Space data is amazing, no doubt about it. This article explains how this data is used for business and in everyday life, exemplified by two startups from the German ESA Business Incubation Centres (BICs) Bavaria and Darmstadt.
The ESA BIC New Space Economy Start-up Challenge of the INNOspace Masters is the perfect opportunity for innovators and entrepreneurs with innovative technology transfer ideas and business models from earth into space and vice versa. Apply now!
Assigning Seats in Cars within a few Seconds
The highly successful ESA BIC Darmstadt startup flinc was taken over by Daimler AG in 2017 and is a leading provider of door-to-door, Carpooling for short and medium routes in real-time. Over the last few years, flinc has turned into a pioneer in the field of shared mobility applications. Today, around half a million customers are registered to the ridesharing platform! In addition, numerous well-known companies use flinc’s corporate ridesharing solution to secure and improve employee mobility.
Through its real-time analysis of traffic movements, flinc is able to assign seats in cars within a few seconds. It combines GPS and location-based capabilities with social networking to offer a dynamic, safe, and automated service that gets users from A to B with maximum usability.
Established in May 2008 as an idea of some students of Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, today’s company was founded in 2010 by Dr. Klaus Dibbern, Michael Hübl and Benjamin Kirschner as a public limited company. In the T-City, the technical infrastructure was tested, after a four-month closed technology test, the project started in July 2011 across Germany.
The same year, they won the first price within the Hesse Challenge of the European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) and launched a carpooling platform for short routes. In September 2017, flinc was acquired by Daimler AG.
Biggest Digital Construction Equipment Platform
klarx, currently an incubatee at ESA BIC Bavaria, is the biggest digital construction equipment platform in Germany. klarx developed a totally new platform to bridge the gap between lessees and lessors. Clients are able to find their ideal machine within seconds.
Therefore, klarx combines data and an algorithm with the European satellite navigation system Galileo and is able to determine the sites of machines and the arising logistics costs immediately. Thus, the platform offers a transparent price structure and availability of local equipment rental parks.
ESA BIC Bavaria and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) support the startup on its way to revolutionise the construction sector.
Technology Transfer – a Catapult for new Business ideas
These two examples show how space related data, technology, products and services make life better on Earth through technology transfer. As these two prime examples display, this high-tech boost is a major benefit for various sectors.
