We launched the inaugural Female Founders in Mobility innovation competition on March 25, 2020 - right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our operations were being disrupted, our routines upended, and our priorities questioned.
Internally, we had to ask ourselves how we could best continue to advocate and promote female-led startups while also not ignoring the paradigm shift happening all around us. The virus was (and is still) impacting nearly every aspect of life and business, but the Mobility industry is actually uniquely situated at the intersection of numerous public-health related sectors which are poised for new solutions. How exactly were our applicants facing these evolving challenges? We asked:
“Describe how your product or service addresses a mobility-related issue that has arisen due to the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g. logistics, manufacturing, transportation, passenger health & safety, etc.).”
An astounding 91% of submissions answered this question! Overall, our applicants are creating solutions for these areas impacted by COVID-19:
Here are several of the most interesting and unique responses that we received over the course of the competition:
DREYEV (Purdys, NY) - Malgorzata Stys, Co-Founder & CEO:
Dreyev added COVID-19 specific services to help drivers and fleets manage action plans, including: 1) driver facing camera extracts information about Heart Beat Rate, Heart Rate Variability, SpO2, and elevated Breathing Rates - strong symptoms of an on-going infection; 2) voice-enabled symptom checker to check driver’s health status on the go & help fleet managers organize tests or quarantine; 3) face camera automated verification of properly mounted masks; 4) remote driver training - live video feeds from road and face cameras, with automated detection of high-risk events, removing the need for the trainer to sit next to the driver, thus minimizing the risk of infections.
HUMANISING AUTONOMY (London, England) - Maya Pindeus, CEO:
In response to COVID-19, Humanising Autonomy has added its cloud based behaviour analytics platform to its offering. Allowing for historical and near real-time data analytics, this cloud platform caters directly to a real need for municipalities and urban city planners to analyse the impact of COVID-19 social distancing measures. COVID-19 has highlighted the critical importance of infrastructure and public space to our economies and societies, and Humanising Autonomy intelligence prioritises improved citizen mobility during trying times, rather than surveillance and enforcement. It will enable municipalities to analyse data for bus stop design, road usage, micromobility deployments, new cyclist lanes and cyclist behaviour, or reallocation of curb space. All of these applications will help in the response to COVID-19, allowing society to return to the “new normal” faster and more efficiently than possible.
KILROY BLOCKCHAIN (Austin, TX) - Karen Kilroy, CEO:
Due to COVID-19, we are facing a food distribution crisis. We have stockpiles of rotting food at farms and warehouses because the freight industry has shifted to food transportation. Truck driving has become unprofitable, as loads of food are taken into many areas and driven out empty to the pickup location of the next load. To reduce the number of drivers needed, a pilot program of driverless fleets - a caravan of trucks with drivers in only the first and last trucks – is being tested in Colorado and Florida. Using the Kilroy Blockchain app Carnak as part of the traffic engineers' workflow, roadway assets can be collected and communicated to autonomous fleets, providing the critical layer of authority to maintain safety, especially in construction areas.
POPULUS (San Francisco, CA) - Regina Clewlow, Co-Founder & CEO:
Populus’ existing product roadmap was focused on expanding their mobility management solutions mobility management solutions to other critical use cases, including curb management and street closures. Populus has accelerated their delivery of street closure/policy solutions because numerous cities around the world, from Bogota to Boston, are implementing temporary policies to create more safe room on our roads for bikes and pedestrians, expand restaurants into streets ("streateries"), and expedite access for delivery services. These policies need to be communicated to the general public as well as key mobility stakeholders, including delivery services (e.g.. Amazon, UberEATS) as well as mapping platforms (e.g. Google and Apple maps). Populus is proud to partner with cities around the world on more dynamic management of their streets.
VENTI TECHNOLOGIES (Boston, MA) - Heidi Wyle, Founder & CEO:
Venti Technologies is developing a Hostile Environment vehicle with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). The vehicle will be based on Venti’s current golf cart-like vehicles which have flexible manufacturing: the chassis stays the same and can change out the top for different functions. The vehicle will have a Moving People top for 1 person and a Moving Goods top for small-medium packages. The vehicle is easily decontaminated by a decon spray and inexpensive in capital and operations costs. It is targeted to 1) transporting vulnerable seniors to doctors appointments and errands so that they don't risk driver infection, and 2) delivering goods into COVID-19 areas without driver exposure. Venti is in discussions with China Life who does a lot of medical work as our 3rd partner. Hospitals are the number one focus.
More information on efforts led by our Mobility Sponsors and Partners related to the pandemic:
For more information about the Female Founders in Mobility 2020 innovation competition, click here.
For more information on how to become a sponsor, partner, or participant of future innovation competitions, or for any general inquiries, please contact us.