Toyota Mobility Foundation selects nine assistive and active-mobility startups for Mobility Unlimited Hub in Brazil

Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF), the Toyota-linked nonprofit focused on expanding mobility solutions, has named nine startups selected for the Mobility Unlimited Hub (MUH) acceleration program in São Carlos, Brazil. The hub, hosted with ONOVOLAB, is designed to help promising assistive technologies and active-mobility products move from prototype-ready stages toward scalable adoption, with mentorship and connections intended to speed progress over a planned two-year cohort.

TMF said the selected companies bring solutions at technological readiness levels (TRL) 6 to 9, a range that generally indicates systems that are sufficiently validated and near commercialization rather than early concept work. Across the cohort, the program emphasizes products aimed at improving autonomy, accessibility, and inclusion for people with disabilities and reduced mobility.

The MUH São Carlos initiative is framed as a bridge between innovation communities in North and South America. TMF said the Brazil hub will connect with a prior hub in Toronto that is located at MaRS Discovery District. The organization described the collaboration as a way to allow Brazilian startups to validate solutions locally while gaining international market intelligence and access to universities, experts, and partner organizations including Associação de Assistência à Criança Deficiente (AACD).

Among the technologies highlighted in TMF’s announcement is Steadi-3 Plus, described as a battery-free wearable tremor stabilization device for people with Parkinson’s disease or essential tremor. TMF said the device uses a passive magnet approach to help users manage involuntary hand tremors that can interfere with daily activities such as eating, drinking, and writing.

The cohort also includes Livox (Agora Eu Consigo Tecnologias de Inclusão Social Ltda), which TMF described as transforming Android tablets into accessible interfaces for alternative communication. The company’s stated goal is to help people who face barriers to communicate, learn, express needs, make choices, and participate more independently in daily life.

For navigation and environment awareness, TMF highlighted See U, an app aimed at visually impaired users. The program described the app as using AI, echolocation, and 3D spatial audio to describe environments, identify obstacles, objects, and people, and provide guidance in indoor and outdoor spaces to reduce reliance on third parties.

Other solutions named by TMF range from clinical rehabilitation to safety and inclusion. The announcement includes m-FLEX, described as a portable upper-limb robotic exoskeleton that supports robotic rehabilitation sessions by assisting arm movements and tracking performance data so treatments can be customized to each patient’s needs. TMF also listed prosthetics-enabled therapies, including functional upper-limb prostheses produced with 3D printing and electronics for people with upper limb amputations or malformations, alongside support for clinics, hospitals, and rehabilitation centers.

In the digital health and safety category, TMF described a remote monitoring platform that integrates smartwatches and smart medical devices with data analytics to monitor health, mobility, and safety indicators and issue alerts to support decision-making. It also named Super Nina, a platform that uses AI and analytics for safety management with a gender perspective, aimed at identifying, monitoring, and preventing cases of gender-based violence amid challenges such as underreporting and a lack of structured data and specialized tools. TMF further described Therafy, a health platform using virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence certified for clinical use, targeting functional rehabilitation through neuropsychological and motor treatments.

TMF is positioning the program within its broader definition of active mobility, which it described as extending beyond transportation to inclusion, accessibility, and how people experience cities, communities, and work. In remarks included with the announcement, ONOVOLAB CEO and co-founder Leandro Palmieri said TMF’s selection process looked not only at technological innovation but at the startups’ ability to deliver scalable social impact for Latin America. TMF’s Mobility Unlimited Hubs program manager, William Chernicoff, PhD, said the companies enter at a pre-growth stage and will gain access to a network of experts, collaborators, and international connections intended to accelerate progress to scaled innovation within the two-year cohort.

What remains unclear from TMF’s release is the full identity of every participating company, since several solution descriptions are provided without the corresponding startup names. The announcement also does not disclose specific program terms such as funding amounts, equity expectations, or performance metrics beyond the emphasis on TRL 6 to 9 and the planned two-year timeline. Readers looking for details on cohort structure and measurable outcomes will likely need updates as the hub begins work in Brazil.

Looking ahead, TMF’s next milestone will be how the São Carlos hub converts late-stage pilots into deployments that local stakeholders can adopt, including validation in Brazil and integration with academic, expert, and nonprofit partners referenced in the release. For the broader accessibility and mobility sector, the cohort’s mix of assistive hardware, app-based tools, rehabilitation robotics, and safety-focused analytics offers a window into where demand is forming as cities and health systems seek more inclusive, technology-enabled services.