Amsterdam-based VC Ponooc backs French urban mobility management platform Vianova in €2.6M Seed round

Image credits: Vianova

Vianova, a Paris-based urban mobility management platform, announced that it has secured $3M (approx €2.6M) funding in the Seed round. The company has raised $5.2M (approx €4.5M) to date. The investors include Ponooc, Contrarian Ventures, RATP CI, and Rebel Group. The company is anticipating a large Series A round in 2022.

The new funds will enable Vianova to scale both business development efforts and client support across the world, mainly in the US, LATAM, and ANZ. 

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The company is also planning to integrate more mobility modes such as carsharing and last-mile logistics, and serve new verticals such as OEMs, public transport, and consultancies.

“With the rapid development of urban mobility challenging the distribution of public space, data has become an essential tool of governance and collaboration for cities and mobility providers. Our platform is beneficial for both sides, bringing these two worlds closer together and leading to the development of increasingly advanced use cases,” said Thibault Castagne, co-founder & CEO of Vianova. 

“Cities are using our platform to define no-parking zones, speed limits, or fleet caps, while operators can better track and reduce the number of violations, communicate policies to their users, and optimise their deployments. In total, our platform has helped cities plan and set up more than 300 mobility hubs, as well as 40 kilometers of new bike lanes, fostering the adoption of shared micro-mobility by more users,” he added.

The funding announcement comes almost a year after raising €1.8M in a Seed round last year. 

Ponooc: What you need to know

Based out of Amsterdam, Ponooc is a €140M venture capital fund on sustainable energy or mobility-related ventures. 

The company has invested in European startups focused on sustainable energy and mobility since 2014. Previously, the company has invested in companies such as Swapfiets, Tranzer, Yego, Check, and Bikemap.

“Over the past years, micromobility operators have introduced their shared vehicles to a large number of cities around the world. While these vehicles offer a great sustainable mobility alternative, they also bring challenges for the municipalities that are tasked with managing the public space,” says Max van Zoest, Investment Manager at Ponooc. 

He adds, “Through our portfolio companies, we have seen first-hand that there is room for improvement in the current methods of communication between cities and shared mobility operators. Therefore, we are very excited to support Vianova in its mission.”

What does Vianova solve?

With the rise in urban mobility solutions like e-scooters and last-mile delivery services, access and usage to public space have become a major challenge for cities. 

Some mobility solutions have a huge potential to make cities more sustainable, but to be successful, cities must be able to work closely with the various operators. And here’s where the French company comes into play. 

Vianova is a data platform for managing connected and shared mobility in the urban public realm. The company helps cities better manage their urban space, starting with mobility services.

Processes 5M trips per month

Founded by Frédéric Robinet, Thibaud Febvre, and Thibault Castagne in 2019, Vianova is currently working with more than 40 cities and 50 transport providers across Europe, and more recently in Australia, New Zealand, and Mexico. 

The company now processes more than 5M trips per month with city partners including Helsinki, Zürich, Milan, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Eindhoven, and Cologne. 

Vianova works with mobility operators such as Bird, Bolt, Voi, and car manufacturers and delivery services to improve compliance and operational efficiency of their fleets.