Urban mobility data collector Vianova raises $3 million

Hailing from Paris, Vianova uses data from shared, connected, electric, and autonomous urban transportation vehicles to help cities and mobility operators make better use of city infrastructures. The startup has raised $3 million in seed funding and aims to expand its offer into the US marketplace as well as bolder existing operations and partnerships in Europe. To date, the company has raised $5.2 million.

When we think about last-mile delivery services or urban mobility solutions, e-scooters, e-bicycles, etc., most of the thought goes towards the user experience, but an unsung hero of these services is a third-party data collector operating silently in the background. With all these vehicles moving about in an urban environment, there’s a treasure trove of data in what’s moving where, when, how fast, or how slow, and crucially, where are bottlenecks happening? Now imagine this data can be shared from city to city to city, and instead of having a reactive urban planning system, a proactive one becomes a true possibility.

Founded in 2019, Vianova is a prime player in this underlying data collection space, already facilitating mobility data sharing between 40 cities and 50 mobility operators across Europe. More recently, the company has expanded operations into Australia, New Zealand, and Mexico.

The startup reports processing over 5 million journeys a month in conjunction with partners Bird, Bolt, and Voi in cities including Helsinki, Zürich, Milan, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Eindhoven, and Cologne.

“With the rapid development of urban mobility challenging the distribution of public space, data has become an essential tool of governance and collaboration for cities and mobility providers. Our platform is beneficial for both sides, bringing these two worlds closer together and leading to the development of increasingly advanced use cases,” explains co-founder and CEO Thibault Castagne. “Cities are using our platform to define no-parking zones, speed limits, or fleet caps, while operators can better track and reduce the number of violations, communicate policies to their users, and optimize their deployments.”

Vianova’s seed funding was provided by sustainable energy and mobility-focused VC fund, Ponooc.