In the quick-paced world of urban commuting, finding sustainable and inexpensive transportation has become a pressing challenge for towns and cities across Europe. But amidst the daily chaos, a visionary company is trying to revolutionise the way we travel to work.
Anaïs Enrico is the Vice President International Expansion at Karos Mobility, a new kind of transport company that provides integrated carpooling solutions for daily commuting, powered by cutting-edge AI technology and supported by EIT Community Artificial Intelligence.
The group stands poised to transform short and medium-distance travel on the continent, and is taking it one city at a time.
Coming from the esteemed ESSEC Business School, Anaïs embarked on her career working as a strategy consultant with corporations and government agencies in Morocco. She lived in Casablanca after graduation, working on 'critical issues within the health sector and advocating for women's rights across the African continent' she says.
Anaïs joined Karos Mobility two years ago and has since played a pivotal role in spearheading efforts to expand the company's reach beyond existing markets in France, Germany, and Denmark. Drawn in by the possibility to have a positive environmental impact she saw the potential of the company to stand out from the competition.
We set ourselves apart through a three-pillar approach. First, our advanced technology - especially the integration with public transport - provides a unique offering. Second, our attractive incentive programmes effectively convince users to adopt carpooling on a mass scale. And finally, we emphasise human support by sending teams to meet potential users in new areas, explaining the benefits of carpooling and conducting promotional events like webinars and breakfast meetings.
Anaïs Enrico, Vice President International Expansion at Karos Mobility
It’s this unique approach that makes Karos such an exciting prospect for investors and users alike.
Partnership with the EIT Community
One of the cornerstones of Karos Mobility's success lies in its partnership with the EIT Community.
Karos Mobility are a highly active EIT Community AI portfolio company with a huge amount of potential. We’ve worked with them through our Urban Mobility dept to help them develop a strong presence in the market.
Orestis Trasanidis, EIT Community’s AI initiative lead.
This fruitful collaboration began about a year ago when the two organisations first crossed paths at an industry fair in Toulouse. 'EIT Community helped us increase our visibility and notoriety as carpooling experts in Europe,' Anaïs explains. 'They connected us with potential partners and, through their innovation call, introduced us to Vitoria-Gasteiz in the Basque Country, where we initiated a pilot project to improve sustainable mobility.'
The innovation call was part of EIT Urban Mobility, who work with start-ups looking to revolutionise the realm of transport. Karos Mobility’s involvement with the Urban Mobility team took them to greater networking and funding opportunities.
Anaïs also explains how EIT Community’s AI initiative quickly understood what makes Karos Mobility's carpooling solution truly innovative, with the company's unique approach evident in its efforts to integrate carpooling with local public transport systems.
Rather than competing with traditional transit options, Karos Mobility's advanced algorithms intelligently detect when a trip could be made using public transport, providing users with a cost-effective and efficient experience. The company's machine learning algorithms continuously learn from users' habits, ensuring that the service is not only user-friendly but also tailor made for each of their users.
Orestis Trasanidis, EIT Community’s AI initiative lead
'What’s great is people have even told us they made friends along the way!' Anaïs enthuses.
Keeping one eye on the future, Karos Mobility see themselves bringing sustainable commuting solutions to more urban centres and rural areas. As the company grows, they remain committed to maintaining a scalable, non-dogmatic approach that integrates solutions from both the private and public sectors. 'We don’t see any reason why both can’t come together to help solve this crucial issue,' Anaïs says.
The challenge for Karos lies in striking the balance between tailoring solutions for different communities and groups, and ensuring a seamless system across territories.
'We’re always asking how to improve the accessibility of the app,' explains Anaïs. 'A fully local app for each city is very hard to maintain, so we prefer having a single app that is customisable across regions, but always essentially the same app and the same technology across territories. Once you open the app we can geolocate you and provide a dedicated environment, with its own branding and so on.'
With nine years under their belt, Karos Mobility have witnessed a huge amount of growth. At the time of writing, there are over 90 dedicated employees who, through their platform, have facilitated over 8 million carpool trips, saving an estimated 12 000 tons of CO2 emissions.
'Additionally, our service has resulted in over EUR 46 million in both earnings for drivers and savings for passengers combined. This is a testament to the tangible impact of adopting sustainable transportation methods,' says Anaïs.
As they continue to make in-roads into sustainable commuting, Karos have set their sights on the Spanish market. The company also have an eye on other large European countries for expansion in the near future, aspiring to make a meaningful impact on the daily journeys of millions more commuters and helping to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of entire metropolitan areas.
With its dynamic team of carpool enthousiasts, Karos Mobility is reshaping the future of urban transport. With a strong commitment to sustainability and an unwavering drive to create positive change at scale, the organisation stands poised to reshape commuting for millions across Europe.
As the world begins to embrace what a greener and more sustainable future might look like, Karos Mobility is at the forefront of this mobility revolution, where every carpool trip is not only a journey, but a step towards a cleaner and brighter tomorrow.
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