JUNE 2023 AFTERMARKET 25 www.aftermarketonline.net Investment drive for mobility comparison website If you’ve attended any future mobility events like MOVE recently then you’re probably familiar with Karfu, the allvehicle comparison website. They’ve officially been in stealth mode but now, with the launch of a new crowdfunder, we can finally talk about them. The USP is compelling – compare the lifetime financial cost and environmental impact of different vehicles. The aim is to be a Moneysupermarket for mobility. “In the last few years there’s been a surge of new types of vehicles from electric cars to escooters, as well as new ways of accessing them, including subscription, sharing and rental,” explains Co-founder and CEO Sam Ellis. “This overload makes it hard to directly compare and choose. A lack of trust in providers, along with consumers’ environmental concerns, make the decisionmaking process more complex. People are confused.” Co-founder Dominic Thomas picks up the story: “This is where Karfu comes in. It’s an impartial mobility comparison website designed to save people time, money, and help them to make more sustainable choices. It brings every vehicle-based product or service into one place, helping consumers to make the best choice for them.” As of 26 April, the Karfu campaign on Crowdcube was up to 94% of the £300k target. Last year, London-based Delivers.ai reached the final round of the Zenzic CAM Scale-Up selection process, with Programme Director Mark Cracknell praising “The quality and range of the finalists – testament to the innovative solutions that will make future mobility cleaner, safer and more efficient.” Here, Michael Lacy, Chief Strategy Officer at the on-demand autonomous delivery service, explains how he’s targeting the fast-growing ‘last mile’ sector for food and parcel deliveries: “Our robots work on camera-based technologies and low-cost sensors, travel at pedestrian speeds – up to about 6km/h – and, for safety, they give way to other pavement or cycleway users,” he says. “They need to behave appropriately in relation to all kinds of challenges – from curious dogs to busy road crossings. “We’ve been in R&D for the last 2 years and are now working with partners right across Europe on various pilot schemes. We've recently had investment from Ford, which is really important to us. Our business model is solely B2B, so our initial target partners include multisite restaurant and grocery groups as well as parcel delivery operators. We looked at the volumes and average weights of grocery deliveries and developed our robot to have this capability. It can take a 30kg payload, enough for a multiple-item three-day shop, with internal volume dimensions designed to take a stack of 14-inch pizza boxes. “In terms of hurdles, it is taking time for the governance to catch up to the technology. It’s difficult to get a definition from a government body as to what is a robot and differentiate it from what is a vehicle – it seems open to interpretation, with different authorities taking different views. Some of the more progressive, like Milton Keynes and Northampton, are very clear that ours is a device, not a vehicle. “Raising awareness is a big part of this – demonstrating to the public and authorities that the safety angle has been carefully considered and educating businesses and local providers about the benefits of these devices. Organisations such as Zenzic are very helpful to us in this regard and we again hope to be part of the CAM Scale-up this year.” Ford-backed Delivers.ai targets fast-growing last mile sector
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