The Mobility startup Mobiko has an app that allows company employees to account for all their mobility expenses—whether car sharing, bus, or train. We spoke with the founders.
Munot startup: 1. Who are you and what do you do? Please briefly introduce yourself and your product/service!
Mobiko: We are Mobiko (short for mobility quota). About two years ago, we began researching corporate mobility and discovered that many companies' mobility offerings for employees are extremely outdated and rigid: Executives and field staff often receive a personal company car, and another portion of employees sometimes receive a job ticket for local public transport. In many cases, these offerings do not meet employees' individual and flexible mobility needs or their increasing sustainability demands. As a result, many employees are often left empty-handed, but the basic need for mobility remains. At the same time, many exciting mobility options are emerging right on our doorsteps. And although many employees already regularly use these services in their free time, alternative means of transportation have still not found their way into companies. We want to change that—with Mobiko!
The idea and the first prototype for the mobility budget offering originated in Audi Business Innovation's in-house business model development team. Together with the Munich-based company builder Mantro, Mobiko was brought to market maturity and spun off as an independent GmbH in February 2018. We, the founding trio of Nicola Büsse, Franziska Mayr, and Andreas Reichert, came together over the course of the project. The Mobiko team now consists of around 10 people, all passionate about shaping the employee mobility of the future—what else?
The Mobiko team © Mobiko
Therefore, our startup has set itself the goal of offering companies a smart solution that aligns ecological and economic responsibility with the values and needs of each employee. With Mobiko, employers provide their employees with a digital and flexible mobility budget for commuting and leisure travel as a benefit. Mobiko thus enables employees to use all available mobility options worldwide according to their individual needs and environmental awareness, and easily bill their employer via the app. They receive reimbursement for the submitted mobility expenses with their salary in the following month.
Easy billing of mobility expenses with Mobiko
2. But that's been around for a long time!
Not quite. Mobiko is the first Mobility budget, which makes all means of transportation for employees and their employers worldwide tax-compliant and, above all, tax-optimized—supported by an intelligent algorithm. There are already a few other mobility budget providers on the German market, but they all pursue different goals and strategies. Mobiko differs primarily in that there are no restrictions on the mobility providers and services that can be used, allowing us to offer employees worldwide mobility freedom—whether for the daily commute or private trips during leisure time.
Flexible modular system from Mobiko
© Mobiko
Thanks to the flexible modular principle of our self-service solution, companies can tailor the mobility benefits for their employees to their sustainability and tax requirements. We understand that every company operates differently when it comes to mobility, and therefore everything is customizable. The Mobiko tax algorithm and the associated mobility data ensure automated and optimized taxation for employers.
Hurdle German tax law
3. What has been your biggest challenge so far?
Honestly? Reading and structuring the "black box" is a monetary advantage. German tax law, with its ifs and buts, was new and relatively opaque to us at the beginning, but it was of central importance to our business model. Anyone who has ever worked through these topics can tell you a thing or two about it. So we dug deep and worked through numerous cases. Today, we are very proud that, thanks to our acquired knowledge and the advice and support of subject matter experts, we have developed a unique tax logic for the automated taxation and accounting of submitted mobility receipts and can offer it as the technological centerpiece of our application. And of course, we are also happy that we no longer have to go back to that dark place. Although one or two team members have certainly begun to appreciate tax issues.
4. Let’s get down to business: How is business going?
Urban growth, traffic jams, a lack of parking spaces, and driving bans – just to name a few reasons why more and more companies in urban areas are rethinking mobility. Employee mobility is high on the agenda. Employers are being asked more than ever to assume responsibility and respond to these changes, as well as the individual needs of their employees. We are therefore enjoying strong demand and have experienced rapid growth since the conclusion of our pilot phase in January 2019. We began customer acquisition in the spring of this year. This month, we were also able to welcome a large number of new users within the DACH region to our platform, who are diligently taking advantage of the benefits offered by their employer.
“Colorful diversity of industries and company sizes”
5. What does Munich mean to you?
Munich is our hometown and offers high standards in many respects: education, culture, football, etc. But the startup ecosystem also offers many opportunities and prospects. Since Mobiko primarily targets employers, and Munich is home to a diverse range of industries and company sizes, it's a paradise for us.
Particularly exciting is the local mobility diversity. Every day, we can observe on our own doorstep how flexibly Munich residents travel from A to B: taking the subway to work, e-scooters to lunch, cycling to the gym, and car-sharing for weekend shopping. This inspires us to continually develop our own product, because we're right in the middle of it.
6. How can your startup become the next unicorn? Or will we see you soon at Epic Fail Night?
We're excited to be attending Epic Fail Night as spectators. Continuous learning—including from mistakes, of course—is part of our daily business and fundamental to any successful business model. Therefore, it's especially important for us to maintain close, ongoing communication with our customers and users and learn from their feedback. Only in this way can we optimally develop our offering and hopefully join the unicorn club in the future.
7. Isar or English Garden?
We're not a fan of "either/or." In this sense, we prefer both—we love all the beautiful facets of our hometown.
