Our company
Common sense
Discover the 3 values that guide our actions and commitments.
At Urbanloop, we understood that the future would be built with more sobriety and simplicity.
With this in mind, we have chosen to build our system on this founding principle. No unnecessary technology in our capsules, just the essentials.
We systematically think about the simplest answer to every problem. We develop, design and test our ideas so that they make the most sense for today's challenges.
At Urbanloop, we have chosen to act for the environment
Inaction and passivity on the climate issue have put humanity at great risk to its survival. We are taking up the challenge and taking action to avoid the environmental catastrophe that is looming. Our electric and autonomous mobility solution is based on a record low consumption.
We have chosen to act to compete with the car in the city and to act for a more peaceful mobility. Transforming the city and placing it in a new paradigm means gradually removing cars from city centres.
At Urbanloop, trust is at the heart of our way of working.
We have chosen to establish a privileged and trusting relationship with our working partners. Our various subcontractors can testify that they have a relationship of respect and dialogue with Urbanloop.
We can also pride ourselves on maintaining relationships of trust with the local authorities that have chosen to use our services. They trust us in the deployment of our mobility solutions and we have full confidence in their technical know-how and local expertise.
This also requires total confidence in the skills and qualities of our employees. We surround ourselves with the best people so that our mobility solutions are the best developed and the best built.
Our story
2017
Creation of Urbanloop
A project born at the university
Urbanloop was born in 2017 at the University of Lorraine. The students were asked the following question: "for a given quantity of matter and energy, what is the optimal solution in terms of mobility? Paradoxically, individual transport appeared to be much more efficient. By proposing individual electric public transport, it was possible to envisage a way to compete with the car directly on its main advantage: speed and travel time. The new system was based on the disappearance of waiting times and a total absence of intermediate stops and connections.
First prototype
From this idea, the project leaders worked to remove the various technological obstacles one by one. The question of how to manage such a fleet of individual vehicles quickly became central.
What was a simple computer simulation could now be physically prototyped. The Grand Est region provided financial support so that Urbanloop could carry out its first field tests. A first test circuit was installed at the Brabois Technopole and the first capsules were built.
2019
Conversion to a company
A new scope
Since 2019, the project has taken on a new dimension. Urbanloop SAS was created to develop the project in an industrial and commercial way.
We are moving from start-up to industrial company, formalizing and affirming our vocation: to contribute to the decarbonization of territories by offering a fast, reliable transport system, with no waiting and no stops at intermediate stations.
Our system is characterized by its lightness, which makes it easy to fit in, in particular in compliance with the Zero Net Artificialization decree of the French Climate and Resilience Act.
Our robust technological innovation adapts to local conditions.
2021
World record
Lowest energy consumption per kilometre
This world record was achieved in the presence of institutional partners who believe in us and strongly support our project. It was in the presence of the Minister of Transport, Mr. Djebbari and Mr. Rottner, President of the Grand Est Region that Urbanloop achieved this technological feat.
In addition to these personalities, there are all the local elected representatives, like Mathieu Klein, Mayor of Nancy and President of the Greater Nancy Metropolis, who have supported the project from the very start of its development, and who have placed their trust in us to create mobility solutions for their region.
Keolis has been a privileged partner of the project since its creation. We are collaborating with Keolis for the first experiment in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines: Urbanloop as system operator and Keolis as operator. The Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines agglomeration community will be the project manager.
In order to be able to welcome the public, Urbanloop must be certified and approved by various authorities. These compulsory steps in transport innovation are complex and difficult but necessary. Their feedback is essential for the progress of our industrial developments and the deployment of our mobility solutions. We chose Certifer to accompany us in our first project.
Urbanloop is financially supported by various State innovation support instruments. Within the framework of the Investment and Future Programme (PIA4), ADEME is participating in the financing of the public demonstrator in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. Our research programme is partly financed by the Ministry of Higher Education and by BPI France (winner of the I-Lab competition). The Grand Est Region also provides financial support in the framework of the R&D grant on artificial intelligence.
Cerema is helping us with urban integration and environmental aspects, while the Directorate-General for Infrastructure, Transport and Mobility (DGITM) is providing us with its expertise on the subject of light trains.
The Transport Innovation Agency guides us within the State and local authorities. The STRMTG is guiding us in our approval process with a view to receiving the public.
The Nancy regional customs and excise office supported us when we were awarded the "Made in France" label.
Urbanloop is proud to work with trusted local industrial partners, who accompany us with seriousness and talent in our projects and innovations. Thanks to them we can improve our products on a daily basis. Thanks to these suppliers and subcontractors, Urbanloop can now look forward to the future with confidence.
Born of the intellectual wealth of Nancy's engineering schools, Urbanloop continues its work in these creative and ingenious grounds.
Urbanloop also relies on the technical knowledge of two laboratories in Lorraine, the Centre de Recherche en Automatique de Nancy (CRAN), the Groupe de Recherche en Energie Electrique de Nancy (GREEN) and the Laboratoire Lorrain en Recherche en Informatique et ses Applications (LORIA) . These laboratories of excellence support us in our research and development tasks by contributing their know-how. Urbanloop has also benefited from the support of the University of Lorraine's incubator of excellence
Numerous student projects are being developed in partnership with Urbanloop to think further ahead and project ourselves technologically into the future. To find out more about these student projects, go to urbanloop-univ.fr
Urbanloop has already been involved in two transport projects. We would like to thank these communities for committing themselves to us to make the world of mobility move.
By choosing to install Urbanloop on their territories, these territories will be pioneers of a new, green, fast and carbon-free mobility.
Urbanloop is based in Nancy and has a branch in Lyon.
The head office is located at 18 Allée de la Forêt de la Reine, Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy.
Our operational activities are carried out in Tomblaine and Lyon:
Located at 5 Avenue Nelson Mandela, our premises comprise 4 offices and a break room. For a total of 150m2, employees can work in comfortable offices. These premises enable our teams to develop their prototypes in complete serenity, improve them and move on to the industrial phase in synergy with their colleagues.
The test track is one of Urbanloop's prides. It allows Urbanloop to be autonomous and efficient in its development. It is one of the key showcases of our project, and we will be delighted to welcome you there for demonstrations and working discussions.
We use this circuit to :
- Development: This circuit is used daily to develop new capsule prototypes and software modules;
- Testing: this circuit is used on a daily basis for our research and development tasks. It enables us to test in real-life conditions all the evolutions we make to our capsules, software and tracks;
- Demonstrate: we use this tour to showcase our products to customers and prospects, and our progress to visitors and Urbanloop partners. It also allows us to showcase our mobility solution and its tremendous capabilities to the public.
This circuit also houses our design and maintenance workshop. It enables us to maintain our capsules on a daily basis, and to train technicians in the complete maintenance of the mechanical system.
Our partner CINI's assembly site in Tomblaine is our factory, where we assemble our capsules and carry out certain tests. It's also a showcase for our customers, demonstrating our industrial progress.
Lastly, our Lyon office enables us to extend our reach throughout France and pave the way for our national expansion. Here, we are currently carrying out insertion studies, designing layout systems, and adapting our system to the specific needs of our customers.
We're a cheerful team of thirty or so men and women of action, helping to change the world.