South Africa’s transport industry is plagued with issues like congestion and access to safe and reliable public transport – however, entrepreneurs may hold the key to providing solutions geared towards smarter mobility.

Ben Pullen, CEO of Generation.e, pointed to a report by global software company Inrix which revealed South Africa’s major cities are struggling with congestion.

Cape Town ranked 28th globally, followed by Pretoria at 54th and Johannesburg at 82nd.

“This indicates a dire need for smarter mobility, such as personal mobility and shared mobility solutions (including ridesharing solutions), smart parking solutions, transport integration platforms, asset sharing or vehicle rental, environmentally sustainable mobility equipment and multimodal transport solutions.

“It is for this reason that we have launched a Start-up Pitch Competition which will take place at the Smarter Mobility Africa 2019 summit, in order to identify start-ups and small businesses that can offer smart, eco-friendly and sustainable solutions to transport people and products,” said Pullen.

“We are looking for start-ups who have unique solutions in the market, but are looking for exposure for growth and scaling-up opportunities,” he added.

“Winning applicants will be invited to pitch their start-up to top judges from industry, academia, business incubators and municipalities, after which the Programme Committee selects the submissions that are best aligned with the selected themes for the year.”

The Start-ups Pitch Competition aims to promote, develop and support the entrepreneurial creativity of start-ups within the African green mobility space.