Wunder Mobility Podcast: Recent Episodes
Gunnar Froh, Marius Koch
Welcome to the "Wunder Mobility Podcast". Every two weeks we will provide you with exciting insights around the Future of Mobility. Tune in as we invite thought leaders from the mobility sector to share their vision, products, successes, and setbacks.
We cannot solve the challenges facing our industry alone. We must work together — with companies, cities, political organizations, NGOs, and more — to build our future. The Wunder Mobility Podcast provides the space for us to collaborate and learn from one another.
More information is available at www.wundermobility.com/podcast
Julien Chamussy is the CEO and co-founder of fluctuo, Europe’s aggregator of data on shared mobility services like bike, scooter, moped or car sharing. Prior to that, Julien was VP Marketing of Smovengo, the operator of Vélib which is the public bike-sharing service in Paris and the greater area. fluctuo sources data from various mobility operators and open source and uses it to provide an overview of the shared mobility industry. Every quarter, they publish the European Shared Mobility Index in which they analyze the development of user numbers or highlight and compare vehicle distribution in different European cities. We took the opportunity to dive deeper into the data and get Julien's opinion and best guesses on the vehicle sharing industry.
fluctuo website: https://fluctuo.com/ European Shared Mobility Index: https://european-index.fluctuo.com/
Jennifer has spent over 20 years in the automotive industry, including Ford, BMW and Porsche. She contributes regularly to Forbes and is a global speaker on the topic of Future Mobility. Today, as Global Head of Mobility at EIT InnoEnergy, she is responsible for all mobility investments with 30 new seed and Series A investments in the last 2 years.
How does InnoEnergy support the European mobility value chain? How does Jennifer envision Shared Mobility from Europe? Why InnoEnergy hasn't invested in popular shared mobility players? What are the pressing challenges in micromobility?
Maya's career is outstanding: she holds a PhD in dynamic transportation policy and technology transition from the Technion and has more than a decade and a half of global work experience in the public, private and third sectors, with a focus on clean technologies and sustainable transport. At WEF, she now leads the Sustainable Automotive and Mobility work.
We started the conversation by elaborating on the WEF's unique approach to improving the state of the world and dived deep into the topics what they believe are the 3 main issues of the hour: 1. urban mobility transitions 2. circularity 3. automotive ecosystem in a new software era
Cory is CRO of Wunder Mobility, the international provider of software and hardware for shared mobility services. In his executive leadership role, Cory oversees Wunder Mobility's marketing and sales organization as well as the account management. Over the last one and a half years Cory wrote his first book on brand primacy and how google made companies the kings of content. We spoke with him about why building a company's brand is so important and how creating valuable content helps bring organic traffic to the website.
Karen was appointed as Secretary General of POLIS in September 2014, after havening been the Network's Research Director. Since then she's leading the European network of cities and regions on urban transport innovation. For over 30 years already, members have been working together to develop and deploy sustainable and innovative urban mobility solutions for the city of today and tomorrow. Karen is certain that what was originally the preserve of the public sector, namely the provision of mobility services, is now also increasingly becoming an area in which private players are becoming active. Over the past few years, this has led to cities having to rethink and reinvent their role. With her, we explored smart ways to align innovations from industry with public policy goals.
Raymon, 28, was born and raised in the Netherlands. Today he is CEO of one of Europe's fastest-growing shared mobility operators. While he made his first experience in scooter-sharing with German scooter manufacturer Emco, in 2019 he decided together with Donny van den Oever and Doeke Boersma to start GO Sharing with 168 mopeds in Eindhoven. Since then they have multiplied their fleet size several times and now operate a multimodal fleet of about 15,000 vehicles in 60 cities, in 6 countries.
