Mobility Innovators Podcast

Africa is the second most populous continent in the world with 1.4 billion population and will reach 1.6 billion inhabitants by 2030. It is more than 16% of the world’s population. The startup ecosystem is evolving in Africa and venture capital firms are investing in the region, but it is only 2% of the total VC investment globally. Technology will play an important role in shaping the African economy and reforming the financial, healthcare, mobility & logistics sectors. Thus, it is important to follow a human-centric investment approach for venture capital firms. Africa needs to build infrastructure from the scratch for transportation and logistics to grow the GDP.

Olu Oyinsan is the managing partner at Oui Capital recently transitioning from Vice President at Ingressive Capital, an early-stage African venture fund, where he led the investment function. Olu began his career in commercial banking with Guaranty Trust Bank in Nigeria, later working as a consultant at Forrester, advising some of the world’s leading technology companies on products and processes, and as a relationship manager at Silicon Valley Bank, where he supported technology startups across all verticals in accessing debt, equity and mezzanine products.

Generally, the rail industry has a reputation for being slow to adopt new technologies. However, in reality, rail technologies are evolving a lot in the last few years. The key difference is that the adoption, the adoption is just slow, but the technology is evolving. Public transit companies around the world are implementing new technologies to make passengers’ journeys more comfortable. Metro and other major public transport systems have progressed from simple mass transportation services to integrated public transport providers. All new-generation technologies are very important for the rail sector, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data etc. Technology is helping to move towards zero infrastructure and adopt predictive maintenance practices. Hitachi Rail is one of the pioneers in rail technology and is working on various key projects.

An Ecuadorian living in Italy, Wellington Toapanta is Head of Digital Strategy & Innovation at Hitachi Rail, leading the Digital and Innovation Business strategy globally. His key responsibilities include the consolidation of Hitachi Rail's Digital strategy, the identification of digital and innovative trends from the market, and the identification of strategic partnerships (and M&A). He has 14 years of experience in the railway environment and previously led European Research Projects from Horizon 2020 and was part of the Strategy and Business Development teams with global responsibilities with Ansaldo STS (now Hitachi Rail) for Railway, Mass Transit, and Freight.

Public transit agencies are trying to bring back lost ridership by launching various marketing campaigns and loyalty programs. The potential to combine games and rewards with public transport travel is significant. It could provide additional behavior change rewards for off-peak travel, encourage walking instead of vehicle access to public transport, or reward the use of alternative public transport stops to avoid congested stations. Move2Earn is a new segment in blockchain and incorporates the concepts of Game-Fi, Social networks, and NFTs to incentivize participants.

Currently, most of the Move2Earn games are either walking, running, or like Fitbit app that tracks your exercise routine, and you get rewarded with tokens. Move2Earn protocol can encourage individuals to use more sustainable or green mobility options. The users can save carbon emissions which can be converted into NFTs, crypto tokens, or other rewards. There are few Move2Earn players which are using blockchain technologies to promote green mobility.

Boyd Cohen is the CEO and Co-founder of Iomob, a decentralized Internet of Mobility network. Since obtaining his Ph.D. in strategy and entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado in 2001, he spent the past two decades focused on accelerating the path to a low-carbon sustainable economy. This included publishing 3 books, multiple peer-reviewed articles, and starting a handful of ventures in the smart cities and sustainability arena. This is Boyd's second episode with @Mobility Innovators and he shared about his new project - WheelCoin, a Move2Earn app using #blockchaintechnology.

The pandemic had a significant impact on public transportation ridership in North America. Currently, the ridership is ranging between 50-70% depending on the city and transit mode. Before the pandemic, ridership on Ottawa's transit system was among the highest per capita of any North American city, with 475,000 daily journeys in the city of 1 million habitants. OC Transpo (aka Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission) is the public transit agency for the city of Ottawa, the capital city of Canada. The agency is adapting to changing customer behavior and has launched many initiatives to bring back ridership. The transit agency is planning to convert the full bus fleet to electric by 2027 and working on Phase II of the Ottawa Light Rail system, to build a truly multi-modal transport network.

