December 7, 2021 — France-based last-mile delivery vehicle producer FlexiModal has been named the grand prize winner of the Urban Freight Lab’s fifth annual Tech Day: Electrifying the Final Mile pitch competition, open to early- and mid-stage startups around the world working on electric solutions in the last mile delivery space.
FlexiModal’s BicyLift is a bike trailer system that takes the place of traditional last-mile truck delivery. By reducing the time needed to transfer goods between modes, maintaining a high load capacity (440 lbs), BicyLift could be part of making the last-mile delivery more sustainable, enabling cities to reduce traffic, pollution, and increase livability.
FlexiModal was selected as a semi-finalist from submissions to an open call for pitches announced in September; the other three semi-finalists are: KUHMUTE (a universal charging network for micromobility), re:Charge-e (ecargo bike charging infrastructure), and Scootility (a utility e-scooter optimized for the last-mile delivery of light goods).
The four semi-finalists presented their pitches to UFL members (retailers, shippers, carriers, industry real estate, etc.), UFL researchers, local Departments of Transportation, and venture capitalists at the Tech Day competition on December 7.
FlexiModal was selected grand prize winner by a panel of judges who are industry experts:
- Giacomo Dalla Chiara, Research Associate, Urban Freight Lab
- Darryl Forbes, Vice President of Engineering, UPS Freight
- Kelly Rula, New Mobility Lead, Seattle Department of Transportation
- Bob Tiderington, Senior Manager of Strategy and Operations, BrightDrop
- Stephen Zoepf, Chief of Policy Development, Lacuna Technologies
Selection criteria included technical feasibility, business application, market potential, and presentation quality.
Read more:
- Tech Day 2020: Last Mile Delivery in the New Normal
- Tech Day 2019: Transforming the Final 50 Feet of Delivery
- Tech Day 2018: Technological Disruption and Innovation in Last-Mile Delivery
- Tech Day 2017: Innovative Freight Technologies
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About the Urban Freight Lab (UFL): An innovative public-private partnership housed at the Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics Center at the University of Washington, the Urban Freight Lab is a structured workgroup that brings together private industry with City transportation officials to design and test solutions around urban freight management. Since launching in December 2016, the UFL has completed an innovative suite of research projects on the Final 50 Feet of delivery, providing foundational data and proven strategies to help cities reduce truck dwell times in load/unload spaces, and failed first delivery attempts by carriers, which lowers congestion, emissions, and costs.