MaaS Global is a pioneer of the transport sector transformation underway in Finland and around the world.

The company’s mobile app Whim, launched in November 2017, has already been used for more than 10 million trips in Finland, Belgium, England and Austria.

Conveniently combining public and private transport options, the Whim app can be used to plan a route, buy tickets for the train, tram and bus, to order a taxi and rent a city bike, electric scooter or a car. Whim offers single ticket purchases and a subscription plan that covers all forms of transport, providing the user with a comprehensive and flexible alternative to owning a car – while also reducing traffic emissions.

Founded in Helsinki in 2015, MaaS Global has attracted substantial international media coverage and received many awards in Finland and abroad. In February 2019, MaaS Global received the Future Unicorn Award for companies with the potential to become the future European Tech giants and to reach a turnover of more than one billion euros. The Whim app has also received recognition for good user experience and design. The company’s CEO Sampo Hietanen is one of the best-known Mobility as a Service (MaaS) influencers in the world.

MaaS attracts international investors

– The MaaS concept had already been discussed in the Finnish transport sector for a long time. In 2014 Sampo Hietanen, the director of Intelligent Transportation Society of Finland at that time, decided to gather different actors to create a business plan and turn the talk into action. Altogether 24 different organizations from both public and private sectors, including the Helsinki Regional Transport Authority HSL, telecom operators, the Finnish Taxi Association and Uber got involved, says Jonna Pöllänen, Head of Early Markets at MaaS Global.

The company born from the initiative was originally called MaaS Finland. The name was changed at the end of 2016 to align with the goal of being a global player. The ambitious startup sparked international interest right from the first funding rounds. In addition to the Finnish company Veho, its investors included French company Transdev, Karsan and Swiftcom from Turkey, and the Japanese giants DENSO, Toyota Financial Services and Aioi Nissay Dowa.

International expansion

MaaS Global is the first company to start building a new mobility ecosystem globally, working with a range of different service providers. Alongside Helsinki, Whim is currently available in Birmingham, Antwerp and Vienna. In 2020, Whim will also be piloted in Tokyo and Singapore.

– The City of Antwerp, for example, is very much involved in supporting the development of MaaS and promoting the birth of a genuine MaaS market. The latest location where Whim was launched is Vienna which currently has five transport services live, whereas Helsinki already has about ten. The market is still in its early stages in Vienna, but the growth curve is going up. The package of transport services enables serving the consumer as well as possible, says Pöllänen.

More resources to drive growth and user experience

On top of entering new markets, MaaS Global seeks to grow in its existing markets, add new services to the Whim app, and to provide a better a user experience for the end user.

– We are also planning to test the Whim roaming model, which combines different countries and cities. The idea is to bring the transport services of the new market to the consumer’s fingertips, ideally in their own currency and without any need for additional registrations or forms of payment. What matters most is that the consumers and users genuinely enjoy the service and see the added value it brings, says Pöllänen.

The investors have strong faith in MaaS Global’s ability to conquer the world. Completed in November 2019, the company’s fourth funding round was worth EUR 29.5 million, bringing the total investment to EUR 53.7 million. BP Ventures, Mitsui Fudosan, Mitsubishi Corporation and NordicNinja joined in as new investors.

The global MaaS industry is expected to reach USD 500 billion in revenue by 2030, playing a major role in reducing private car use and cutting emissions in cities. MaaS has already been mentioned as part of the European Commission’s Green Deal program which aims to reduce transport emissions by 90% by 2050.

Interested in developing or using smart mobility solutions in global business operations? Read more about the Smart Mobility Finland program’s innovation funding and internationalization services.

Photo: MaaS Global

Read the original article on Business Finland’s web page.

Virta Ltd. (Liikennevirta Oy) has been ranked as the fastest-growing electric vehicle charging platform in Europe by the Financial Times on their 2020 FT 1000 list. The FT 1000 ranks Europe’s fastest-growing companies annually – Virta’s overall ranking on the list is 179.

The Global EV charging operator Virta – founded in 2013 in Finland, has become the innovation leader of intelligent electric vehicle charging technologies and one of the top players of the industry in Europe. The European electric vehicle market is growing rapidly and Virta is growing five times faster than the general market average.

