The Americas edition of the FIA Smart Cities Global Start-Up Contest Season 5 saw six start-ups — three for North America and three for South America — pitch their projects to a jury of international mobility experts including FIA Smart Cities partners and Mobility Member Clubs. These six start-ups were part of the 18 finalists selected by the FIA and MassChallenge among over 250 applications.

The Contest aims to support innovative start-ups developing products and services having the potential to drive change in today’s urban mobility systems and improve user experience. Projects presented during the Americas edition proposed a range of solutions including robots for last-mile delivery, AI-powered computer and traffic cameras to improve road safety at intersections, a MaaS platform, and the development of a new type of infrastructure for urban air mobility.

Woocar, winner for South America, develops and implements mobile telematics solutions for company fleets, transport and government fleets. Through a mobile app, Woocar monitors driving habits thanks to Artificial Intelligence technology and behavioural sciences. In addition to analysing speed, and safe and eco-friendly driving patterns, the app also evaluates drivers’ behaviour and focus at the wheel. Woocar’s solution, which was first developed for B2B use — enabling companies and public authorities to manage their fleet, improve their road safety performance, and reduce costs — is now also available to everyday drivers. Woocar has developed its app in four languages and is now present in 42 countries. Since its launch, Woocar has been able to achieve promising results as clients have been able to reduce road safety incidents and crashes interannual rate by 80 percent.

Awarded winner for North America, KUHMUTE provides a universal parking and charging solution for all kinds of micromobility electric vehicles. KUHMUTE was created to help cities and mobility service providers improve user experience by offering innovative parking hubs allowing for shared or personally owned vehicles to be safely parked and charged. KUHMUTE enables shared fleets of electric scooters and bikes to be more organised and reliably charged by eliminating vehicle clutter from streets, and accommodates parking needs for personally owned micromobility vehicles. KUHMUTE aims to become the first multi-modal charging network for micromobility.

Both winners will be invited to pitch their projects at the Season 5 FIA Smart Cities eForum – Americas that will take place on 17 June.