Eight global mobility scale-ups selected as the finalists of the GreaterBayX scalerator program
The cross-border urban-tech initiative will conclude in a two-week roadshow to the Greater Bay Area and an urban summit in mid-November
HONG KONG, October 22, 2019 — Eight growth-stage mobility scale-ups from Australia, China, India and Europe, which have a collective funding of more than US$100 million and a combined valuation of over US$300 million, have been selected to enter the multi-partner GreaterBayX scalerator program.
The program has a comprehensive cross-border innovation and investment advisory structure, representing an evolution of the traditional corporate accelerator framework. GreaterBayX is operated in partnership with eight leading corporations – AsiaInfo, HYDATA, HSBC, ITC, Microsoft, MTR, Siemens and TCL – to drive urban innovation into China’s US$1.5 trillion Greater Bay region, the world’s largest greater urban area in the making.
The program’s final summit is co-organized with Hong Kong Cyberport, the largest innovative digital community in the city with over 1,400 start-ups and technology companies. As one of the strategic partners of the program, Hong Kong Cyberport is committed to fostering partnerships with outstanding entrepreneurs and start-ups expanding into the Greater Bay Area, and boosting regional collaboration and cross-border talent development.
“The unique model of the GreaterBayX program continues to allow scale-ups and enterprises to create innovative, tailored solutions in one of the most active Bay Areas in the world,” said Joanna Cheung, co-founder of GreaterBayX. “We’re already seeing a lot of co-creation and collaborations being discussed as a result of the program and the potentials are truly exciting,” added Tony Verb, also co-founder of the company.
“The GreaterBayX program provides strong support and collaboration in scientific and technological achievements to accelerate the application of intelligent innovation domestically and internationally,” said Frank Feng, chairman and founder of HYDATA.
“As a leader in AI and visualization analysis, HYDATA has accumulated rich experiences in future mobility and smart city technologies. We believe we can provide both technical support and resources to the projects and the enterprises in the program. Together we can innovate and build a better intelligence-enabled society,” Feng added.
“Microsoft aims to foster a holistic partner ecosystem in the Greater Bay Area and is committed to leverage our leading expertise in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and big data to accelerate the digital transformation of the area,” said Serena Cheung, director of One Commercial Partner, Small Medium & Corporate at Microsoft.
“By partnering with GreaterBayX, we’re excited to be inspired and connected to the world-class technology companies who are demonstrating their innovation to improve the mobility solutions across the Greater Bay Area as well as to accelerate commercialization of scientific and technological achievements,” Cheung added.
The eight technology scale-ups, including Deon Digital (Switzerland), Hanshow (China), Kyyti (Finland), Liftango (Australia), Prophesee AI (France), Ubitricity (Germany), Ultra-MTS (UK) and Xenon Automotive (India), have been jointly sourced and selected by the GreaterBayX team and the corporate partners based on their technological ingenuity as well as the sustainability and ethical impact they have generated.
The eight scale-ups are all globally relevant urban innovators in their respective fields of smart contract, EV charging solution, metavision for machines, AI-empowered automotive repair estimates, autonomous driving personal pods, Mobility as a Service and smart retail solutions. With their diverse and market proven solutions, they are poised to scale into the region and bring positive impact to the urban environment. These scale-ups also represent the vision of GreaterBayX to focus on mature companies who can make a real difference to the world of urban tech.
“We’re looking forward to these global scale-ups expanding into the Greater Bay Area,” said Alex Chung, president (China), ITC Properties. “ITC is set to provide these cross-border companies the services they will need. In this process, we’re committed to finding the opportunities for co-operation.”
In early November, the selected scale-ups will also join the two-week roadshow to Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. The intention is to bring their novel ideas to the region’s innovation ecosystem, positively impacting the megatrend of urbanization.
