The Smart Pedal Pitch is an annual international call for the most innovative and market-ready cycle tech solutions, to shape the future of cycling in cities. It is a unique innovation competition for start-ups, micro and small enterprises to help build better cities, cycling ecosystems and technologies.

The Smart Pedal Pitch will be part of Velo-city 2025 Gdansk, the annual world cycling conference. It is organised by The City of Gdansk (hereafter referred to as the Host City), represented by the Active Mobility Unit (hereafter referred to as the DMA) within Gdansk Public Transport Managing Authority (hereafter referred to as the ZTM) and Gdansk Entrepreneurship Foundation (hereafter referred to as the Incubator Starter), in cooperation with the European Cyclists’ Federation (hereafter referred to as ECF), the Gdansk Tourism Organisation (hereafter referred to as the GOT) and Cycling Industries Europe (hereafter referred to as the CIE).

1. What do I get from it?

• Test your solution as a pilot with the City of Gdansk or on its streets and prove your concept in a real environment.
• Present your innovation on Velo-city's plenary stage to a large audience.
• Get high visibility on the Conference and the Velo-city communication channels.
• Win a free ticket to attend Velo-city 2025 Gdansk.

2. Terms and conditions

Please find a guide to the evaluation process and general conditions of the Smart Pedal Pitch competition to be held at the 2025 edition of the Velo-city conference, taking place in Gdansk, Poland, from 10th to 13th of June 2025.

It does not claim to be exhaustive. If a situation arises that is not covered in this guide, participants (also referred to as applicants or contestants) can obtain additional information from the organising group, which is a partnership between Host City represented by ZTM, Incubator Starter, ECF, GOT and CIE. Contact information can be found below.

The decision of the organisers in the interpretation of this guide is final.

3. Schedule

The Smart Pedal Pitch is a 4-step challenge:

• Submission of online applications – between 8th of April and 4th of May 2025, 23:59 CET.
• Announcement of contestants – 19th of May 2025.
• Smart Pedal Pitch’s Semi-final - 11th of June 2025, 12:00 to 13:00 (maximum 8 shortlisted companies will present their ideas to local partners and international audience in Gdansk. The first three runners-up will participate in the Smart Pedal Pitch's Final).
• Smart Pedal Pitch’s Final and announcement of the winner – 12th of June 2025 (the three finalists will present their solutions for 3 minutes on the plenary stage at the end of a plenary session).

4. Content of entries and judging criteria and pre-conditions

Pre-conditions:

• To be accepted into the competition the applications must be viable for deployment in the streets of Gdansk or with the City of Gdansk in the views of the Active Mobility Unit within the Gdansk Public Transport Managing Authority.
• The product or service presented needs to have a technical component.
• The product will either exploit and scale up a set of existing technologies related to intermodal travel data.
• The product or service presented must be at least a minimum viable product or service. If you are still in an ideation phase, the Smart Pedal Pitch isn’t the right match for you.
• Be a micro or a small enterprise (as defined under EU’s recommendation 2003/361).

  Address one of the following fields:

• Rider and road user safety;
• Urban & Infrastructure solutions, including C-ITS services;
• Mobility and Transport data analysis and management tools;
• Any other field

5. Selection process of the 8 semi-finalists maximum

Applications will be judged on the following criteria: 

Relevance and scalability:

• How is the solution relevant to the modern urban mobility in a city like Gdansk? How does it add to the knowledge of mobility managers about the choices of transport modes made by citizens and visitors in the city?

• What is the commercial potential of the solution?

• What is its competitive advantage compared to existing and alternative solutions?

• Is the market mature and ready for the solution? Is the target market large enough to support significant growth?

• Is the innovation related to intermodal travel data?

Attractiveness and Feasibility of the Idea (Business Model):

• Clarity of the problem and solution - Does the business address a real, relevant issue?

• Can the solution be realistically implemented with the available resources, technology, and within the target market?