We talked about: - the need to go multimodal and why this is beneficial for customers - why corporate fleets will change and the potential for GO Sharing - Differences between European cities and the importance of excellent local teams - GO Sharing's growth plan to have 100,000 vehicles in two years - the synergies between the three companies under the GoGreen holding company - what are the fleet size requirements for different cities? - how the shared mobility landscape will look like 10 years from now
Thomas is an entrepreneur and pioneer in the field of electric mobility with more than 20 years of experience in this field. After years in Hong Kong and a successful exit from e-max that was acquired by Vmoto, Thomas founded Govecs in 2009.
Today, Govecs has a 10.5% market share in the fragmented shared electric moped market, making it the fourth-largest manufacturer in the world and the largest from Europe.
We spoke with him about the benefits and advantages of being a German-based company with production facilities in Europe, the increasing importance of total cost of ownership (TCO) for a P&L-oriented mobility operator, and where he wants to steer his company.
Christian began his entrepreneurial career in his teenage years when he founded and ran a successful web design agency. In 2007, he co-founded Jimdo, which went on to become one of the world’s leading DIY website builders. After stepping back from daily operations at Jimdo, he founded Dance, the premium e-bike subscription provider, with SoundCloud founders Quidenus-Wahlforss and Ljung. We spoke to Christian about the market potential of tech-enabled e-bike subscriptions, how they stand out from existing sharing models, and the increasing challenges in the supply chain.
Silvia joined FREE NOW in 2020 to support the strategic transition from a pure ride-hailing provider to the leading Mobility-as-a-Service platform in Europe. In her role, she is responsible for integrating mobility operators into the FREE NOW platforms to achieve the goal of comprehensive multimodality. With her, we talked about the conscious decision to become a multimodal platform: - What’s behind the strategy to become Europe’s super mobility app to get from A to B? - What’s the business model of FREE NOW? - How do you differentiate from Bolt, Uber, Cabify or SIXT? - What's the size and scale of FREE NOW? - Who are the partners and what are their characteristics? - What is next in the FREE NOW universe?
Nico is nothing less than a home-grown SIXT veteran. He started his career back in 2004 as a trainee and steered the SIXT core business of car rental with the branch network as Operations and Business Development Manager before he shaped free-floating car sharing as Co-CEO at DRIVE NOW. Since 2018, Nico has served as Divisional Director Mobility Operations and was thus responsible for the digitalization initiatives, the car-sharing offer and the SIXT ONE platform at an early stage. In January 2021, Nico was appointed Chief Operations Officer.
Together we shed light on the reasons for SIXT's expansion from the traditional rental business to a mobility service company offering various types of mobility services, such as classic rent, carsharing, car subscriptions and even taxi rides.
Oliver Mackprang is a native Canadian who has lived in Berlin for 15 years. In 2012, he founded the carsharing aggregator company CarJump which was sold to PSA in 2016 and where the app was subsequently renamed in free2move. He has previously worked for the management consulting firm KEARNEY as well as the ridepooling provider MOIA before joining MILES in 2019.
We spoke to Oliver about how MILES differentiates itself in a competitive market, what developments he has seen in recent years and what he expects in the coming years, how they are improving their operational excellence and finally the most unexpected user story he has experienced.
After having built up the career platform squeaker.net, Jonas is leading for the last ten years large-scale digital strategy and transformation projects in the automotive, mobility and TMT sectors at Strategy&, part of the PwC network.
He focuses on digital innovation, data-driven business models, ecosystem partner management and corporate venturing. We explored with Jonas the question of how large automotive companies innovate and which business models he believes are emerging. In particular, the question of where new value is being created and who has the greatest chances of succeeding in those new value pools.We explored with Jonas the question of how large automotive companies innovate and which business models he believes are emerging. In particular, the question of where new value is being created and who has the greatest chances of winning new value pools.
Detlef Müller is a member of the Bundestag (the German parliament) and a member of the Committee on Transport and Digital Infrastructure.
He strongly believes that the federal government needs to invest money in public transportation if it wants to overcome the status quo and reach the climate goals of the Parisian Climate Agreement.
