Infinite Mobility, a manufacturer of solar-powered cargo bikes, is originally a Norwegian company, but its rise is inextricably linked to Hamburg. It is the best example of how a competition such as the Future Hamburg Award and the Scaleup Landing Pad funding programme achieve their goal of attracting international startups to the Hanseatic city.
The founder is an expert in solar energy
SINTEF is the largest independent research organisation in Scandinavia. It employs 2,200 people from 80 countries, mainly at its headquarters in Trondheim and in Oslo. One of them was Moez Jomâa until mid-2023. He completed his studies at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris and graduated with a PhD. His scientific subject is solar energy. One of his research projects under the auspices of the United Nations involved the development of a solar-powered passenger boat. This was actually built, can carry up to 30 people and is in use in the Tunisian capital Tunis.
Motivated by this success, Moez thought about other possible applications for solar energy. Entering the automotive market seemed attractive, but also risky. The at least temporary insolvency of the Munich-based company Sono Motors in 2023 confirmed this. A conversation with a friend from the Philippines gave him a better idea. In the Asian island republic, the tuk-tuk, a tricycle usually powered by a two-stroke engine for smaller carriages, is one of the most common means of transport.
The Future Hamburg Award put Infinite Mobility on the road to success
The original concept of equipping such a tuk-tuk with a solar drive had room on a napkin and ultimately led to the startup that is now known as Infinite Mobility. It first became more concrete in 2020 and just one year later, the nascent company attracted attention in Hamburg. The Hanseatic city initiated the Future Hamburg Award competition in 2019 to draw attention to its business benefits for international startups. Infinite Mobility applied for the second edition in 2021 and took third place in June.
The reasons for the award stated at the time: "Infinite Mobility impresses with its wide range of possible applications and the high disruption potential of its forward-looking business idea. In the mobility market, which is characterised by large corporations, small innovative companies in particular are currently proving that a more diverse offering can significantly improve the quality of life in cities. In the future, micro vehicles will play a central role in the last mile and will also significantly change the image of our cities. Precisely because Infinite Mobility is still in an early seed phase, the Future Hamburg Award would like to support the company in further developing this vision."
Even though the Covid-19 pandemic was still dominating everyday life at the time and slowing down the company's development, the success in Hamburg gave the Scandinavian startup a noticeable boost. It was able to close a pre-seed financing round for 1.2 million euros, in which a family office from Switzerland and business angels from France and Norway were among those involved. Inspired by this, Infinite Mobility immediately applied for the next project, which aims to attract international scaleups to the Alster and Elbe: the Scaleup Landing Pad. This programme is tailored to up-and-coming companies from the GreenTech sector that want to conquer the German and European market from Hamburg. They receive support in finding suitable premises and personnel and, above all, get matched to potential business partners.
Elevating Enterprises with International Innovation Partnerships:
The Scaleup Landing Pad Hamburg, an initiative by Hamburg Invest, is dedicated to future-proofing local enterprises by forging partnerships with cutting-edge international GreenTech scaleups. This initiative not only introduces pioneering concepts to local corporations but also accelerates the integration of these young companies into the Hamburg market through strategic pairings with seasoned local businesses.
An international company
At the first edition of the Scaleup Landing Pad in 2022, the focus was on mobility and logistics, customised for Infinite Mobility. The startup promptly prevailed among more than 30 applications and secured one of the ten coveted places. During their participation in the Landing Pad, the Infinite Mobility team got matched with crucial partners to facilitate their market entry and was able to hone their market entry strategy together with the program’s service partners – both essential for solidifying their base in Hamburg. In addition to the headquarters in Oslo, there is now a permanent office in the Digital Hub Logistics in Hamburg's historical warehouse district Speicherstadt. Nicole Sengeisen has taken on the task of driving forward the German business. There are plans to operate a storehouse in Hamburg in the future, as the city's harbour makes it an ideal starting point for sales.
Infinite Mobility can certainly be described as a multinational company, as the cargo bikes are produced in a factory in Tunisia and the production manager in charge is Frenchman Thierry Gallois. Individual components such as the frames and the solar cells are delivered from Europe to North Africa and assembled there. The factory produces over one million bicycles per year, so nothing stands in the way of Infinite Mobility's rapid growth.
2024 is set to be the year of Infinite Mobility
This is to be made possible by two models that are to be officially launched on the market in spring 2024. The smaller version is called INGA and can carry a load of up to 250 kilograms. The solar cells are integrated into the body of the cargo bike and cannot be recognised as such as they are covered with a special paint. As charging takes place continuously when the sun is shining, both when stationary and when riding, the charging time that causes interruptions in conventional electrically powered vehicles is eliminated.
The larger model is called LØKKA and will be available in two versions, which differ mainly in the amount of storage space available. LØKKA is particularly suitable for last-mile deliveries in large cities and therefore for companies on the move there. In the medium term, however, INGA is aimed more at end consumers who want to do their shopping or go on picnic trips. Infinite Mobility wants to focus entirely on B2B business at the start though. The demand so far gives reason to hope that this will quickly develop positively.
If the success materialises as hoped, further models could be launched on the market, possibly one that is even more closely oriented to the original tuk-tuk idea. An app is also planned that will provide information on the weather conditions and the associated ideal loading times. This growth would of course be linked to the creation of further jobs, including in Hamburg. This would be a further reward for the commitment that the city has shown with the Future Hamburg Award and the Scaleup Landing Pad for international startups.
