- EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, and the Moove Lab are proud to announce the renewal of their partnership for 2025, continuing their joint mission to stimulate innovation in urban mobility in Europe.
- Since its launch in 2022, this strategic collaboration has established itself as a model of synergy serving the challenges of climate change and European competitiveness.
- The partnership analysis produced by EY Fabernovel confirms the promising results of this alliance.
The Moove Lab: a key player in the transformation of mobility in France
The Moove Lab, founded in 2017 by MOBILIANS, the leading movement of business leaders in the automotive trade and repair and mobility services, and Via ID, the investment fund and startup accelerator of the Mobivia group (Norauto, Midas, Carter-Cash), is the only startup ecosystem entirely dedicated to mobility in France. Located within Station F, the world’s largest incubator, it has supported more than 120 startups since its creation. The Moove Lab mainly supports startups in their early stages (up to series A) and adopts a systemic approach, connecting businesses, startups and public organisations.
The main tasks performed by the Moove Lab as part of its collaboration with EIT Urban Mobility :
- Increasing the visibility of EIT Urban Mobility in France
- Amplifying EIT Urban Mobility investments in French mobility startups
- Supporting the European scaling of French mobility startups
- Helping European startups deploy their activities in France
A common goal: to strengthen the competitiveness of European urban mobility
Mobility startups, often vulnerable because of their dependence on a complex ecosystem of public and private players, benefit greatly from strategic partnerships such as the one between the Moove Lab and EIT Urban Mobility. EIT Urban Mobility plays a crucial role in structuring this ecosystem, joining forces with other players to accelerate innovation and the dissemination of solutions across Europe.
“EIT Urban Mobility is ideally positioned to create a robust funding ecosystem with other VCs and CVCs to drive innovation and accelerate the development of groundbreaking mobility solutions across Europe”, says Cyril Vart, Partner and Executive Vice President of EY Fabernovel, an innovation consulting firm, which was commissioned to analyze this partnership as part of a report.
As part of its ambition to develop the European mobility ecosystem, the Moove Lab, in collaboration with EIT Urban Mobility, is deploying strategic initiatives to support startups as they expand beyond national borders.
The “Get Ready to Scale in Europe” programme, managed by the Moove Lab, offers dedicated workshops to EIT Urban Mobility startups to prepare them for European expansion. This initiative has already borne fruit: 9 startups have taken part in the programme.
Other notable results: since the launch of the partnership in 2022, EIT Urban Mobility has invested €13 million in 13 French mobility startups, including two from the Moove Lab cohorts. Additionally, 20 French startups have been supported through an EIT Urban Mobility program, highlighting the sector’s dynamism and the growing appeal of French innovation.
“Prior to launching the partnership in 2022, we had received only one French application to our investment call, despite the dynamism of the French ecosystem. Now, we receive 35 applications / year, with many of them making it to our investment committee. So far, in 2022, 2023, and 2024, France was our #1 country in most of the investment calls we did. The Moove Lab also sends us pre-investment business intelligence and investment recommendations based on their ecosystem knowledge and local insights access”, says Keren Beit-Cohen, Head of Strategic Alliances at EIT Urban Mobility.
A win-win partnership
France, the European Union’s second most populous country and second largest economy, is a strategic market for mobility startups. However, there are still obstacles to development. The Moove Lab, backed by its expertise and its base at Station F, is helping European startups to establish themselves in France. This support has enabled companies such as Elonroad (Sweden), Hyke (Norway) and Bout (Finland) to soft-land in France and gain access to the business community and to concrete business development opportunities.
“The win-win model of this partnership is one of its great strengths. It offers a strategic opportunity for European startups to penetrate the French market, while at the same time benefiting French startups so that they can develop on the European market. The Moove Lab, through its location at Station F and its connections with public players, plays a key role in facilitating this entry”, emphasises Clément Guillemot, Program Manager of the Moove Lab.
A new chapter begins in 2025
The Moove Lab and EIT Urban Mobility are pleased to renew their partnership for 2025, reinforcing their shared commitment to supporting European mobility startups and fostering their international growth, this time with additional challenge – to support the creation of pan-European network by EIT Urban Mobility, aiming at taking those activities to the next phase, the continental one.
Together, the Moove Lab and EIT Urban Mobility will continue to stimulate innovation, consolidate the European mobility ecosystem and promote the emergence of European leaders in sustainable mobility.