Las Rozas Innova joins the Global Mobility Call by launching a sustainable mobility challenge for startups

Las Rozas Innova has joined the second Global Mobility Call as an "Innovation Partner", for which purpose it has launched a last mile challenge to the entrepreneurial ecosystem, with the aim of identifying and rewarding the best innovative proposals for a more sustainable and efficient mobility of people and goods.

The Public Innovation Company from Las Rozas (Madrid) will encourage the participation of entrepreneurs in Global Mobility Call, with the question "How can technology and innovation help cities improve the mobility of people and goods to make it more sustainable and efficient?", prizes will be awarded to proposals from anywhere in the world that are replicable and scalable, especially in small and medium-sized cities of less than 500,000 inhabitants.

The aim of the call, which opens today and closes on 22 September, is to involve the innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem in solving this challenge shared by cities all over the world and which seeks technological and innovative solutions for the so-called last mile, i.e. the last stretch of the journey of people or goods before reaching their final destination. Entrepreneurs and start-ups can present their solutions here.

"We are proud to have the support and participation of the innovation hub of the city of Las Rozas. It is a leading city in providing innovative and efficient solutions to improve the lives of its citizens. Initiatives like this will make Las Rozas a centre of attraction for talent and innovation, leading the transition to new, sustainable, digital and safe mobility in Madrid", said David Moneo, director of Global Mobility Call.

“With this call we aim to identify, support and involve startups and entrepreneurs in the great challenges of cities like Las Rozas de Madrid, where we are aware that the present and the future involve introducing technology and innovation in meeting challenges such as the one we are launching today with Global Mobility Call, the international benchmark event that will bring together all the players that make up the sustainable mobility ecosystem in Madrid in October”, said the president of Las Rozas Innova and mayor of Las Rozas de Madrid, José de la Uz.

The increasing concentration of people in cities, coupled with the rise of e-commerce, has made sustainable last mile mobility of both people and goods one of the major challenges for cities in their quest to optimise processes and avoid environmental impact.

Innovation and technology can provide solutions to improve not only the impact on sustainability, but also to improve the way in which both goods and people move around cities. This challenge and the possible solutions involve both the private and public sectors, and above all people.

25 October: Presentation of Finalists and Award Ceremony at the Global Mobility Call

From the call, 6 finalists will have the opportunity to present their solutions, ideas and projects at an event to be held on 25 October in the framework of the Global Mobility Call. After the exhibition, the panel of judges will choose the two winning projects, which will receive prizes totalling over 30,000 Euro, of which a total of 18,000 Euro will be in cash and the rest will be prizes in kind provided by the organisers and the more than 15 partners of the challenge, such as a free six-month stay at the Hub Las Rozas Innova with access to all its services for start-ups, or the chance to present their project and have a booth at the 2024 Global Mobility Call.

Categories, Prizes and Partners

The call to participate in the Last Mile Challenge opens with two categories to which startups and entrepreneurs can submit their solutions as of today:

• Idea/Project Category. Solutions whose technological project has not yet reached the market. A cash prize of 5,000 Euro from Las Rozas Innova, plus 1,000 Euro from Talgo, sponsor of the challenge.
• Startup/Emerging Company Category. Solutions with proof of concept or minimum viable product deployed and being validated, carried out by an established company, for which purpose the necessary documentation proving this must be provided prior to the presentation of the project. Cash prize of 10,000 Euro from Las Rozas Innova, plus 2,000 Euro from Talgo. You can see the prizes here.

In addition to this prize, there is also a contribution from some of the more than 15 partners that have joined the Last Mile Challenge. They are ActúaUPM, Alsa, Amazon Web Services, Centre for Innovation in Development Technologies of the Polytechnic University of Madrid (ItD UPM), Centre for Innovation in Logistics and Freight Transport (CITET), ClimAccelerator, Connected Mobility Hub, DHL Express Iberia, Fundación Andalucía Emprende, Fundación Universidad Empresa, IAG Cargo, Iberia, Indra, Opinno, Renfe, Talgo and TrenLab. You can see all the partners here.

About the challenge

The growing population concentration in cities and the rise of electronic commerce has turned last-mile transport (people and goods) into one of the great challenges of cities in their quest to optimize processes and avoid environmental impact.

Innovation and technology can provide solutions that allow to considerably improve the impact on sustainability and the improvement in the way both goods and people move in cities.

This challenge and the possible solutions involve both the private and public sectors and, above all, people. The objective of this open call is to involve the innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem in solving this challenge shared by all cities in the world. A challenge that seeks technological and innovative solutions to help to make the mobility of people and logistics more sustainable and efficient in the so-called “last mile”: The last stretch of a journey before the final destination.

Global Mobility Call, organised by IFEMA MADRID and Smobhub, under the auspices of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, to be held from 24 to 26 October, will be divided into two segments: GMC espacio Congress, which will bring together business leaders, institutions and experts in mobility, and GMC espacio Expo, which will promote multi-sectoral relations between companies, institutions, associations and experts, and will present the latest developments in each sector. TRAFIC will also be held within this framework, with valuable contributions to the development of safer and more sustainable mobility.

Las Rozas Innova is the Public Innovation Company from Las Rozas de Madrid, created to promote the development of the city through innovation, technology and talent. It is the commitment of the municipal authorities to turn Las Rozas into a sustainable and smart city, centred on people and based on the efficient digitalisation of citizen services and the connection of its business and entrepreneurial ecosystem. The company has an Innovation Hub to support startups and companies in their growth and consolidation in the city.