“The pace of transition from oil to electricity is now accelerating exponentially with digital energy platforms like Virta driving the new energy economy. The growth is currently coming mainly from Europe, in future also from other continents.”, says Jussi Palola, CEO of Virta.

“The FT1000 ranking is a great recognition for the company, communicating that our team is doing the right things. Moreover, it is promoting the cleaner and carbon-free future of mobility and energy.”, Palola continues.

Today, over 300 charging network owners with over 50 different brands from 28 countries are operating their charging services on the Virta platform. Virta has offices in Finland, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Sweden.

Virta’s digital energy services allow optimisation of the energy flow of charging stations, avoiding energy peaks and reducing the cost for the end-user. This helps to take the environmental benefits of electric vehicles to the next level by providing flexibility in the energy system.

Two-thirds of today’s global combustion CO2 emissions are produced in the sectors of transportation and energy. Electric vehicles reduce oil-based emissions on a significant scale and play a key role in responding to the global concern of climate change.

Electric vehicles are essential in the energy transformation: the electrification of transportation has a direct impact on the decarbonisation of electricity production. Renewable energy production increases the need for balancing power in the energy systems and electric vehicles are the most essential new source of flexibility.

Read the original news article on Virta’s website.

Series A round investors NordicNinja VC and ITOCHU to support Sensible 4 as they scale to Europe and Asia

Finnish autonomous driving technology pioneer Sensible 4 has raised $7 million in their series A funding round that will see the company market expansion to Europe and Asia. Sensible 4’s first investment round was led by NordicNinja VC, over €100 million Nordic deep tech fund backed by Japanese tech companies and ITOCHU, one of the largest Japanese trading companies.

The Finnish technology startup specializes in autonomous driving software for demanding and harsh weather conditions. Challenging weather and limited sensor visibility have long been a problem for driverless vehicles. The company’s solution — which is first in allowing for self-driving in snow, fog and heavy rain — has attracted growing attention from major automotive players since the startups’ inception in 2017.

“We are very proud to have such strong investors joining Sensible 4 as shareholders. We are still one of the only companies in this field that can drive autonomously in all weather conditions. With the investment, we will be able to develop the technology to a level that allows us to integrate this to commercial use,” says Harri Santamala, co-founder and CEO of Sensible 4.

In 2019, Sensible 4 released the autonomous shuttle bus GACHA in cooperation with Japanese retail company MUJI, which has sparked significant interest in Japan. The company is already one of the most well-known Nordic startups in the country. GACHA has won the “GOOD DESIGN GOLD AWARD” – the number one recognition for design in Japan as well as the prestigious Beazley Designs of the year award in the Transport category at the Design Museum in London. Sensible 4 also won Best startup at the Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Transport and collected $1 million in prize money.

The first phase of the investment round before commercial production is now completed. The total round is expected to double and to be completed by the summer. The funding will be used to further develop the software and part will be used to build more GACHA busses, which aims to enter the Japanese and Chinese market at the end of the year.

“The global autonomous driving solutions still struggle to work in particular conditions like heavy snow, fog or typhoons. Sensible 4’s approach based on their long-term research for autonomous driving is totally different from other existing approaches. Their unique technology enables any kind of autonomous vehicle to drive anywhere and anytime. We are so excited to make this dream reality together with the “dream team” of autonomous driving vehicles,” says Tomosaku Sohara, Managing Partners at NordicNinja VC.

“We are very pleased to partner with Sensible 4 which provides with a unique LiDAR-based software built with state-of-the-art sensor fusion technology. Which makes self-driving cars operate safely in all weather conditions. Amidst the rapid advance of the progress and spread of 5G network worldwide, we believe Sensible 4’s self-driving technology will for sure contribute to developing mobility of the future with global auto manufacturers. In addition, we are very happy with the alliance with Sensible 4 and NordicNinja VC since it will also strengthen the close relationship between Itochu and Finland,” says Shunsuke Noda, Chief Digital & Information Officer at Itochu.