The scalerator program will culminate in a grand finale of the GreaterBayX Urban Summit, co-hosted with Hong Kong Cyberport, on November 14, 2019 at Cyberport Campus. This action-oriented gathering will feature the eight international scale-ups, as well as a diverse and exciting group of thought-leaders and influencers to explore business, investment and growth opportunities across the Greater Bay Area.
About the Scale-ups
Deon Digital (Switzerland)
Founded in 2017
Deon Digital leverages more than 10 years of academic research, a world-class R&D team and the power of distributed ledger technology to turn paper contracts into automatically managed digital contracts in a decentralized business ecosystem.
Hanshow (China)
Founded in 2012
Hanshow is a global leader in developing and manufacturing Smart Store Solutions. Its intelligence-enabled platforms and systems are the result of continuous innovation, delivering customer-centric insights to help retailers tackle operation woes. The company’s fully integrated electronic shelf labels (ESL) system and Omni-Channel Smart Store Solutions support digitalization-of-store strategies while offer more personalized and seamless consumer experiences. Hanshow currently serves over 8,000 stores in more than 40 countries and regions with more than 30 million ESLs and Smart Store Solutions installed.
Kyyti (Finland)
Founded in 2016
Kyyti — “ride” in Finnish — approaches Mobility as a Service (MaaS) by bringing all modes of transport into a unified mobility management system with on-demand capabilities. Kyyti’s MaaS solution provides not only an eco-friendly alternative to get users from door to door, but also a tool for agencies and authorities to fill service gaps, better match supply to demand and conduct consumer response experiments.
Liftango (Australia)
Founded in 2016
Liftango’s customized on-demand transport and carpooling solution solves the problems of overflowing carparks and empty buses. Its shared mobility technology not only enables cities, organizations and institutions to increase fleet use and help maximize existing parking space, but also contributes to sustainability initiatives and provide a way for people within their trusted networks to connect and save.
Prophesee AI (France)
Founded in 2014
Prophesee AI reveals the invisible to machines with the world’s most advanced neuromorphic vision technology. Designed to mimic the human eye and brain, its event-based approach to vision sensing and processing opens vast new potential in areas such as mobile phones, autonomous vehicles, industrial automation, IoT, security and surveillance, and AR/VR. It also improves safety, reliability efficiency and user experiences across this broad range of use models.
Ubitricity (Germany)
Founded in 2008
Charging electric vehicles with energy from renewable resources wherever they park – this was the goal when Ubitricity was founded. With their portfolio of Mobile Metering solutions and affordable charging infrastructure, the company has become one of the leading providers of intelligent solutions for charging and billing electric vehicles.
Ultra-MTS (UK)
Founded in 2017
Ultra-MTS offers a new and innovative on-demand transit solution for urban connectivity. Its small, driverless electric vehicles that run on guideways and originally developed for London’s Heathrow Airport have been given the mandate to expand on a global basis. The lightweight and flexible nature of the Ultra-MTS system enables its Ultra Pods to be retrofitted into a broad range of environments while offering personal transport with no waiting.
Xenon Automotive (India)
Founded in 2012
Xenon Automotive’s ClearQuote solution has revolutionized the automotive lifecycle by leveraging AI/computer vision technology to assess car damages and then instantly generate repair estimates based on images and videos captured through regular smartphones. The system has been used by the insurers to make underwriting decisions, speed up claims process as well as the mobility providers to remotely monitor fleet condition and automate handovers with the customers. Repair workshops use ClearQuote to generate standardized repair estimates offering transparency to their customers.
About GreaterBayX
GreaterBayX specializes in cross-border venture development in the Greater Bay Area and it is a joint venture between GreaterBay Ventures & Advisors and TGN Global.
About GreaterBay Ventures
GreaterBay Ventures & Advisors specializes in technology and innovation that positively impact urbanization. It focuses on cross-border ventures between Asia and Europe.
About TGN Global
TusMaker Global Network (TGN) is an international entrepreneurial innovation and investment service platform, associated with Tsinghua University, China’s MIT and one of the Top 20 universities in the world.
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