Renée Amilcar became the first woman to be permanently hired for the role of General Manager of Transit Services with OC Transpo in the City of Ottawa. She joined the position in October 2021 after spending 19 years at Société de transport de Montréal (STM). During her stint at STM Montreal, she managed different departments, including the planning section, bus maintenance, and operation. She is also the winner of the exceptional woman leadership prize for large companies awarded by the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec (FCCQ) in 2018. She was also the first female bus committee chair of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP).

Innovation will play a key role in the transformation of the public transport network. Cities around the world are seeking out innovative solutions to reduce emissions and adapt to changing travel behaviours. The RATP Group is the world's third largest public transport company, carrying 16 million people every day in 14 countries through 107 subsidiaries around the world. RATP is implementing various innovative projects including BIM robots, AI and IoT, 5G, 3D printing etc. to executive various projects including artificial intelligence to translate instantly several languages, and Perceval, the dog robot to monitor tracks. However, the increasing digitalization will lead to threats from cyber-attacks. To be future-ready, the agencies want to collaborate with external stakeholders such as startups, academia, and research institutes.

Côme Berbain is Head of innovation for RATP Group and head of the Autonomous Vehicle program. He has 15 years of experience in the public (Ministry of Defence, French national authority for cybersecurity) and private sector (Orange, Trusted Logic) on the topics of cybersecurity and digital transformation. He advised the State Secretary for Digital in 2017 and 2018 on the topics of digital trust and state digital transformation, before becoming Chief Technology Officer of the French State at the inter-ministerial directorate for Digital. He joined RATP in November 2019. He holds an engineering degree and a Ph.D. in Cryptography.

The Middle East is generally known as a car-dependent region owing to its harsh climate and cheap energy cost. However, things have changed dramatically in the last decade as cities have put digitalization and improvement of public transport on their agendas. There is a competitive spirit among countries in the Middle East region as countries are investing heavily in public transport infrastructure and innovation. The new investment in the rail network, metro system, electric buses, etc. will create more opportunities for people to do things. Further, the startup ecosystem is booming in the Middle East as Dubai is emerging as the favorite destination for crypto and Web3 Startups. Similarly, Riyadh is attracting innovative startups as a regional hub.

Dheeraj Bhardwaj is a Group CEO for City Group Co., Kuwait, leading the transformation agenda of the passenger transport/ mobility sector in Kuwait with a focus on digital innovations and green initiatives. Prior to this, he was co-founder and CEO of Arnab Mobility based in the UAE. A unique blend of experience ranging from intense R&D, and technology start-ups to large corporates and Strategy Consulting. As a digital & innovation consulting lead of PwC, he advised and consulted for a number of Government departments and businesses in the UK, India, and the Middle East on Strategy, Innovation, and Technology implementations. Dheeraj developed Innovation Strategy for $25 billion Crossrail project in London and the award-winning “Dubai Innovation Index”.

Public transport is the backbone of the cities. However, there is a need to shift focus on customer experience owing to the emergence of multiple mobility options. Using AI and machine learning through leveraging a variety of data sources, public transport operators can understand the real historical and current passenger demand of urban transportation systems. The city authorities should try to adopt SUMP (Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan) which aims to build 15-minute cities that allows people to ditch their car. To achieve this goal, new emerging modes including micromobility, on-demand buses, and car sharing systems need to work in tandem with the public transport system. European cities have some good examples of multi-modal integration. Cities should continue to experiment with futuristic ideas including Urban Air Mobility, Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and Autonomy, etc. and encourage startups to share fresh perspectives.