Sensible 4’s growth is a result of industry collaboration with top automotive companies as well as funding from European and Finnish governmental grants and loans. “Our Finnish engineering hearts are overwhelmed with the positive feedback we’ve received for our technology from Asia, especially after our cooperation announcements with MUJI and Softbank’s SB Drive. With the investment we will be able to react and build on this interest with a much faster pace,” says Santamala.

Read the original news article on Sensible4’s website.

Finns are utilising real-time traffic data more and more actively to support their traffic needs as shown by the increased use of traffic control group Traffic Management Finland’s Digitraffic traffic data marketplace. In 2019, Digitraffic received as many as 14 million daily interface calls.

The open data provided by Digitraffic is utilised extensively in, for instance, road traffic navigation systems and services as well as mobile consumer applications. Traffic Management Finland’s aim is to help traffic sector operators create novel services by providing open data about traffic for developers. Data is created in, among other things, traffic control systems, traffic measurement systems and weather and road condition monitoring systems.

“Use of data in our Digitraffic service increased significantly last year. This indicates the strong demand for traffic data. Companies operating in the traffic market are developing their business rapidly, including services directed to consumers, where data plays a central role. We want to invite everyone to utilise and enrich data and create the safest, smoothest and most environmentally friendly traffic through intelligent services,” says Janne Lautanala, Chief Ecosystem and Technology Officer, Traffic Management Finland.

Real-time data to make traffic run smoother

Digitraffic provides real-time traffic data about road, railway and maritime traffic in Finland. Traffic sign data was the most recent addition to the service, currently covering the real-time display information of 210 changing speed limit or warning signs. The data content will be expanded to cover a larger geographical area and new traffic sign types in the future.

The development of services based on data allows the combination of different modes of transport into smooth transport and travel chains.

Last autumn, Traffic Management Finland published the Traffic Situation application directed to consumers, utilising Digitraffic data to provide information about, for instance, current roadworks, traffic incidents, weight limits and winter maintenance. The service also includes the images from hundreds of road conditions cameras around Finland as well as information about ice roads, driving conditions and warnings for seafarers. The application also includes station-specific schedule and punctuality data of passenger trains. Furthermore, the service can be used for giving feedback on the condition of traffic routes and filing notices of the traffic flow.

According to its strategy, Traffic Management Finland’s goal is to create the world’s safest and smoothest and lowest emissions traffic in Finland together with its partners.

Learn more:

www.digitraffic.fi
https://liikennetilanne.tmfg.fi/
www.junalahdot.fi
www.asemainfo.fi

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fi.tmfg.liikennetilanne&hl=en

https://apps.apple.com/fi/app/liikennetilanne/id1467729357

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Read the original news article on TMFG’s website.

The new VTT subsidiary, VTT SenseWay, will make the expertise related to autonomous solutions available to customers. Our frontrunner position in autonomous innovations will boost the competitiveness of not only companies but of Finland as well. Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä, who participated in the opening event of VTT SenseWay in Turku, underscores the importance of artificial intelligence as driver of competitiveness.

“Finland is already a world leader in the development of autonomous ship applications. Continued success in the field requires not only investments but also collaboration between companies and research organisations. The establishment of a new high-tech company in Finland is a positive sign of faith in the future,” Minister Lintilä says.

Antti Vasara, President & CEO of VTT, says that the intention is for VTT SenseWay to operate in close collaboration with research and the business world, while creating sustainable growth and competitive advantage for customers.

“The company will provide assistance for commercialising VTT’s research findings to make it easier for companies to put results of top research into practice. We are not doing research for the sake of research but in order to solve the biggest challenges of the humankind in collaboration with our customers,” Vasara underscores.

Mayor of Turku Minna Arve welcomes VTT SenseWay as part of the region’s competence cluster.

“A world-class ecosystem related to autonomous systems has already emerged in the Turku region, and the City of Turku wants to support it in any way possible. Turku’s strength culminates in the collaboration with the various operators in the area,” Arve says.

