Ferrovial Services is a participating partner in the IMPACT Connected Car acceleration program, which has announced the 24 companies chosen in their second open call.
The program, funded by the European Commission under the framework of the H2020 program with more than €4 million, €2.1 million of which will go directly to the recipients, aims to answer society’s needs and those of industry with respect to connected cars.
The second call, opened in June and closed in October 2018, received more than 214 proposals from startups and SMEs from 39 countries. The 24 projects chosen come from 11 countries from all over Europe and from countries associated with the H2020 program, with outstanding representation from Spain (6), France (6), Israel (3), and Germany (2). Among the startups is Secmotic, winner of Ferrovial’s open innovation challenge, Build Up.
These startups, whose projects are related to connected mobility, will receive up to €60,000 in public funding , and they will participate in the smartization program over the course of six months, which consists in mentoring services that include technical, business, financing, and corporate coaching (with the corporate coaching led by Ferrovial Services), starting with Disruptive Bootcamp, the first phase of the program that was held in Lublin (Poland).
The bootcamp included individual sessions between the partners and startups, and it came to a close with a Jury Day where the 37 participating startups (preselected during the open call) presented their projects to a jury.
Ferrovial Services, the program’s corporate coach
As a partner, Ferrovial Services can contribute its experience in infrastructure, and it is the corporate coaching coordinator, assigning a mentor to each startup, offering them support with the challenges of the connected automotive industry, supervising the project’s evolution, and facilitating connections with new value chains in the industry. Among the tasks Ferrovial Services is carrying out, the following stand out:
- Identifying big businesses’ potential interest in the new products/processes/methods that the SMEs are offering.
- Supporting the SMEs in preparing a Benchmark to see what big businesses could be interested in integrating into their value chain from these new products and solutions.
- Helping the SMEs adapt and define their communication with big businesses potentially interested in their products or processes.
As for the sectors covered by the SMEs participating in Disruptive Bootcamp, participation with solutions in Mobility Management, Infotainment, Wellbeing, and Vehicle Management bears mentioning.
In the next phase, 18 of these 24 companies will be chosen for the Launch Plan, the third and final stage in the IMPACT Connected Car program. The companies chosen will be presented at leading international events organized throughout the year by 4YFN and Mobile World Capital Barcelona.
