Goggo Network is a company with headquarters in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...
,
Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
and
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
, dedicated to the creation of
autonomous mobility networks in different cities in Europe. It was founded in 2018 as "105. "Media" Vermögensverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH" by Springer SE and changed to 'goggo network' 14.11.2019. Change to
Martin Varsavsky Martin may refer to:
Places
* Martin City (disambiguation)
* Martin County (disambiguation)
* Martin Township (disambiguation)
Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Austra ...
as CEO in February 2020. Yasmine Fage serves as COO.
Goggo Network's goal is to operate fleets of autonomous vehicles in Europe and help country governments create a licensing system for the operation of self-driving vehicles.
In September 2021, the company launched the initial tests of the first self-driving
food truck
A food truck is a large motorized vehicle (such as a van) or trailer, equipped to cook, prepare, serve, and/or sell food. Some, including ice cream trucks, sell frozen or prepackaged food; others have on-board kitchens and prepare food from scrat ...
to circulate on the streets of Spain,
and later that year it presented an autonomous delivery robot in collaboration with the company
Glovo
Glovo is a Spanish quick-commerce start-up founded in Barcelona, Spain, in 2015 by Oscar Pierre and Sacha Michaud. It is an on-demand courier service that purchases, picks up, and delivers products ordered through its mobile app. It offers multi ...
, which began operations in Madrid in February 2022.
History
Beginnings and first round of investment
The company was created in July 2018 in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...
by entrepreneur
Martín Varsavsky
Martín Varsavsky Waisman-Diamond (born April 26, 1960) is an Argentine entrepreneur based in Spain who founded several companies worldwide, including Urban CapitalMedicorp Sciences Viatel, Jazztel, EINSTEINet, Ya.comEolia
Jazztel
Jazztel is a Spanish telecommunications company which offers triple play services (telephone, Internet and television). In 2018, Jazztel was made to pay fines for their telemarketing tactics.
About
Jazztel was founded in 1998 by Martin Varsavsky ...
, Eolia, Overture Life, Barter Energy and VAS Ventures, and by Yasmine Fage, a former associate at the consulting firm
McKinsey & Company
McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...
. In light of the modification of the mobility law concerning the regulation of
self-driving vehicles
Vehicular automation is the use of technology to assist or replace the operator of a vehicle such as a car, truck, aircraft, rocket, military vehicle, or boat. Assisted vehicles are ''semi-autonomous'', whereas vehicles that can travel witho ...
in France (2019), the company decided to start operations in that country.
In January 2020, Goggo Network managed to raise €24 million from investors
Axel Springer
Axel Cäsar Springer (2 May 1912 – 22 September 1985) was a German publisher and founder of what is now Axel Springer SE, the largest media publishing firm in Europe. By the early 1960s his print titles dominated the West German daily press ma ...
and
SoftBank
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the ...
in a Series A funding round. These funds were used to start work in Germany and strengthen its presence in Spain and France.
Launching of SPAC and start-up of the first autonomous Food Truck
In March 2021, it was announced that
SPAC Levere Holdings, formed by Goggo Network and led by Varsavsky and Fage, would be listed on the
NASDAQ
The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
stock market under the symbol LVRAU. In the deal, which raised $250 million,
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...
and
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking ...
acted as lead guarantors. A month later, French media announced the company's participation in the 5G Open Road project, a government initiative aiming to "deploy a
5G network
In telecommunications, 5G is the fifth-generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks, which cellular phone companies began deploying worldwide in 2019, and is the planned successor to the 4G networks which provide connectiv ...
on the
Plateau de Saclay The Plateau de Saclay, also called Silicon Valley Européenne (in English, European Silicon Valley), is located north of Essonne and south-east of Yvelines, 20 km south of Paris. It is bounded by the valley of the Yvette (''Vallée de Chevreus ...
to define a complete model for connected mobility services in different configurations".
In June 2021, the company presented a prototype of an autonomous food truck at the
Viva Technology 2021 trade show, held in Paris. In September of the same year, the company announced at the Mobility, Home and Sustainable Cities Fair in Madrid the launch of "Goggo Cart", the first self-driving food truck to circulate in Spain, and the Calle Real in the municipality of
Las Rozas de Madrid
Las Rozas de Madrid (or simply, Las Rozas; ) is one of the largest townships and municipalities in the autonomous community of Madrid, Spain, with an area of 59 km² (22¾ sq. mi.). It is located 20 km (12 miles) northwest of the city of ...
was chosen to launch the pilot of the project.
In February 2022, the Spanish newspaper ''
La Razón'' announced that the project had traveled more than 50 kilometers, at a speed of 5 kilometers per hour, and that in that month there had been more than 1,000 vehicle interactions with pedestrians, with the aim of purchasing food products transported in the car. According to Yasmine Fage, these vehicles "can detect and avoid obstacles such as traffic lights, pedestrians, cyclists or other vehicles", through "the use of cameras and a combination of artificial intelligence with advanced algorithms". She also stated that the Goggo Cart can store up to one hundred objects and hold a total of 400 liters of capacity.
Partnership with Glovo and present day
In November 2021, the company participated in the Trafic 2021 event held at the
IFEMA
Ifema (short for ''Institución Ferial de Madrid; "''Fair Institution of Madrid") is an entity charged with the organisation of fairs, halls and congresses in their facilities in Madrid.
It is a consortium partnered by the Ayuntamiento de Madrid ( ...
consortium in Madrid. The event was attended by more than eighty entities in order to discuss relevant issues on mobility issues. Later that year, Goggo Network partnered with Spanish home delivery company
Glovo
Glovo is a Spanish quick-commerce start-up founded in Barcelona, Spain, in 2015 by Oscar Pierre and Sacha Michaud. It is an on-demand courier service that purchases, picks up, and delivers products ordered through its mobile app. It offers multi ...
to launch a pilot program of delivery robots in Madrid's
Salamanca district
Salamanca District is one of eight districts of the province Condesuyos in Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, oth ...
.
Spanish newspaper ''
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
'' reported that in February 2022 the autonomous delivery robot service would be launched in the Spanish capital, which has the ability to move along sidewalks at the speed of a pedestrian, pick up orders at designated stores and deliver them to the customer's home. This robot reaches a maximum speed of five kilometers per hour, and has twelve hours of autonomy. The same newspaper announced the implementation of the Goggo Cart food truck in the
Cuatro Torres Business Area
Área de negocios de Cuatro Torres (ANCA or CTBA), Spanish for "Four Towers Business Area", is a business district located in the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid, Spain, on the former Ciudad Deportiva of Real Madrid. The area contains the four t ...
in Madrid.
In an interview with the newspaper ''
El Economista'' in February 2022, Fage said that if the smart delivery phase is successful, the company will aim to implement self-driving vehicles designed for passenger transport. In March 2022, the COO participated in the ANFAC Forum on mobility, where she expressed the need for a clear regulatory framework on autonomous mobility in Spain. In an interview with the online newspaper ''
El Español
''El Español'' is a Spanish online newspaper which started in 2015. It has its headquarters in Avenida de Burgos, 16D, 7º, Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid.
History
In 2014 Pedro J. Ramírez was dismissed as the director from the newspaper '' El ...
'', the company said that by 2023 it is likely that there will be "a fleet of autonomous delivery robots circulating in Spain".
References
External links
* {{official website, https://goggo.network/
Transport companies established in 2018
Transport companies of Spain
Transport companies of France
Transport companies of Germany
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
Self-driving car companies