Technology companies believe in innovations

The collaboration between companies and research organisations as the driver of competitiveness was also an issue emphasised in the comments of Mikko Valtee, Manager, Applied Research at Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology and Mika Heiskanen, Executive Board Member, Design & Engineering at Meyer Turku, who attended the opening event. Research and product development are important competitive factors for both companies.

“In the mining sector, we understood that we can no longer do things in a bigger way, but we need to do them in a smarter way. The future is autonomous and electric. Making the vision concrete requires commercial operators and agility. At Sandvik, we are always competing with innovations and product development,” Valtee says.

“Meyer Turku does not want to do the R&D of ships alone but as part of a network. The use of the most advanced technology has helped the company remain interesting and topical. We will keep on investing in automation even in the future, which will bring added value to both our customers and end users. In the future, we will also be competing with the life cycle costs of the product, in this case the ship. Energy efficiency is a significant question that can be partly addressed with autonomous solutions,” Heiskanen says.

Autonomous systems bring productivity and competitiveness to both industrial and transport-sector operators.

“Autonomous systems are developing rapidly and, therefore, we need to make investments in them right now. VTT SenseWay can operate in autonomisation projects in various sectors. Using autonomous solutions does not require replacing the old systems with something totally new. When autonomous solutions are integrated into operations or products phase by phase, the products will maintain their competitiveness on the market,” says Jere Laaksonen, Chief Executive Officer at VTT SenseWay.

Read the original news article on VTT’s web page.

The telecommunication system of the future is a multifaceted whole, combining 5G mobile networks with satellite networks in space and low Earth orbit. The flexible and reliable connections and powerful data transfer can be utilised particularly on moving objects and in scarcely populated areas. Good telecommunication connections reliable in all conditions enable, for example, autonomous vehicles and self-navigating maritime traffic.

The vision of the future of telecommunications is a result of co-operation between VTT, the European Space Agency ESA and two German research organisations. – VTT has an understanding of what is needed for the telecommunications of the future and the ability to implement these technologies. The cooperation shows trust in our know-how, says Marko Höyhtyä, who coordinates space technology research activities at VTT.

Reliable connections on land, sea and air

5G mobile networks and satellite networks connected to them are suitable for applications where traditional connections are insufficient. Such applications include many mobile systems from cars to ships and aeroplanes, as well as various work machines or industrial equipment. Good telecommunication connections that are reliable in all conditions enable, for example, autonomous vehicles, self-navigating maritime traffic, or the remote operation of various work machines also on difficult to access sites.

Terrestrial connections can provide service to these systems, for example in the harbour area or at the airport, but farther from the shore or up in the air, they require support from satellites and drones.

Scarcely populated areas will benefit

Combining the 5G mobile network with satellite networks benefits scarcely populated areas. It is not worth it to build a comprehensive terrestrial network in the Arctic Region or the wilderness, but data transfer can be ensured with satellites in these areas, too.

The authorities are one key user group of the information networks of the future. The new connections offer an alternative to the public authority networks, the poor data transfer capacity of which limits, for example, the sending of images or video. In the future, sensor data collected from a border zone, for example, can be relayed via a satellite to a control room, allowing the sending of a drone to investigate the situation when necessary.

– Drones and satellites can also photograph the environment and provide data that allows the authorities to identify hazardous situations. This allows them to react to, for example, a starting forest fire quicker than today. On the other hand, satellites provide help and reserve connections in situations where a fire, earthquake or some other natural catastrophe has destroyed fixed networks.

The vision article “5G and Beyond for New Space: Vision and Research Challenges” was introduced at the international ICSSC conference in Japan in November 2019 and can be found at the Researchgate website. See the original news article on VTT’s web page.

VTT and KTM Nordic Oy (KTM) have started cooperation to equip the KTM motorcycle with similar technical data transmission and environment perception systems as VTT’s automated vehicles.  The vehicle safety systems and sensors are intended to make motorcycles more visible to other vehicles and traffic safer and more efficient than before.

VTT has received international recognition for the development of automated vehicles and their sensors and software, especially for difficult conditions. VTT is currently conducting research in more than ten international and domestic traffic automation and 5G and ITS-G5 communication projects and assignments. In addition to automated cars and machinery (Martti, Marilyn, Pate and eLvira), the research is now extended to also include powered two-wheelers (PTW).

