How are startups shaping the future of road mobility?

Three startups revolutionized the world of road passenger transport

Tesla, Uber, Blablacar.

Most Europeans would acknowledge that these 3 startups have revolutionized the world of road passenger transport over the last 10 years.

By launching a company with global ambitions in this industry, the likes of which had not been seen since the creation of Honda in 1948, Tesla shook well established car manufacturers. It opened the door to a new generation of cars: electric, connected, autonomous.

The world of taxis was halted, even blocked. By relying on smartphones, Uber dynamised the situation and somewhat satisfied – not without criticism – the shortage of affordable private driver services in some cities.

The sharing economy is simple (…on paper): exploit the overcapacity that one person has in order to make it available to all. What Airbnb has done for hotel business, Blablacar has succeeded in doing for passenger transport, to the point of being now a leading alternative to buses, trains and short-haul aircraft.

Are there new startups shaping the future of road mobility?

Tesla, Uber and Blabacar – and their counterparts in other parts of the world – are no longer startups. Are there new startups that will herald market re-alignments of the magnitude of these 3 companies? If so, in which domains? How are they going to do it? To answer these questions, we studied 421 startups associated with on-road mobility.