• How will the company generate revenue? Is it sustainable and logical?

• Does the idea meet a well-defined customer need?

Innovation:

• What is innovative about this solution?

• Does it have a technological component?

• What sets the product or service apart from what's already on the market?
• Is there a defensible edge (e.g., intellectual property, partnerships, user experience)?

Applicability:

• How is the solution applicable in Gdansk’s environment?

• How does the proposed solution complement the mobility data already held by the City of Gdansk?
• Will the acquired data provide information on combining trips by different modes of transport by people moving around Gdansk

Resources, skills and experience:

• To what extent do the company founders have the right skills and experience to achieve impact on a large scale?

• Does the team cover all key areas (e.g., technical, marketing, business development)?

6. Competition stages

Stage 1: Selection of 8 maximum shortlisted companies by the City of Gdansk, ECF and Incubator Starter.

Stage 2: Selection of 3 finalists by the Semi-Final Jury, made of representatives from the City of Gdansk, the European Cyclists’ Federation, Cycling Industries Europe and Incubator Starter.

Stage 3: Overall winner – audience vote in the Velo-city plenary session.

7. Prizes and associated conditions

Published prizes are as described in the text below. Applicants should note that the prizes have been provided by members of the organising group and its partners and are therefore subject to the terms and conditions of individual suppliers.

If any element of the prize package becomes unavailable, the organisers will use their best efforts to substitute it with benefits of a similar nature.

For the eight short-listed companies:

• Professional pitch training by Incubator Starter.
• Invitation to the pitching semi-finals in Velo-city 2025 Gdansk on 11th of June 2025.
• Presentation in front of the local and international audience of Velo-city 2025 Gdansk.
• Free 4-day conference ticket for the Velo-city 2025 (one per company).

For the three finalists:

• Presentation on the plenary stage of Velo-city to an audience of hundreds of international representatives of governments and industry on 12th of June 2025.
• Reduced membership fee for CIE

For the overall winner:

• Test your solution as a pilot* in the streets of Gdansk or with the City of Gdansk and prove your concept in a real environment.
• High visibility on the Conference and the Velo-city communication channels.
• Publication of an article in English language featuring the winner and its project on Velo-city website.
• Publication of an article in Polish language on Gdansk’s municipal website.
• Publication of an article / blogpost through channels of CIE and MegaBITS.
• Receive support from local experts and partners. 

8. Conditions

The definition of a *pilot is a commercial opportunity to operate an innovative product or service in Gdansk, with the support of the City and its partners. It does not imply a contract with any of the Smart Pedal Pitch organisers or any obligation from the organisers to provide any financial resources.

Any costs and resources for the operation of the pilot are the responsibility of the applicant. Any earnings from the pilot are the property of the applicant.

The applicant is responsible for conformity with all relevant legal requirements under laws of the Republic of Poland and regulations in place in the European Union, including employment, trading and financial laws. If the solution has an impact on the streets, a permit for taking public domain will be necessary. The Active Mobility Unit within the Gdansk Public Transport Managing Authority will help obtain the information needed to apply for any permits, but cannot guarantee its success in advance.

9. Additional information

Deadline for the applications:

4th of May 2025, 23:59 CET

Compliance with GDPR (EU Regulation 2016/679):

The organisers of this competition are a partnership between the Municipality of Gdansk, represented by the Active Mobility Unit within Gdansk Public Transport Managing Authority (ZTM) and Gdansk Entrepreneurship Foundation (Incubator Starter), in cooperation with the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF), the Gdansk Tourism Organisation and Cycling Industries Europe (CIE).

The names and company information of the applicants will be made available to these four partners who will store the information in accordance with their internal GDPR policies in order to carry out the competition.

The partners also offer to include applicant’s data in other relevant databases for the purpose of communications about their work in topics related to this competition. No data will be shared with third parties. 

Applicants may opt in or out of these communications on the entry form and may contact the organisers at any time to be removed from the mailings.