The advancement of traffic automation has already introduced vehicles with smart sensors such as radars, laser scanners and cameras used for automatic image recognition into traffic. These sensors are used in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to detect and identify people, vehicles and objects located and moving in the vehicles’ immediate surroundings. Human driving and perception errors are the main cause of traffic accidents, and only very rarely is a technical failure of a vehicle the biggest factor contributing to an accident. In the next few years, advanced driver assistance systems will evolve towards AI-controlled vehicles enabling automated driving.

In this scenario of the future transport system, it is important to consider motorcycles as well. According to Dutch studies^*), the sensors of driver assistance systems in current passenger cars, such as adaptive cruise control radar or camera, do not detect, much less identify a motorcycle unless it is ridden in the middle of the lane and/or at least in the centre line of the car’s direction of movement. In practice, the situation is even more challenging as regards smaller mopeds.

“Our work focuses on the development and research of vehicle environment perception and new communication systems. The aim is not to develop an autonomously ridden motorcycle; instead, the research emphasises the suitability and functionality of equipment, software and services operating in the motorcycle environment. The goal is to research and test how to make the motorcycle a smart part of the future transport system, and our research bike named Jarno plays an integral part in this”, says Principal Scientist Aki Lumiaho from VTT’s RobotCar Crew research team.

^*) Westerband, E., ‘Adaptive Cruise Control & Motorcycle Recognition‘, RDW (2018) and
Rood, R., ‘ADAS Testing, Hoe reageren Advanced Driver Assistance Systemen op motorrijders?‘, RDW (2018)

Read the original news article on VTT’s web page.

Japanese SB Drive announces a collaboration with Finnish Sensible 4 on self-driving technology integration for autonomous shuttles.

SoftBank’s self-driving subsidiary, SB Drive, has started a collaboration with Finnish autonomous driving technology company Sensible 4. The primary purpose of the cooperation is to accelerate the implementation of autonomous shuttles in Europe and Japan and bring them faster to mainstream adoption.

The collaboration takes first place in Finland, where SB Drive has started as a supplier for Sensible 4 within the EU funded FABULOS project. SB Drive’s Dispatcher will be tested with Sensible 4’s self-driving shuttle bus GACHA – addressing key challenges and opportunities related to autonomous driving. During the FABULOS project, GACHA, as well as other autonomous vehicles from Sensible 4, will be tested on public roads. Mobility services will also be provided to address local transportation needs.

Sensible 4 CEO, Harri Santamala: “For Sensible 4, the Japanese market is very exciting. We are building partnerships to provide solutions to the automotive industry and consequently improve the mobility of our societies. Our approach has been to focus on our core technologies and partnering with companies such as SB Drive, to jointly offer more than each partner could do separately. We decided together to have a pragmatic approach to this collaboration, and hence started it by integrating SB Drive’s Dispatcher to our full-stack solution to utilize it with our ongoing GACHA pilots in Finland.”

Companies aim at self-driving operations in both EU and Japan

SB Drive’s autonomous vehicle platform was integrated last year with Sensible 4’s self-driving vehicle system. The two companies are also looking into other use cases for cooperation – aiming to work towards an OEM partnership in the future with concrete self-driving operations in both EU and Japan.

SB Drive’s Dispatcher is a fleet management system able to remotely operate multiple autonomous vehicles, providing passenger monitoring and vehicle overwatch. The platform also features AI technology, capable of detecting movement within the vehicle. The system can warn passengers to prevent in-vehicle accidents as well as remotely controlling vehicles based on the operator’s needs.

GACHA developed by Sensible 4 is the world’s first autonomous shuttle bus capable of driving in all weather conditions and environments. The unique driverless vehicle has won multiple awards both for its design and outstanding driving capabilities.

Sensible 4 develop full-stack software solutions for autonomous vehicles and focuses on self-driving in difficult weather conditions – a crucial problem for driverless vehicles up to date.

More Information:

Harri Santamala, CEO
harri.santamala@sensible4.fi
https://www.sensible4.fi

Read the original news article on Sensible4’s website.