
REVIEW: The Spark 2020
2020, we were looking for the most exciting smart mobility concepts that are already shaping the mobility of the future. The focus was on start-ups across all mobility forms and solutions.
In addition, for the second time we awarded the Female Founder Award to female founders who, as digital pioneers, encourage more women to take the step of founding a company.
the award ceremony
the winners
All ten start-ups and over 100 nominated female founders inspired the jury with their ideas and commitment. But the following four were ultimately able to convince and emerged as the winners of The Spark 2020:

1. TWAICE
Regardless of manufacturer or type, Twaice helps you to use batteries. Digital twins by Twaice combine battery expertise with data analytics capabilities, enabling customers across a wide range of industries to use their batteries more efficiently. Transparency about the actual aging of the battery helps to extend its life cycle.
2. ChargeX
In the future, every parking space must also be a charging space, says Charge X. The company develops charging stations as a overall solution for operators of fleets, hotels or car dealerships. The “Aqueduct” charging station can charge vehicles on demand from a supply point. The system analyzes the individual demand and supports the operator for further planning.


3. Wunder Mobility
Wunder Mobility offers software for car and ridesharing, for example, and organizes shuttle services and e-scooter concepts. 200 employees develop systems that help rent fleets, manage parking space or reduce traffic with carpooling. The technology is used by more than 60 clients in more than 70 cities spread across six continents.
the Finalists
The Spark is looking for the best concepts for the mobility of tomorrow. These ten start-ups were selected as 2020 finalists and presented their ideas to the jury:

BIT Technology Solutions
BIT combines physical principles with AI methods to generate synthetic datasets with a high coverage of safety-relevant cases. BIT provides the backbone for autonomous driving by creating a photorealistic 3D model of our world. BIT enables scalable development, ultra-detailed resolutions, and rapid scenario variation

Chargery
Cleaning the vehicles of ridesharing fleets, checking tire pressure, replacing batteries on rental e-scooters – Chargery offers sharing services the full range of services to ensure daily operations. Through a variety of features, the Chargery platform significantly increases the availability of vehicles in a sharing fleet.

CHARGE X
In the future, every parking space must also be a charging space, says Charge X. The company develops charging stations as a overall solution for operators of fleets, hotels or car dealerships. The “Aqueduct” charging station can charge vehicles on demand from a supply point. The system analyzes the individual demand and supports the operator for further planning.

HAWA DAWA
Managing traffic flows in a way that allows all road users to get through smoothly – or perhaps in a way that keeps environmental pollution low? Hawa Dawa measures air pollution and prepares the data so that it can be used in the decision-making processes of city planners or even transport operators. In addition, Hawa Dawa evaluates health data related to air pollution.

FAIRTIQ
No more studying of combs and zones – get on the bus or train, open the app, swipe – swipe again when getting off and Fairtiq calculates and redeems the cheapest ticket option. Currently available throughout Switzerland and in German cities and regions such as Aschaffenburg, Flensburg, Göttingen, Halle and the Lörrach and Mittelthüringen transport associations.

Park Here
Who is allowed to park where and when? Park Here offers a complete package of solutions for allocating and managing parking space rights. Users can reserve spaces with an app, authentication takes place at the barrier via a QR code. For operators of large parking areas, Park Here helps to use the available space efficiently and flexibly.

Routago
Routago Assist offers comprehensive tools to support blind and visually impaired people in traffic. Routago helps pedestrians to cover the routes within the city safely and quickly. Instead of the car lane, the navigation system orients itself to pavements and recognises safe crossings, guides along the correct side of the street and shows paths from one door to another.

SMARTLANE
20% lower transport costs – that’s what Smartlane promises with its AI-based software. Smartlane’s services range from automated scheduling and self-learning simulations of transports to the optimisation of individual destinations. For the first time, transport planning, controlling and analysis processes are fully automated.

TWAICE
Regardless of manufacturer or type, Twaice helps you to use batteries. Digital twins by Twaice combine battery expertise with data analytics capabilities, enabling customers across a wide range of industries to use their batteries more efficiently. Transparency about the actual aging of the battery helps to extend its life cycle.

Wunder Mobility
Wunder Mobility offers software for car and ridesharing, for example, and organizes shuttle services and e-scooter concepts. 200 employees develop systems that help rent fleets, manage parking space or reduce traffic with carpooling. The technology is used by more than 60 clients in more than 70 cities spread across six continents.
FEMALE FOUNDER
McKinsey and Handelsblatt were looking for female founders who convince as digital pioneers with personal commitment and entrepreneurial success. Over 100 impressive nominations from The Spark Community reached us for The Spark Female Founder Personality Award 2020. These are the winner and the finalists:

The Winner:
Katharina Kreitz
Vectoflow produces standardized and customized flow measurement technology for every application area. The probes, which are among the smallest, most accurate and temperature-resistant in the world, come from a 3D printer and increase measurement accuracy by 45 percent. International industrial customers from 50 countries rely on Vectoflow’s technology. Katharina Kreitz founded her own network of mentees and is involved in activities such as the Girls Day.
Finalists 2020

Lea-Sophie Cramer
Amorelie

Katharina Kreitz
Vectoflow

Verena Pausder
Digitale Bildung für Alle e.V.

Catharina VAN delden
innosabi
JURY
For The Spark 2020, we have once again assembled a high-calibre jury whose expertise was used to select The Spark 2020 winners at the jury meeting.
The jury meeting took place on 22 September.

Sven Afhüppe
Editor-in-chief Handelsblatt

Cornelius Baur
Head of McKinsey & Company Germany

Saeed Amidi
CEO Plug and Play Tech Center

Prof. Wilhelm Bauer
Institute Director Fraunhofer IAO

Marc Berg
CEO FreeNOW

Anke Giesen
Board of Directors Retail and Real Estate, Fraport AG

Anna Iarotska
Founder Robo Wunderkind & Female Founder 2019

Florian Petit
Founder Blickfeld & Gewinner The Spark 2019

Christina Reuter
Member of the Supervisory Board KION Group AG

Ulrich Schrickel
CEO Brose Group

Markus SontHeimer
CIO/CDO and Member of the Board of Directors Schenker AG

Dominik Wee
Managing Director Global Manufacturing & Transport Google

Hildegard Wortmann
Member of the Board of Directors Sales and marketing, AUDI AG
Nomination committeE
The experts for the nominations in 2020 were:

Kirsten Ludowig
Handelsblatt – Head of Department Company & Markets

Timo Möller
Head of McKinsey Center for Future Mobility

Prof. Michael Dowling
Professor for Innovation and Technology Management, University of Regensburg and Chairman of the Board of the Münchener Kreis

Prof. Dr. habil. Alois Knoll
Professor at the Technical University of Munich, Chair of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Real-Time Systems

Lukas Zanger
COO Magazino & Winner The Spark 2018