Contact information:

For all other enquiries, please send an email to: [email protected]

GENERAL INFORMATION CLAUSE ON THE PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA

BY THE GDAŃSK ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOUNDATION IN GDAŃSK 

Based on Article. 13 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46 / EC (Official Journal of the EU. L 2016 No. 119, p. 1) – general data protection regulation, hereinafter: GDPR/Regulation) the Gdańsk Entrepreneurship Foundation with its registered office in Gdańsk informs that:

1. The administrator of personal data is the Gdańsk Enterprise Foundation with headquarters in Gdańsk (hereinafter referred to as: GFP), ul. Lęborska 3b, 80-386 Gdańsk, KRS: 0000234045, NIP: 5832907440, REGON 220049622; phone: 58 731 65 00, e-mail: [email protected].
2. A Data Protection Inspector has been appointed in GFP, who can be contacted via email: [email protected] or by phone number 58 731 65 81.
3. Collected personal data, including sensitive data, may be processed by GFP – pursuant to art. 6 clause 1 lit. a) GDPR, i.e. your voluntary and explicit consent to the processing of personal data; based on Article. 6 paragraph 1 lit. b) GDPR – in order to implement civil law contracts concluded with contractors, and in other cases pursuant to art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. c) GDPR in order to implement the tasks and legal obligations incumbent on the Administrator on the basis of generally applicable law.
4. The processing of personal data by GFP takes place for the purposes specified each time in the consent, contract or legal provision, e.g. for marketing and promotional purposes of GFP's activities in the scope of statutory and economic activity, as well as for reporting, settlement, including tax purposes.
5. Personal data are stored by the Administrator for the time necessary to achieve the purpose of their processing, and possibly until the consent to the processing of personal data is withdrawn.
6. The recipients of personal data are entities servicing the administrator in the field of legal, training, educational services, postal operators, hosting providers as well as GFP Content and Media Partners in the implementation of specific education and training projects. The Gdańsk Entrepreneurship Foundation with headquarters in Gdańsk will not transfer personal data to third countries, unless it is required by the implementation of the purpose - about which the information will be in the content of the consent form for the processing of personal data; agreement.
7. The data subject has the right to access, rectify, delete, limit processing, object to their processing, the right to transfer data, as well as the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority. The person whose personal data is processed has the right to withdraw his consent to the processing of personal data, provided that this does not affect the legitimacy of the processing of personal data by the Administrator before withdrawing consent.

Personal Data Administrator

Gdansk Entrepreneurship Foundation in Gdansk 

GENERAL INFORMATION CLAUSE ON THE PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA

BY THE GDAŃSK PUBLIC TRANSPORT MANAGING AUTHORITY (ZTM)

Pursuant to Article 13 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (Official Journal of the EU L 119 of 04.05.2016) (hereinafter: GDPR), the Gdańsk Public Transport Authority (Zarząd Transportu Miejskiego w Gdańsku, hereinafter: ZTM) informs you that:

1. The administrator of your personal data is the Gdańsk Public Transport Authority (ZTM) with its registered office at ul. Na Stoku 49, 80-874 Gdańsk, Poland. You can contact the Data Protection Officer via e-mail: [email protected] or by phone at +48 58 520 57 38.
2. Your personal data will be processed:

1. for the purpose of carrying out the statutory duties of the office, i.e. based on Article 6(1)(c) GDPR, the Act of 8 March 1990 on Municipal Government, the Act of 21 November 2008 on Local Government Employees, and other statutory provisions, as well as the Statute of the Gdańsk Public Transport Authority, constituting Annex No. 1 to the Resolution of the Gdańsk City Council No. XXXV/1076/05 of 17 February 2005, as amended by Resolution No. XVIII/440/07 of 20 February 2007 and other resolutions of the Gdańsk City Council and orders of the Mayor of Gdańsk;
2. for the purpose of performing tasks carried out in the public interest or as part of the exercise of official authority vested in the administrator, i.e. based on Article 6(1)(e) GDPR;
3. on the basis of your consent, in cases where such consent is required, i.e. pursuant to Article 6(1)(a) GDPR (you may withdraw your consent at any time, but this will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out on the basis of your consent before its withdrawal)..

