Sustainable mobility startups Stilride and Vidde have launched an electric vehicle (EV) software system platform designed to accelerate the path to market for startups across Europe.
Launched in partnership with software technology company Knowit Swedspot, Stilride and Vidde’s ‘RapidRide FastTrack’ programme aims to guide EV startups in avoiding common mistakes, reducing their R&D costs, and accelerating development cycles.
It builds on the EV software platform Stilride and Vidde co-developed one year ago to overcome their individual challenges, and the pair now hopes to strengthen the electric vehicle startup ecosystem by making it available to other players.
“The RapidRide FastTrack programme is our strategic response to the critical challenges facing electric vehicle startups,” Stilride Co-Founder and CEO Jonas Nyvang told Zag Daily. “More than 90% of EV startups fail before reaching their fifth year, often due to high R&D costs in building their software platform, long development cycles, and difficulties in securing investment.
“By offering free access to our proven EV software platform, we aim to lower these barriers and create a stronger, more resilient software platform and ecosystem for green mobility innovation.”
The programme provides a comprehensive package which enables EV startups to conduct market experiments and progress towards a functional prototype without the upfront investment usually required. EV startups have access to the software, as well as essential hardware and advisory services for up to three working prototypes.
In reducing in-house software development costs, the programme aims to enable teams to instead focus on their hardware, user experience and business strategy.
“By removing software development roadblocks, startups can quickly build functional prototypes and conduct real-world market validation—critical factors in attracting investors and early customers.”
The EV software system that powers RapidRide was initially developed to solve the challenges faced by Stilride in developing e-scooters and e-motorcycles, and Vidde in developing electric snowmobiles. By pooling resources, the pair could create modular, scalable architecture to reduce development costs as opposed to building proprietary software individually.
Applications for the free RapidRide FastTrack programme are open, with limited spaces.