In this episode, he explains the role he sees public transport and private (shared) mobility providers playing and how the providers harmonize without cannibalizing each other.
Daniela Kluckert is a member of the Bundestag (the German parliament) and serves as deputy chairwoman of the Committee on Transport and Digital Infrastructure.
Daniela is committed to ensuring that all road users have equal rights and that decisions about the future are made in a non-ideological way.
In this episode, she tells us how she envisions multimodal transport smart connections between different mobility modes in the future and how the governing authorities can provide the right impulses.
Since 2017, Stefan Gelbhaar has been a member of the Bundestag (the German parliament) as the spokesperson for urban mobility and cycling. Since 2020, he is the spokesperson for transport policy for the Green Party.
We spoke to him about the three most important transport policy cornerstones of the Greens’ election program: a. tackling the climate crisis by de-carbonizing the transport sector b. improving road safety c. addressing urbanization by restructuring transport flows and introducing new mobility services (Mobility as a Service)
At just 32 years old, Matteo founded Estrima with the vision to improve the quality of mobility in the city, thanks to a vehicle designed not only for private use but for hiring and sharing as well. He takes us onto the journey of his company, explains the advantages of a covered LEV and why they designed a new type of vehicle including a peer-to-peer solution.
Valerian and his emmy sharing co-founder Alexander pioneered e-moped sharing in Germany in 2015, at a time when no one was really about it. (The only other vehicle-sharing solution on the market was Car2Go.)
What started as an idea conceived at a barbecue with friends turned into Germany’s leading moped-sharing company with immediately recognizable red-orange vehicles.
In this special episode, Valerian takes us through emmy’s founding story, how they are improving operational excellence, why it's crucial that a customer opens the emmy app first, and why 100 meters are a super critical distance.
Susan is a professor of civil and environmental engineering and co-director of the transportation sustainability research center at the University Berkely. She was among the first to observe, research, and write about changing dynamics in shared mobility.
We talked to her about the development of whether there will be a separation between public and private transport in the future, about how to create a healthy mobility ecosystem with complementarity and less competition, and how public transport operators innovate.
Since 2017, Michael has been working at ioki on the digitalization of public transport and its seamless connection to existing systems, as well as the integration of new forms of mobility. On-demand shuttles are increasingly being integrated into public transport. Michael explains to us why this makes sense, how it works and what impact autonomous vehicles will have on current transport operations.
Timo leads Cooltra, the largest provider of sustainable mobility solutions on two wheels in Europe. In 2006 Timo started with 25 units and grew it over time to almost 17.000 mopeds in cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Rome, or Lisboa. As a first-mover in this space, he gained enormous knowledge on how to operate a moped sharing business and told us what he expects European city authorities will do in the future, unit economics, and why he recently teamed up with Free Now.
Hui Zhang is Vice President of NIO Europe. He heads the German and the UK office of the global electric car startup from Shanghai. According to yahoo finance, NIO has made a big name for itself among electric car makers in recent years and currently has a market cap of nearly $55 billion. Hui takes us through the NIO universe, explaining why Apple is a better role model than any other well-known automaker and why NIO believes consumers want to own a premium EV. In this episode, you'll also learn more about the innovative approach of the NIO Battery Swap Station, as well as the reason why NIO decided to start its European operations in Norway before expanding them to other countries over the next few years
Before founding movmi an award-winning boutique agency specialized in shared mobility architecture, Sandra held several senior management and executive roles, most notably with Daimler, BCAA, and BMW.
As the former CEO of car2go, Olivier has been running Share Now since 2019. What started as a daring project back then is now one of the largest free-floating car sharing companies worldwide. Olivier talks about how the franchise concept makes sense, what he perceives as the key accelerators for development, the merging of rent and minute-based car sharing, and what he himself calls ultimate mobility freedom.
Martynas joined the Lithuanian start-up Trafi at an early stage and has since then spearheaded the global expansion and focused on the commercial side of the business. Trafi offers cities the possibility to connect all mobility services into one single platform where users can check itineraries and also book their tickets and trips. The service is known as Jelbi in Berlin or MVGO in Munich.