Scott Shepard (Asistobe CCO / CPO) leverages his professional training as an urban planner & designer to deliver value in mobility innovation, startup advisory, entrepreneurship, and thought leadership. Scott is an advocate for #CitiesFirst and an expert in the intersection of cities, movement, and technology. He is a digital mobility expert, entrepreneur, startup advisor, and thought leader who understands and is passionate about the intersection of cities, movement, and technology. He works for more than 15 years in the USA in different roles helping cities to plan mobility and transport infrastructure. Later he moved to Europe and worked with multiple startups in an Operation and Business role. In this podcast, we discussed various topics including the future of mobility, the public transport sector in Europe, the idea of 15 minutes cities, the evolution of micro-mobility, and the growing startup ecosystem in Europe.

Venture capitalists are pouring money into the mobility sector. In 2021, mobility startups have raised $97.7 billion. It is important to note that venture capital firms are investing in a variety of mobility technologies such as autonomous vehicles, on-demand, e-scooters, electric vehicles, battery technologies, cybersecurity, data management, fleet subscription, urban logistics, urban air mobility, and many others.

Innovation is happening all around the world. However, Israel will play an important role in the future mobility industry, with more than 600 mobility startups founded over the last decade here in Israel. Furthermore, many venture capital firms are focusing on investing in mobility and logistics startups. We invited one of the first investors in the mobile technology sector to share his knowledge.

Michael Granoff is the founder and Managing Director of Maniv Mobility, a Tel Aviv-based venture capital firm that invests in startups that aim at revolutionizing the mobility and technology industries. Maniv Mobility has raised around $160 million so far and has invested in more than 37 startups. Some of the notable investments include Otonomo, bipi, Aurora labs, Revel, Turo, Upstream Security, Ridecell etc. Mike is also a founding board member of Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE), a Washington, DC-based policy and advocacy organization. He also serves on the boards of many mobility start-ups.

Public Transport is going through a transformation phase. There is increasing competition from other modes of transport. On the other hand, the ridership has not fully recovered. Public transport operators should provide safe and reliable. The role of transport is much more than just moving people from A to B. There is a need to adopt innovation culture and cooperation and co-innovation with external stakeholders are important to solve some of the challenges faced by the transport authority. Open Innovation can help organizations to define their problem, co-developing solutions by providing subject matter expertise and data, and then trialing some of the solutions

Rikesh Shah is Head of Commercial Innovation at Transport for London (TfL). Rikesh is accountable for TfL’s engagement with market innovators that include start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises, academics, R&D institutes, accelerators, venture capitalists, and large corporates. TfL’s Commercial Innovation function is able to set out clear challenges, engage with the most innovative companies from across the world, curate and incubate the best ideas and then scale them to support the delivery of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy.

Rikesh was previously responsible for TfL’s open data strategy and set up a digital and data partnerships function. As a result of TfL’s open data, there are nearly 700 apps used by 42% of Londoners with over 14,000 registered users, mainly developers. He truly believes that “Any innovation is about saving real-life problems".

Angel investment is important to the achievement of startups. Angel investors are early backers who not only provide funding to small startups or entrepreneurs, but also support product development and discovering early customers. As the private funding market is facing slow down, it will be important for the entrepreneurs to build their ventures strategically. Startups in mobility spaces are no exception and should focus on building distribution and finding product-market fit. This episode will feature firsthand knowledge from an Angel Investor who has invested in over 280 startups globally. Some of the key questions in this podcast are:

· Angel investment strategy – Indexing approach?

· Angel Investor due-diligence checklist?

· Difference between Angel Investors vs Venture Capitalists?

· Due diligence process followed by Angel Investors for Mobility Startups?

· How to raise venture capital as a first-time founder?

· How to build a pitch deck for Investors?

· How do angel/venture capitalists add value?

· Potential uses cases of Web3 and blockchain?

· Future of Startup ecosystem in emerging markets?

· Funding winter implication and key advice for founders

· How to become an Angel Investor?

Ashley Flucas is the founder and general partner of Flucas Ventures. Based in West Palm Beach, Florida, the syndicate of around 2,000 angel investors has invested in more than 200 startups. Ashley, a graduate of Duke University and Harvard Law School, also serves as a partner at Jupiter, a Florida-based real estate finance fund with $3 billion in assets under management.