#movingpeople meets Make My Day

Make My Day started out as a concept back in 2017, and became a reality in 2021, when the founders, Nisan Katz (CEO) and Cnaan Aviv (CTO), raised their $4.3M seed round at the end of 2021. Today they have TotalEnergies, Geotab and Hyundai as clients and partners, and are gearing up for the next step. 

#movingpeople-meets is a new series, highlighting innovation in mobility. I speak to mobility scale-up founders, typically around Series A and already working with customers, to understand their solution and the road they've taken to get there.

Hi Nisan. Tell me, how did it all start?

It all started with a route optimisation tool that my co-founder, Cnaan, then R&D manager at a large telco and today our CTO, developed for himself, for his own personal use. I met him through a friend, and we both agreed on the potential. That’s how Make My Day was born. The interesting thing is that we didn’t set out to be EV focused - we focused on route optimisation. It was the market that directed us to EVs. 

Explain. 

We went out to customers with an MVP for route optimisation, and they all pointed to a very specific pain - the switch to EVs. This is back in 2021-2022, range anxiety was front and centre. So we pivoted in that direction. From there we had an initial pilot with Daimler and took part in the Autobahn accelerator, and Make My Day has been focusing on EVs ever since. 

Is it still a pain? Charging Electric Vehicles? 

It definitely changed since 2021, with people getting used to EVs and infrastructure getting better, but the pain is still very much there. Consumers might be traveling along the same route most of the time, but whenever they need to leave their familiar surroundings, for work or just going on a trip, the uncertainty is back. For fleets, the pain is even more real, because they tend to have more complex operations, and for now at least, commercial vehicles have more range limitations. 

OK, makes sense. So what are you focusing on today? 

We have three main solutions. 

The 1st in an EV planning tool. This is a simulator, designed to advise on the best way to switch a fleet to electric. We analyse the historic fleet movement, either by connecting to your telematic solution or by downloading data, and analyse movements. From there we can advise on which vehicles can switch to electric, how many and where you would need to have chargers, what the charging regime should be etc. Everything you need to switch a diesel fleet to electric. We had Hochim as an early client for this. 

The 2nd and 3rd are management tools, not planning ones. One is fit for private consumers, the other for fleets. Both drivers and fleet managers. The solution is very much the same - advising on daily operations and charging, taking into account public and private chargers along the operational route, user set limitations, vehicle performance. At this stage, with fleets, we would integrate into their telematics or connected car solution to have real time data, which leads to real time advice. 

Can you talk about clients? How does that work on the ground for them? 

Sure. Take TotalEnergies for example - we integrate to Total’s mobile app, and when people search for an available charging station, they are in reality directed to our engine via API. Today we are live in France and soon will launch to all of Europe; wherever Total is present. 

The same logic applies to our partnership with Hyundai. From 2026, Hyundai and Kia electric vehicles are planning to use our app in their automotive operating system, as part of their SDV project. 

We have a similar deal with a Chinese OEM, and that is done via Geotab, who we partner with on specific projects and are also present in their marketplace. Through Geotab, and others, we also serve commercial fleets. 

We’re not in 2021 anymore, and there are quite a lot of EV planning and operation management solutions out there today; so why you? 

Yes, the industry has evolved much during the past years. Our expertise is very focused - how to plan and operate the most optimal charging regime for your fleet, or as a private consumer. We do it not as part of a fleet management bundle - we’re laser focused - but offer our solution via API. And that works - for example with Geotab. We’re better at the specific ‘thing’ that we do. 

Also our business model is geared toward that added value - we charge per API call or usage conditions. That way the benefit we serve is aligned to payment. 

So what’s the focus today? Where is Make My Day going?

We continue to develop the business. Right now, we also have a pilot with Europcar, new agreements with Ituran and Copec, and more commercial fleet projects . Our plan is to expand to the US, but we also need runway to make all these partnerships come true - Hyundai will only launch in 2026, also the same with the Chinese OEM, and we’re still at pilot stages with Europcar and VW. So we're currently in the midst of a Series A, aiming to raise $5M

Good luck with the raise. You said US expansion - what are your thoughts on Europe vs. the US?

Europe is more advanced in terms of EV adoption. There are more people driving electric cars, businesses are more mindful, and investing in electric vehicles. Also the infrastructure is better. So generally spelling, Europe is more ‘ripe’ for our solution. Having said that, the US is massive in size, so it makes sense. There is an open question about what Trump will do to EV adoption in the US, so we’re also watching out for that. 

Again, good luck. Any final thoughts you’d like to share about your journey, a message to other founders? 

Much is said about the long sales cycles of selling to governments, B2G sales, but from my experience, selling to large corporations is equally challenging in terms of timelines, stakeholder engagement, legal documents and IT vetting. So for those founders who plan on corporate sales - know that it will take you A LOT of time - and plan accordingly. From early engagement to having a product with Hyundai, I’m reminding that electric cars are coming out only next year, it will be three years since early engagement. So plan accordingly, and raise accordingly.