Future Hamburg Award winners are going to present their business ideas at the World Congress for Intelligent Transport System (ITS) in Hamburg.
The startups Breeze Technologies and Infinite Mobility were honoured this summer with Hamburg’s international startup award. The impact startups from Norway and Germany impressed the Future Hamburg Award jury of experts with their smart solutions for more sustainable life in the city of the future. The KONVOI and Blue Atlas Robotics teams also received bonus prizes from the award partner homePORT.
With the support of the City of Hamburg, these four prize-winners can now present their concepts at the industry’s most prestigious international meeting on future mobility. From 11 to 15 October 2021, Hamburg is host to the ITS World Congress. The focus there is on smart mobility and the digitalization of the transport sector. A Startup Area links industry experts, companies and promising founders from the fields of mobility and transport.
Autonomous vehicles, delivery drones and smart traffic control are just some of the trends that the ITS World Congress in Hamburg will highlight. More than 400 international exhibitors from over 100 countries will present their concepts at this year’s ITS in Hamburg. The Startup Area also gives 45 innovative startups from all around the world the chance to get in touch with investors and experts, and pitch their business models to a professional audience. As befits the ITS World Congress, the main focus of this year’s Future Hamburg Award was on startups offering smart solutions in mobility and logistics for the city of the future. It is, therefore, all the more beneficial that four winning teams have made the most of the city’s offer to be present at the event.
The Norwegian startup Infinite Mobility presented their concept for a solar electric tricycle at ITS congress-exhibition: Solar PV provides 30 to 40 km per extends range. Their lightweight vehicle can be used for Last-Mile Delivery & Urban Mobility in the cities of the future. The expert jury of the Future Hamburg Award singled out the startup in particular for its high disruptive potential.
Love Lupi, founder and CEO/COO of Infinite Mobility, explains, “Our technology breaks with the current status quo in mobility, for many investors this is moonshot thinking. Here at ITS World Congress, many investors and automotive experts were interested in our solution and recognize its massive potential.”
The winner of the Future Hamburg Award, Breeze Technologies, is also attending the ITS World Congress. The company’s cloud- and AI-based software for evaluating and improving air quality in inner cities took the award’s top spot. Besides taking part in the Congress, the two startups can look forward to a customized stay in Hamburg organized by the city’s Startup-Unit, enabling them to be introduced to investors and key decision-makers. In addition, the first prize will give Breeze Technologies access to one of the leading international startup programs of Plug and Play in Silicon Valley. Before heading out West, however, Hamburg is the perfect place to be this week to develop business interests even further.
“The leading experts for transport and mobility are present here – the mobility industry in particular is a decisive factor for urban air quality. We are therefore delighted to be able to present our technology at the ITS World Congress”, says Robert Heinecke, founder and CEO of Breeze Technologies. He continued: “You notice here that Hamburg is at the cutting edge when it comes to innovative logistics. We are also really looking forward to finding out what opportunities await us during our stay in Silicon Valley.”
The ITS World Congress gives the City of Hamburg the opportunity to show itself as a shop window for future mobility – the real laboratory homePORT from the Hamburg Port Authority presents innovations that can be trialled at its own testing site in Hamburg. During the mobility congress, the homePORT site will transform itself into a drone port, where visitors will get to see the potential and civilian possibilities for using drones in the transport sector. These are the perfect conditions for Blue Atlas Robotics and KONVOI as the recipients of the Future Hamburg Award bonus prize, which was awarded by homePORT.
“Blue Atlas provides automated underwater inspection and analysis for ships and harbour structures and is thus aimed directly at port cities. The Future Hamburg Award has opened the doors to an internationally important waterfront city for us. Being able to showcase our technology here with homePORT is a unique opportunity”, states Carl Chatfield, founder of the startup Blue Atlas Robotics.
Founded in Hamburg, the startup KONVOI is currently trialling its technology on the homePORT testing site. KONVOI develops technology that protects truck cargos from theft. This enables drivers to stick to their break times better and reduce the loss of goods. Heinz Luckhardt, a co-founder of KONVOI, makes a positive assessment of the collaboration: “The partnership with homePORT has been highly productive so far! We have the opportunity to try out our solutions here – so that our product impresses customers in the end.”
Marius Eschen, Product Lead New Business and Partnership (PPS-4 | Port Process Solution) at Hamburg Port Authority, explains further, “As an international harbour city, Hamburg is a key driver for maritime innovation in transport and logistics. At homePORT Hamburg, we really live up to this philosophy and give new technologies the chance to prove themselves in Hamburg. KONVOI and Blue Atlas Robotics are just two success stories that have now found a home harbour for demonstrating their work.”
The value of the connections between cities and startups is also shown in the positive developments by the winning teams of the Future Hamburg Award from other economic sectors. Traceless Materials, for example, announced further successes shortly after receiving the prize bestowed by the Startup Unit Hamburg and Hamburg Marketing. Besides investments worth millions of euros, the startup managed to acquire the Otto Group as a strong cooperation partner for its sustainable packaging materials.
