BikeBuddies is an global bicycle and other self propelled commuters virtual platform. Through this network people will host each other in their homes, share their common fields of interest and discuss about sustainable living. Events to mitigate climate change will be launched from the platform.
About You
About You
First Name
Jimmy
Last Name
Micha
Twitter URL
Facebook URL
About Your Project
Organization Name
Israel Bicycle Association
Organization Website
Organization Country
Israel, T, Tel Aviv
Country where this project is creating social impact
Select the stage that best applies to your project
Idea (you're poised to launch)
How long has your organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
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Your Solution
Project Name
Bike Buddies
Elevator Pitch: Share a concise summary. This will be the introductory text about this pitch that viewers will see.
BikeBuddies is an global bicycle and other self propelled commuters virtual platform. Through this network people will host each other in their homes, share their common fields of interest and discuss about sustainable living. Events to mitigate climate change will be launched from the platform.
Problem: What problem does your solution address?
Today car use is a growing trend worldwide. This creates an environmental problem, contributing to the greenhouse effect with its GHG emissions, and health problems by encouraging sedentary rather than active transport. The problem is related to a need for changes in behavior to enable sustainable living.
Solution: What is the proposed solution?
The greenhouse effect and the health problems generated by the use of the car instead of bicycles or other forms of self-propelled transportation, are global problems. Pushing each government in favor of sustainable transportation seems an endless task. Bike Buddies will form a global community, that would be the basis for the generation of proposals, discussions and changes towards a more sustainable organization of transport. Events that will generate a general awareness about climate change and the transportation problems will be elaborated and launched through Bike Buddies.
Founding Story: Share a story about the “Aha!” moment that led you to get started and/or to see the potential for this to succeed.
At some point I started thinking that pushing for improvements only in my country is not enough. That we need to create a fair world and the way to do it is by connecting people worldwide using the virtual tools that already proved to be efficient.
I also realized that there are loads of people using bicycles or other self propelled ways of transportation, that are not politically active, but would be interested in be part of a community to share these interests.
If people who share interest joins, they become aware about how powerful they are and how to change the statu quo. Through the community we can make ideas happen. Bike Buddies would be the way of bringing all these people together and an effective way to change reality.
Select Sector(s): To which of Unilever's categories of sustainability does your solution apply?
Greenhouse Gases.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Measurable Impact
Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how your solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.
The greatest impacts related with climate change will come from building a different culture, where people first understand that a different way of life is possible. An idea will be launched: every user that host or share a self propelled way of tranportation will get a ribbon that the users are going to attach to their bicycles. This ribbon will represent: 1 more bicycle= 1 less car.
When a forum in Bike Buddies is created to discuss about the benefits of cycling and they start to know and host each other and share meaningful moments, they are reinforcing a way of life that reduces the emissions to the atmosphere.
What we need is strong and aware communities that know what they want and push for it everywhere.
Audience: Who have you identified as your customers/recipients and why? How will you get your solution to them or engage them in your initiative?
The customers of Bike Buddies are all the people interested in bicycles and any other self propelled way of transportation.
We are going to engage them mainly through the bicycle associations that exist in almost every country. The Israel Bicycle Association has contacts with all the main organizations, so by including them in the Bike Buddies project, they become stakeholders of the project and they can share their data base.
Promote Bike Buddies in other social platforms will also be necessary.
Impact: What is the impact of the work to date and expected impact in the future?
The average car sends 7 tons of CO2 to the atmosphere and for example, in the US cars count for almost 20% of the total CO2 emissions (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2013) and we know that bicycle emissions are over 10 times lower than that of a passenger car.
This project will encourage, disseminate and strengthen the use of self propelled ways of transportation and so, reductions in CO2 emissions. The changes in culture and awareness that Bike Buddies will produce will have a behavioral impact in individuals and societies.
We measure success through the growth in the amount of users of Bike Buddies and organizations that decide to join us in this effort.
Growth, Finance & Leadership
Marketplace: Who else is addressing this problem and how does the proposed solution differ from these approaches?
There is one website that is giving the possibility to host cyclists. But first, it does not have enough traffic and the reason, we think, is that there is not a marketing plan to promote the website. Second, in Bike Buddies building a community is the basis, So, the forums are essential to connect people all around the world. Groups is what give individuals the possibility to become stronger and at the end of the day to bring social and environmental transformations. Bike Buddies will bring information and news. Finally the link with each cycling organization will give weight to the project.
Scaling the Solution: How do you intend to scale your activities over the next two years (e.g., reach new markets, diversify solutions, etc.)? What will make this possible?
Alone we cannot scale it, we will expand our efforts with local and global partners. It will be fundamental to create a network of stakeholders that feel engaged and can get benefits from the project. This stakeholders will be the Ngo´s and associations that work for the cycling world in each country. By giving them presence in the website their databases will be used to reach people everywhere in the world. We already count with many leading organizations that decided to be part of the project.
Global events that become viral will be very important to make the project known everywhere.
Financial Sustainability: What is your business model to ensure financial sustainability?
The website will have a verification system through which the users will be able to show that the address that they upload is the same than the one in the credit card, so that they are trustworthiness. The cost of the verification will be 15 US dollars and this will ensure the maintenance of the platform. The system is being used by other websites with successful results. We´ll include publicity to generate an extra source of income.
Experience: Please provide examples of any previous entrepreneurial initiatives you have pioneered.
I participated as a content developer on the creation of innovative products for children between 1 and 5 years old. The products included books and learning cards that were very successful in Argentina´s market (the dvd ranked Nº1 in the market for 2 months).