Lukas is Chief Operating Officer of Splyt, and Managing Director of Neckermann Strategic Advisors. He is a strategist, advisor, researcher, and keynote speaker on Smart Cities and Smart Mobility. In addition to several books, Lukas regularly speaks at events about his many years of insight. In this episode together with Sam, he shed light on the development of user patterns and demands, the role of a progressive city, and whether public transport is really the backbone of inner-city mobility.
Ozgur has over 20 years’ experience in leading the sales, development, and implementation of software solutions in the automotive, smart mobility, telecoms, and IoT industries for Tier 1 clients across the USA and EMEA. Since May 2019 he drives the strategy to deliver Oxbotica's universal autonomy vision globally. In this episode, Ozgur gives insights into the actual status quo of autonomous driving, in which scenarios autonomous vehicles already operate, and what is behind the hybrid-growth model of Oxbotica.
Tati Peralta-Quirós is a mobility, transport, and technology specialist, with experience working across the private and public sector in the US, LatAm, and Asia, including technology start-ups, development finance institutions, and governments. She is the co-founder of Kinto-Costa Rica, Latin America’s first subscription-based Mobility as a Service (MaaS) company. With her, we explored how and why the traditional car distributor and car dealer Purdy Motors invested in a multimodal mobility platform and what impact it has on the mobility patterns in Costa Rica.
Trevor leads Michigan's Office of Future Mobility and Electrification. s responsible for working across state government, academia, and private industry to grow Michigan’s mobility ecosystem through strategic policy recommendations and new support services for companies focused on the future of transportation.
In this episode, he walks us through his vision of helping to build stronger transportation and a stronger state economy through safer, more equitable, and environmentally sound transportation for all Michigan residents.
Sam studied Finance and Music before he started his career at eBay. He lived in Central America where he led a project funded by the Mastercard Foundation to launch innovative financial products for youth. When he returned to California Sam and Gunnar met and ultimately decided to launch the forerunner of today's Wunder Mobility. In this episode, Sam and Gunnar reflect on 2020 and give an outlook on the new year 2021. They speak about five trends they see: 1. The importance of local 2. Rise of public players 3. Blurring of sharing and ownership 4. New opportunities 5. Run for profitability
Holger is a true veteran in the new mobility game. He has been around the block and played a vital role at navigation software startup gate5, the forerunner for HERE. He was also CEO of Aupeo, the leading provider of internet-based audio content for the automotive industry, which was acquired by Panasonic Automotive Systems until he founded his own startup German Autolabs in 2016. Together, we discussed the rise of voice assistance in the mobility industry, the differences between the well-known startup ecosystems when comparing investment volumes in deep tech, and how we can support growing our ecosystem in Europe.
what3words set out to do nothing less than revolutionizing today's addressing system by directing people with three words. what3words is the world's first addressing system designed for speech and every 3m x 3m square in the world has been assigned an address consisting of just three words from the dictionary. Over 5 years Clare has contributed to its success as Chief Commercial Officer. Together we talk about the challenges, the business model, and the team behind the stunning success.
Christoph oversees the work of the Forum with partners from the automotive, supply chain, aerospace, travel, and tourism sectors. Over the course of his career, he has held several senior management positions and gained unparalleled knowledge of the developments and challenges in the field of mobility - globally. With him, we dive deep into the work and significance of the World Economic Forum. After all, the World Economic Forum is not just the annual congress in Davos but encompasses much more.
Stefan has assumed overall responsibility for the Europcar Group's activities in Germany in 2018. Previously, he held numerous responsible executive positions at BCD Group, a market leader in the travel industry. In our conversation, we discussed current market developments, Europcar's efforts in the face of challenging circumstances, and the role of rental companies in the development of sustainable mobility.
