Cross-Cultural Market Validation: Low-Carbon Mobility

Challenge: A mobility startup needed to validate market entry into South Africa and determine viable shared mobility business models that would work within existing formal and informal transport infrastructure, considering local contexts and low-carbon transport requirements.

Approach Department for International Development-funded project combining desk research across inclusivity, accessibility, gender, political, social, and environmental factors affecting public, informal, and non-motorised transport, with primary research exploring travel behaviour to identify safe, convenient, cost-effective shared mobility opportunities.

Outcomes

• Key findings on informal/formal transport systems and travel behaviour for the last mile, and use of public transport and taxis

• Business models reassessed for the local context

• Upskilled founders to undertake some aspects of ethnographic research in South Africa

• Actionable recommendations for market entry and service design for UK-Africa low-carbon transportation and potential partnerships

• Market entry decision: pivoted approach

• Low-carbon transport impact measured through carbon footprint measures

“They helped us write this application for DfID. One of the key aims of the project was to conduct a discovery phase through secondary and primary research.

We were part of the team to deliver the research alongside other providers in South Africa. The research was detailed and in-depth, and created a solid base of understanding of the market that we want to enter.”

— Founder, Mobility Startup