Webinar: Europe's first Commercial Robotaxi Service - Experiences and Vision of Verne

On 14 July 2026, from 10:00 to 12:00, SAAM Austria, in cooperation with AustriaTech, will host a webinar as part of the ‘Internationale Kooperationen’ series, focusing on the topic of “Europe’s first Commercial Robotaxi Service - Experiences and Vision of Verne”. This series promotes knowledge transfer between the Austrian community and international partners, as well as international cooperation (e.g. joint projects at EU level), and strengthens the international positioning of SAAM Austria and its stakeholders. Through contributions from international guest speakers and joint discussions, the aim is to identify synergies and connections with the presented topics and initiatives, along with potential future activities for Austrian stakeholders.

Webinar description
Verne is a Croatian company that forms part of the Rimac Group and is developing an innovative ecosystem for urban automated mobility. They officially launched Europe’s first commercial robotaxi service in April 2026. The service allows passengers in Zagreb to book autonomous rides via the Verne app using electric vehicles powered by Pony.ai’s autonomous driving system. In this webinar Lovro Nobilo (Government and Regulatory Affairs Manager), will talk about Vernes experiences and activities focusing on the deployment of the service, the collaboration with Pony.ai, as well as next steps and their vision for the future.

The subsequent Q&A and group discussion session provides an opportunity for detailed questions and also to explore specific areas of collaboration for Austrian stakeholders regarding those deployments.

Programme
•    Welcome & Introduction | Doris Straub, SAAM Austria & Aggelos Soteropoulos, AustriaTech
•    Europe’s first Commercial Robotaxi Service - Experiences and Vision of Verne | Lovro Nobilo, Verne
•    Q&A and group discussion | Opportunity for questions, sharing experiences and discussing opportunities for cooperation and collaboration
•    Outlook | Doris Straub, SAAM Austria & Aggelos Soteropoulos, AustriaTech