3. The recipients of your personal data will include: IT service providers acting on behalf of ZTM, public transport operators and carriers, companies contracted by ZTM to sell tickets, perform ticket inspections, and handle related debt collection and complaints, as well as entities authorized by law to access personal data (e.g. courts, police).
4. Your personal data will be stored for the period specified by legal provisions, in accordance with the filing instruction of ZTM.
5. You have the right to request from the controller access to your personal data, rectification, erasure or restriction of processing, as well as the right to object to processing.
6. ZTM does not plan to transfer your personal data to third countries; nor does it plan to use your data for profiling or automated decision-making.
7. You have the right to lodge a complaint with the President of the Personal Data Protection Office.
8. Providing personal data is mandatory to the extent required by legislation, resolutions of the Gdańsk City Council, and orders of the Mayor of Gdańsk, or necessary for the handling of your case; in all other cases, providing data is voluntary.

GENERAL INFORMATION CLAUSE ON THE PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA

BY THE MUNICIPALITY OF GDANSK 

In connection with the implementation of the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation – "GDPR"), we hereby inform you about the principles of processing your personal data and your related rights.

1. The administrator of your personal data processed by the Gdańsk City Hall is:
   Mayor of the City of Gdansk – City of Gdańsk, ul. Nowe Ogrody 8/12, 80-803 Gdańsk.
2. If you have any questions regarding the manner and scope of processing your personal data within the scope of activities of the Gdańsk City Hall, as well as your rights, you may contact the Data Protection Officer at the Gdańsk City Hall via email: [email protected].
3. The Data Administrator – Mayor of the City of Gdańsk – processes your personal data based on applicable legal regulations.
4. Your personal data are processed for the purpose(s) of:
   1) fulfilling legal obligations incumbent upon the Administrator;

2) performing tasks carried out in the public interest or as part of the exercise of official authority vested in the Administrator;

3) protecting the vital interests of the data subject or another natural person;
4) fulfilling contracts concluded with contractors of the Gmina Miasta Gdańsk (Municipality of Gdańsk);
5) in some cases, for the legitimate interests pursued by the Administrator;
6) in other cases, only based on your prior consent, for the purpose and scope indicated at the time of giving such consent.

5. In connection with the purposes indicated in point 4, the recipients of your personal data may include:

1) public authorities and entities performing public tasks or acting on behalf of public authorities, to the extent and for the purposes arising from generally applicable law;
2) other entities that process personal data under contracts concluded with the Municipality of Gdańsk, for which the Mayor of the City of Gdańsk is the Data Controller.

6. Your personal data will be stored for the time necessary to achieve the purposes specified in point 4, and afterward for the period and scope required by generally applicable legal regulations.
7. In relation to the processing of your personal data, you have the following rights:

1) the right to access your personal data, including the right to obtain a copy of your data;
2) the right to request the rectification (correction) of personal data – if the data is incorrect or incomplete;
3) the right to request the erasure of personal data (the so-called "right to be forgotten") if: the data is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected or otherwise processed; the data subject has objected to the processing of personal data; the data subject has withdrawn consent on which the processing is based, and there is no other legal ground for processing; the data is processed unlawfully; the data must be erased to comply with a legal obligation;

4) the right to request restriction of processing where: the accuracy of the personal data is contested by the data subject; the processing is unlawful, and the data subject opposes the erasure of the data and requests restriction instead; the Administrator no longer needs the data for its purposes, but the data is required by the data subject for the establishment, defense, or exercise of legal claims; the data subject has objected to the processing, pending the verification whether the legitimate grounds of the controller override those of the data subject;
5) the right to data portability – where the following conditions are jointly met: the processing is based on a contract or consent; the processing is carried out by automated means;
6) the right to object to processing – where the following conditions are jointly met: reasons arise from your particular situation, in the case of processing carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority; processing is necessary for the purposes of legitimate interests pursued by the Administrator or a third party, except where such interests are overridden by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms, in particular where the data subject is a child.

