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People are constantly on the move in Munich: The MVG, i.e. bus, tram and subway, had around 364 million passengers in 2021. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, these figures were even lower. In 2019, the MVG had 615 million passengers. But there are also numerous car drivers in the state capital, which, among other things, means that Munich is the Traffic jam capital Germany's: in 2022, motorists spent around 74 hours per year on congested roads.
Of course, the city's traffic mix includes more than that, especially cyclists and pedestrians. Their volumes are much harder to determine, however. However, there are at least reliable sources for the infrastructure: For example, cyclists in the city can use A network of paths totaling 1,200 kilometers in length And for pedestrians, the state capital has a so-called Walkability Index which shows how well individual neighborhoods are accessible on foot.
Urban mobility by car and bus
Several Munich startups are also contributing to this extensive mix of transport modes, actors, and interests. For example, STM Cars (from minute 4:30). Founded in 2020, the company operates a platform for daily rental of electric vehicles. The founders aim to contribute to reducing the number of vehicles on the roads and thus improving the quality of life in cities.
The quality of life of public transport passengers, in turn, has Awake Mobility in view. Because they are constantly frustrated by breakdowns and delays. The Munich-based startup has developed a solution for public bus fleets: condition monitoring and predictive maintenance using its own IoT hardware. We explain more about this starting at minute 6:35.
Mobility budgets and e-bikes
A different approach is taken by Mobiko (from minute 9:00). The startup offers companies a solution for billing their employees' mobility expenses via a monthly digital mobility budget. This gives employees a monthly mobility budget that they can use flexibly for various mobility providers and services.
With Fazua Finally, we'll introduce a company that has already completed its startup journey. Launched in 2013, Fazua has made a name for itself as a manufacturer of a drive system for e-bikes and pedelecs. This system can be fully integrated into the frame and completely removed. This has enabled the startup to win over investors such as HTGF, Bayern Kapital, and UVC Partners, but ultimately also Porsche. We'll recount the startup's entire story starting at minute 11:00.
The investor B&C Innovation Investments
With B&C Innovation Investments In this episode, we introduce a Viennese investor. As part of the B&C Private Foundation, whose purpose is to promote Austrian entrepreneurship, the VC is primarily interested in startups that can help the industry. This also includes German startups, as demonstrated by the investment in Awake Mobility. You can learn more about B&C Innovation starting at minute 13:50.
