Term open for enrol in this new edition of the Philanthropy Smart Mobility Challenge. The contest rewards the best entrepreneurial ideas related to sustainable mobility and smart cities organised thanks to the collaboration between the Universitat de València and Ford Spain.

The Office of the Vice chancellor of Transfer and Innovation at the Universitat de Valencia calls this awards with the patronage of Ford Philanthropy. It gives students access to a training programme on innovative entrepreneurship techniques and counselling to give their business idea on smart and sustainable mobility a boost.

The proposals must address one of the 6 following topics:

Help overcome challenges on daily mobility.

Provide solutions on affordable and viable mobility for people who need better access to health and community services as well as for disabled or underprivileged people, for those who regular transportation services are not always adequate.

Help reduce and facilitate people and goods mobility in urban areas and provide easy access to goods and basic services.

Help ensure the safety and wellbeing of the workers (specially of those whose job involves mobility with vehicles or without them)

Promote healthy lifestyles with proposals which can be implemented separately from the application (on a small or big scale) for active mobility (for example, bicycles light motorcycles, etc.), which can connect local communities and help finance trips for people of any age and ability.

Help fight traffic congestion, solve urban space challenges, improve air quality and contribute to a more ecologic and energetically efficient life, thus connecting communities.

To participate, teams must briefly describe a business idea in its initial stage, which will be developed throughout the contest. This will result in a project or a product or service prototype. An evaluation committee will select the 10 best ideas which will be awarded with €500 each. Then, the 3 best projects will be selected to receive a €5.000 aid and an additional €7.500 one for the best of them. This aids will be used to implement the selected projects.

Those interested must present a university enrolment in either a Degree, a Master’s Degree or a PhD at the Universitat de València or in the Experto universitario en StartUp Management Degree during the 2024/25 academic year.

The submission period for applications will remain open from 18 January 2025 until 2 March 2025. More information about the registration of the contest.