VASY wants to become the Waze of urban mobility
Midi Libre · 2022
About us
A story of territories, written by those who live them.
POLVA brings together mobility, local services, events and data in a platform that belongs to the territory, never the other way round.
Our mission
Making every territory simple, safe and vibrant, for everyone who lives it, on site or from afar.
Our vision
A world where no territory has to choose between digital modernity and sovereignty: every city, campus, destination or diaspora offers its communities a space as simple as the big platforms, but one that belongs to it and tells its own story.
Sovereignty
Your data remains yours. Controlled hosting, never sold or transferred.
Care
We watch over everyone: attentiveness as care, never as fear.
Inclusiveness
Free for the user, accessible, multilingual: no one left by the roadside.
Local roots
The territory's economy and life first: local shops, events, communities.
Co-founder
Dhia Souei.
PhD candidate in cognitive science, experience designer.
A deeptech entrepreneur and PhD candidate in cognitive science, I work at the intersection of human behaviour, real-world usage and technological systems.
I am today the co-founder of POLVA, which designs, deploys and operates tailor-made territory platforms for destinations, universities, local authorities and communities abroad: under their brand, free for their users, funded by the institution, with an absolute requirement of data sovereignty.
My work rests on a strong conviction: mobility is not only about optimising journeys, but about understanding how people perceive, feel and live their daily movements.
I previously founded VASY, a multimodal urban mobility app: a decisive research and experimentation ground in the construction of my current approach.
My journey taught me one essential thing: a technology that ignores usage almost always ends up producing counter-productive effects.
I stand for sober, inclusive, responsible innovation, grounded in science and real-world usage.
Co-founder
Ayoub Mcharek.
Engineer, architect of the POLVA platform.
Co-founder and technical partner of POLVA, I design and operate the entire platform: the iOS, Android and web apps built from a single foundation, the back office, the data layer and the infrastructure that carries them.
An ISAE-Supméca engineer, I spent seven years in the deeptech software industry (AI, operations research, optimisation). There I created and led the Data & AI division of an international supply chain software vendor: a team spread across four countries, large-scale data products deployed internationally, R&D programmes backed by leading public funding bodies (ADEME) and the industrial supervision of CIFRE PhD theses.
My conviction: sovereignty is proven in the architecture. Strict isolation of each institution's data, automated tests on every sensitive building block, GDPR compliance by design: this is what makes it possible to deploy a territory in weeks, without compromising on the security discipline. Trilingual French, English, Arabic, like the platform.
In the media
Press coverage.
Disability, street art, agoraphobia: with VASY, walking routes are made to measure
20 Minutes · 2022Read the article →
MEET Africa: diaspora entrepreneurs at the summit
Emerging Valley · 2023Read the article →
Dhia Souei, co-creator of the VASY app
Video interview · 2023Watch the video →
Awards & distinctions
A recognised trajectory.
National programmes, deeptech labels, academic partnerships and international missions.
2021
MEET Africa 2
International selection and funding programme (Expertise France).
2022
French Tech Méditerranée Tremplin
Deeptech incubation and support at the Montpellier BIC.
2022
University of Montpellier · Epsylon partnership
Research collaboration in cognitive science applied to mobility.
2023
French Tech Émergence (Bpifrance Deeptech)
National label for high-potential deeptech startups.
2023
Pitch Contest winner “La Place Créative” · Pépite LR
Pitch prize in Montpellier; national student entrepreneurship network.
2024
Digital Economy Trophies · Handitech Trophy
Finalist (territory, inclusion, innovation); semi-finalist inclusive innovation.
2024
“Les Interconnectés” label
National label for territorial and digital innovation.
2024
Business France / Atout France / Bpifrance mission
Tourism digitalisation mission, Canada / USA.
Research
LIRMM (CNRS) & Epsylon
Research collaborations: computer science, robotics, cognitive science.
Journey
From research to product.
Research
Cognitive science
PhD in cognitive science (Paul-Valéry University · Epsylon): human-environment interactions in mobility.
2022
VASY
First multimodal urban mobility app, an experimentation and research foundation.
2026
POLVA
Foundation of POLVA and structuring of the product suite. First reference: Djerba Destination, app and back office tested and proven in the field.
Ecosystem
Built with our partners.
A demanding institutional and scientific ecosystem: public deeptech funding, university research, international programmes.
Let's talk about your territory.
A demonstration tailored to your territory and a clear deployment plan: answer within 48 hours.