our prducts, how we manage materials supply chain and communicate our values. We are not here to green-wash.
Our slogan “go places” is for all the doers, all those who are overcoming barriers , challenges and trying to achieve a better situation for themselves, or become a better version of themselves. It also represents the barriers that we face on a daily basis as humans, entreprenuers, as females in a male driven sector.”
Rachel Lesslar | Electric Mobility Specialist | Vostok Electric
Whee!
A cargo bike subscription service for urban families
“Whee! is a design driven, user centric impact startup. We want to change urban mobility by offering a car alternative to the user group that needs it the most, namely families in dense urban areas. We offer a subscription for an accessible midtail cargo bike. A bike for three with insurance, maintenance and community included at a fixed monthly price.
Our solution is research based, and is tapping into the specific transportation needs of urban women and caretakers, needing to trip chain, with kids and goods. In 2023 we will accellerate our hardware project. We are developing our own mid tail cargo bike focusing on 3 arches: 1 longevity and circularity 2 fleet operation and repairability 3 User experience, especially focusing on women and families. This combination is a new approach to LEV design. Bundled with an holistic service, we firmly believe it is the missing piece in the puzzle of sustainable urban mobility and we want it to have the biggest possible reach and impact.”
Kari Anne Solfjeld Eid | Founder & CPO | Whee!
Overview of the Applicants
More EmpowerWISM 2023 Articles
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