Sohaila has already had unique experiences and built up an unparalleled knowledge and network. She is part of BMW i Ventures - the world's leading automotive corporate venture fund (+500 million USD). She invests in cutting-edge solutions that focus on BMW's current and future business in the areas of technology and customer & service space. We talked to her about the exceptional approach of BMW i Ventures, the capital venture scene in Isreal, Silicon Valley, Berlin, and China, how her focus has developed over time and her passion for digital business models.
Ole Harms begann seine Karriere in der IT- und Strategieberatung, bevor er zu Volkswagen wechselte, wo er bis zur Gründung von MOIA im Jahr 2016 verschiedene leitende Management- und Führungspositionen innehatte. Nachdem er MOIA drei Jahre lang als CEO geleitet hatte, wurde er Teil des Gründungsteams der Car.Software Organisation von Volkswagen, wo er nun für Produktstrategie, Operational Excellence & Kommunikation verantwortlich ist.
Mit uns beleuchtet er seine Vergangenheit und die Entwicklungen des Mobilitätsverhaltens der letzten Jahre. Welche neuen Mobility Services sind entstanden und welche Fähigkeiten muss ein OEM intern aufbauen, um zukünftig weiter erfolgreich zu sein? Wie entscheidend ist es für den Industriestandort Deutschland, dass sich die deutschen OEMs mit den globalen Veränderungen beschäftigen und diese entscheidend mitgestalten? Ole erläutert welche Rolle die carsoftware.org in der Volkswagen Strategie spielt und welche Herausforderungen es zu lösen gilt.
Laurin Hahn ist Founder und CEO von Sono Motors. Schon während seiner Schulzeit hat sich der heute 25-jährige Laurin mit den Herausforderungen des Klimawandels und der Frage nach, wie Mobilität klimafreundlicher, effizienter und unabhängig vom Rohstoff Öl werden könnte, beschäftigt. Deshalb arbeitete er bereits nach seinem Abitur mit Co-Founder Jona Christinas an einem ersten Prototypen des Sono Motors „Sion“.
Im Gespräch mit uns erzählt Laurin, welche Hürden es zu nehmen gilt und wie er mit dem Sono Motors Team ein alltagstaugliches, bezahlbares und derzeit einzigartiges Elektrofahrzeug, dessen Batterie sich zusätzlich durch die Sonne aufladen lässt, baut und massentauglich macht. Darüber hinaus spricht er mit uns darüber, welchen Einfluss Covid-19 auf das sein Unternehmen hat und wie er die Strukturen innerhalb Sono Motors weiterentwickelt.
Sebastian Hofelich blickt auf eine bemerkenswerte Karriere zurück. Beginnend in der internen Unternehmensberatung der BMW Group, später als einer der Geschäftsführer beim BMW und Sixt Joint Venture DriveNow und anschließend als CFO beim europäischen Ride-Hailing Marktführer FreeNow. Sebastian gestaltet seit der ersten Stunde die neue Mobilität und spricht mit uns über die wichtigen Stellschrauben und KPIs des New Mobility Business und den effizienten Betrieb. Gemeinsam mit uns diskutiert er über mögliche Strategien und Taktiken auf dem Weg zur Profitabilität.
Nico Polleti ist CEO & Co-Founder von Cluno, dem wohl bekanntesten und erfolgreichsten Anbieter des digitalen Auto Abos in Deutschland. Gemeinsam mit seinen Mitgründer*innen revolutioniert er den traditionellen Autobesitz, hin zu einer einfachen und flexiblen Möglichkeit, ein eigenes Auto zu fahren, ohne sich langfristig durch Kauf oder Leasing zu binden. Im Wunder Mobility Podcast erzählt er von seinem Werdegang, warum das Auto Abo die fünfte Säule neben Barkauf, Finanzierung, Leasing, car-sharing und ride-sharing ist, wie sich Covid-19 auf Clunos' Business ausgewirkt hat und wie seine Vision für Cluno aussieht.