1 August 2024
Intelligent and sustainable commuting
‘Startups in focus’ series: Digital mobility budget ensures more flexibility for employees
Although the pandemic has led to many companies establishing regulations for flexible and remote working, many employees still commute to their place of employment. In 2022, there were more than 20 million commuters across Germany. According to the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development, that equates to 60 per cent of all employees. Therefore, rethinking and future-proofing the mobility needs of staff is becoming an increasingly important consideration for companies.
As part of our ‘Startups in focus’ series, we are introducing some of the young companies that presented themselves in our Start-up Zone 2024. After kicking off with endereco, we continue with MOBIKO. Founded in 2018, the green mobility start-up from Munich is now the market leader in mobility budgeting. With the MOBIKO app, employers can provide employees with a digital mobility budget that can be used for all available means of transport and mobility services. This allows staff to decide for themselves how best to use their budget, and on what type of transport. We spoke to Managing Director Andreas Reichert.
Mr Reichert, what do you think are the most pressing challenges in public transport?
In addition to a financially feasible simplification of the tariff jungle, the intelligent connection of existing offers is, in my view, a major challenge.
What will it take to encourage more people to switch to public transport?
The Deutschland-Ticket has shown that the use of public transport has increased significantly, but the numbers of people switching from private car to public transport are still very low. I therefore firmly believe that a mobility budget that makes regional and supra-regional services easier to use - especially for commuters - would encourage more car users to switch.
What are your experiences as a start-up with regard to external factors: Are there hurdles that make life difficult for you as a young company or, conversely, boosters that help you move forward?
As a young company, we have the advantage of being able to work at high speed. We're five years old, which is certainly young from a public transport perspective, but from a start-up perspective we feel that we've already come a long way. Nevertheless, you always have to prove that you will still be on the market in two or three years’ time, especially in the public transport sector. If you can't create this trust, then you won't find partnerships with transport companies. I am therefore very pleased that we have succeeded in making a name for ourselves in the industry.
In conclusion, what was your experience at IT-TRANS and what advice would you give other start-ups?
The selection of providers was very good for all transport companies, as the focus was on IT solutions and consequently there was no confusion with other topics relating to passenger transport. I would advise other start-ups to take part in the exciting workshops, which helped us better understand the industry.
Find out more: https://mobiko.net/