In Jyväskylä, incubator activities are set to benefit a company developing robot bus services, with Tampere-based Remoted nominated by Central Finland Mobility Foundation Cefmof to receive a place in the Startup Factory's (Yritystehdas) incubator programme as part of last summer's Business Rally. In Jyväskylä, Remoted wants to develop urban mobility in collaboration with the City of Jyväskylä and Linkki and to collaborate with university cyber security experts and Cefmof.
In the autumn, Remoted, a service business based on autonomous vehicles, began its journey in the Startup Factory's incubator. Remoted's vision is to help cities modernise themselves and reform the way we live and move.
- We can already clearly see that the way we move about in towns and cities is changing. In the future, we will be able get from place to place in a variety of ways, with the means to do so offered as a service. In practice, we can help with this by, for example, incorporating fully autonomous vehicles into public transport to improve the accessibility of public transport and services. And that's not all – semi-autonomous vehicles in particular could help elderly people and people with reduced mobility, for example, says Remoted's Chairman of the Board Mika Rytkönen.
Remoted originally came to Jyväskylä when the company's own advertising agency recommended to it an investment programme for growth companies – the International Venture Academy (IVA). Rytkönen says that he realised in the IVA that what is self-evident about the company's activities to him might not be so obvious to others. This insight helped to clarify Remoted's story and operations.
- If you get out there and talk to others about what you are doing, you get feedback that always helps you progress. For example, I noticed that we were thinking about things in a really complicated way. During the IVA week, we had time to restructure and simplify things. Conversations with others there were such a reality check for me on how our story resonates with others. It takes a lot of work to crystallise your story. You also have to be able to go back on your views and take feedback on board. Experience knocks the ego down a peg or two, Rytkönen laughs.
Internationalisation already underway
The hard work has started to pay off, and Remoted was successful at the IVA. As a prize, it won a place at the Business Rally Investor Day in August 2024. Rytkönen explains that at that point, the company's story had already been mulled over from so many angles that it had become deeply embedded, making telling the story much easier than before – which convinced the Business Rally's jury and audience. Remoted received a special mention from Cefmof at the Business Rally, and was awarded a place in The Startup Factory's incubator.
- The potential of hydrogen technology is interesting from Remoted's perspective and very important to us at Cefmof. We also want to speed up future innovations by supporting start-ups, said Executive Director Haruka Arai of Cefmof during the event.
In August 2024, Remoted also received news it had been waiting for a long time: the company signed its first deals outside Finland for an automated driving experiment in Vilnius.
The incubator and Cefmof, which made the incubator period possible, are important links to Jyväskylä for Remoted. Rytkönen believes that in the coming years, Jyväskylä's ecosystem will also help Remoted with its next steps towards international success.
- For example, cyber security and related expertise are very important themes for us. In the future, we will be looking for more partnerships that offer benefits for all parties. I believe that we'll find them here, because I always wonder if there's something in the water in Jyväskylä that makes people here so cheerful and helpful, he says.
With regard to Jyväskylä, Remoted has clear plans and objectives regarding both technological developments and automated mobility services.
- The transformation of transport is a major issue for society. The world belongs to the brave, and we should try things that might sound crazy today. The fewer cars we have in our cities, the more space there will be in our environment for children and green construction, for example. We are excited to see what the incubator has to offer: I'm looking forward to a rewarding journey with some of the best minds around.
Read more about Remoted: Remoted | Jump aboard the future of urban mobility
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IVA programme is part of the ecosystem work on Sport, Health and Wellbeing, funded by the Regional Council of Central Finland (ERDF) and coordinated by the City of Jyväskylä's Business Development Services.
