Ecomobilité Ventures, Europe s first private equity fund dedicated to innovation in sustainable mobility, announced on 11 October that it had invested a total of €5m (US$6.48m) to acquire equity interests in three companies – Move About, EZ Wheel and Zilok Auto. Ecomobilité Ventures, set up by the French national railway operator SNCF, Orange, Total and PSA Peugeot Citroen (which subsequently withdrew due to its financial difficulties), intends to provide long-term support for its investment targets. Backed by €25m in capital, the partnership is focusing its investments on four priority areas: transportation services; innovative information technology; connected vehicles and mobility products; and intelligent infrastructure.
The three fledgling companies selected are helping to foster the emergence of new modes of transport and mobility solutions. Move About, a Norwegian company set up in 2008 by Jan Olaf Willums, offers an EV car-sharing service to companies and municipalities. So far present in Scandinavia and Germany, Move About manages to date just 100 vehicles for customers, which include IKEA, KPMG and Microsoft.
EZ Wheel, led by Jérôme Pénigaud, is a start-up based in Angouleme (France) that has developed the world’s first integrated, ‘plug and play’ electric wheel designed for moving equipment weighing up to one tonne. The self-propelled system has been available since 2011, with several hundred wheels already sold to hospitals and manufacturers. Zilok Auto, a collaborative peer-to-peer online platform created by Marion Carrette, allows French car owners to rent their vehicles to other people, thereby optimising use. Zilok Auto has seen its membership and transactions increase steadily since July 2012 and now has 3,000 cars available to rent. They are, reported Le Journal de l’Automobile, typically rented two or three times per month, for fees averaging €110.