8. Where personal data is processed on the basis of consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
   9. If you become aware of unlawful processing of your personal data by the Gdańsk City Hall, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority for personal data protection. In Poland, this is the President of the Personal Data Protection Office (PUODO).
   10. Where personal data is processed on the basis of the data subject's consent, the provision of data to the Administrator is voluntary.
   11. The provision of personal data is mandatory when required by specific legal provisions or necessary for the conclusion of a contract.
   12. Your data will not be used for automated decision-making, including profiling.
   
   

Data Protection Officer: Gdańsk City Hall, E-mail: [email protected]

GENERAL INFORMATION CLAUSE ON THE PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA

BY THE GDANSK TOURIST ORGANISATION ASSOCIATION 

1. The administrator of the data indicated in the consent to the processing of personal data expressed above is the Gdańsk Tourist Organisation Association with its registered office in Gdańsk (80-830) at 22 Uczniowska Street, entered in the register of associations, other social and professional organisations, foundations and independent public health care institutions of the National Court Register kept by the District Court Gdańsk-Północ in Gdańsk under the KRS number 0000139108, having tax identification number (NIP) 5832887298, phone: 58 305 70 80, address e-mail:[email protected].
2. Contact details of the data protection officer in the Gdańsk Tourist Organisation Association: [email protected].
3. The data is collected in order to register the participant of the event and service the participant during the event on the basis of Article 6(1)(a) of the General Data Protection Regulation of 27 April 2016 (consent of the data subject).
4. You have the right of access to the content of the data and to rectify, erase or limit its processing, as well as the right to object, to demand the cessation of processing and transfer of the data, as well as the right to withdraw consent at any time and the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority.
5. The submission of data is voluntary, but necessary for registration in the system.
6. The data provided by you will be made available to the event organisers and institutions authorised by law.
7. Personal data will be processed in an automated way, including in the form of profiling for the purpose of participation in the event (sending notifications about upcoming events).
8. The data controller does not intend to transfer personal data to a third country or international organisation.
9. Personal data will be stored until one month after the end of the service or withdrawal of consent.

GENERAL INFORMATION CLAUSE ON THE PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA

BY THE EUROPEAN CYCLISTS’ FEDERATION 

The European Cyclists' Federation is committed to providing a clear and transparent explanation about how we collect and use your information, and your options to update or modify that data.

Information Collection and Use

Information you provide to us: 

1. Members of our networks: As one of our members, we collect your personal information to fulfil our commitment to you.
2. Website: We publish on our website the information that you provide specifically for that purpose. We also publish news that you share with us.  In both cases this might include personal information.
3. Newsletters: We also collect your data, or that of people related to your organization, in order to provide you with relevant information about our work initiatives and strategy via our Members Newsletter or one of our Networks’ Newsletters.
4. The information we collect related to this purpose is:

1. name,
2. phone number,
3. email address,
4. title within your organization, 
5. organization's name,
6. physical address of the organization,
7. phone number,
8. main email address of the organization,
9. names and email addresses of other contacts from the organization.

All this information is kept during the duration of the membership or relationship with ECF. We do not transfer or share any of this information with third parties.

5. Non-members: Other than our members, we may collect the name and other contact information (see the list above) from individuals who are interested in receiving news about our work and projects via our newsletters.
6. This information is collected through a form within our website or one of our projects' websites. As stated above, we do not transfer or share any of this information with third parties.
7. Information from cookies: When you visit any of our websites, cookies technology allows us to provide you with a personalized experience and lets us measure and analyse traffic coming to our website by using Google Analytics. These cookies are not stored in our systems and do not include personally identifiable information.

Your Rights

1. You can, at any moment, request a copy or rectification of your data. You can, as well, request the deletion of such data if it does not apply to an ongoing agreement or relationship with ECF.
2. Any of these requests should be made by email to the address [email protected]. You can also simply ask us to remove you from receiving one or all of our newsletters by clicking on the 'unsubscribe' link on each newsletter.

Protecting Minors' Privacy

1. Our work is intended for a general audience. We do not knowingly collect, use, or share information that could reasonably be used to identify children under age 16.

Questions & Suggestions

1. Should you have any further questions or suggestions, please send us a message to [email protected], we'll be happy to hear from you.

GENERAL INFORMATION CLAUSE ON THE PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA

BY THE CYCLING INDUSTRIES EUROPE

We make it a matter of principle to respect the privacy of our users and to treat their personal data in strict confidentiality and in accordance with the legislation in force, notably Regulation (EU) 2016/679 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and free movement of such data, applicable from 01 March 2019 (the “General Data Protection Regulation").

This privacy policy is intended to inform you about the data we collect, the purpose for collecting it, the way we use it and the rights you have regarding the processing of such data.

Please read this privacy policy carefully. By visiting our website, you authorise us to process, in line with the provisions of this policy, the personal data you communicate.

If you have more questions, do not hesitate to contact us at info[at]cyclingindustries.com.

INFORMATION COLLECTION AND USE

INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE TO US: 

Members of our networks: As one of our members, we collect your personal information to fulfil our commitment to you.

Website: We publish on our website the information that you provide specifically for that purpose. We also publish news that you share with us.  In both cases this might include personal information.

Newsletters: We also collect your data, or that of people related to your organization, in order to provide you with relevant information about our work initiatives and strategy via our Members Newsletter or one of our Networks’ Newsletters.

The information we collect related to this purpose is:

• name,

• phone number,

• email address,

• title within your organization,

• organization's name,

• physical address of the organization,

• phone number,

• main email address of the organization,

• names and email addresses of other contacts from the organization

• the IP address assigned to you;

• the date and time of your access to our website;

• location data or other data relating to the communication;

• the pages you viewed on our website;

• the type of browser, platform and/or operating system you are using;

• the search engine and the keywords used to find the website;

• your browsing preferences;

and any other data you may communicate through our website, www.cyclingindustries.com.

All this information is kept during the duration of the membership or relationship with CIE. We do not transfer or share any of this information with third parties.

Non-members: Other than our members, we may collect the name and other contact information (see the list above) from individuals who are interested in receiving news about our work and projects via our newsletters.

This information is collected through a form within our website or one of our projects' websites. As stated above, we do not transfer or share any of this information with third parties.

Information from cookies: When you visit any of our websites, cookies technology allows us to provide you with a personalized experience and lets us measure and analyse traffic coming to our website by using Google Analytics. These cookies are not stored in our systems and do not include personally identifiable information.

YOUR RIGHTS

You can, at any moment, request a copy or rectification of your data. You can, as well, request the deletion of such data if it does not apply to an ongoing agreement or relationship with CIE.

Any of these requests should be made by email to the address info[at]cyclingindustries.com. You can also simply ask us to remove you from receiving one or all of our newsletters by clicking on the 'unsubscribe' link on each newsletter.

PROTECTING MINORS' PRIVACY

Our work is intended for a general audience. We do not knowingly collect, use, or share information that could reasonably be used to identify children under age 18.

DO WE TRANSFER YOUR DATA ABROAD?

We transfer your data to a non-EU country only if it provides a level of protection equivalent to what you can find in your country of residence (for more information, https://bit.ly/2ptnJMz).

WHAT HAPPENS IN THE EVENT OF A CHANGE TO THE POLICY?

Changes to the privacy policy are notified through our website.