Mapping New Journeys: How Bareways is Changing the Way We Navigate the World 

In a world where navigation has long been defined by speed and efficiency, one startup is rethinking the way we travel. Based in Lübeck, Bareways is building software that goes far beyond getting from A to B. The company is crafting digital travel companions that consider personality, preferences, context, and even emotion—offering route planning that is as individual as the person behind the wheel.

Since joining the ESA BIC Northern Germany incubation programme in 2024, Bareways has taken significant steps forward. Their work blends satellite data, artificial intelligence, and geospatial analytics into a platform that redefines what we expect from navigation systems. With a firm base in Northern Germany’s space and mobility innovation ecosystem, Bareways is on a mission to transform not just how we travel, but how we experience travel.

From Routing to Real Experiences

Founded in 2019 by Moritz von Grotthuss (CEO) and Sascha Clement (CTO), Bareways began with a question: what if navigation wasn’t just about efficiency, but also about enjoyment?

“Today’s navigation systems focus almost exclusively on reaching your destination quickly,” explains CEO Moritz von Grotthuss. “But travel is not always about the fastest route—it’s often about the journey itself.”

Bareways began by developing a full navigation system for car manufacturers that allowed drivers to select scenic, exciting or customised routes based on their preferences. This approach meant looking far beyond standard road networks. Bareways takes into account a wide range of data, including weather, road quality, traffic, elevation, curvature, and even local attractions. The result is a route that fits not just a destination—but a mood, a moment, a desire.

Their software is now integrated into existing in-car apps, enabling drivers to opt for the most engaging or relaxing route rather than simply the fastest one. Their customer base has grown to include premium and electric vehicle manufacturers looking to provide a more meaningful travel experience for their drivers.

The Next Leap: From Driving to Discovering

At this year’s CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, Bareways introduced their next major product: Bareways Travel AI.

The product is a response to a growing gap in the travel planning space. While large language models like ChatGPT can generate general lists of sights and activities, they lack a crucial element—contextual awareness of a traveller’s preferences, and the ability to translate suggestions into navigable experiences.

“Say you’re travelling to London,” explains Moritz. “ChatGPT might give you a list of the top ten things to do. But if you’re not interested in the royal family, Buckingham Palace might not mean much to you. That’s not personalisation—it’s a list.”

What Bareways Travel AI does differently is blend text-based interaction with geospatial intelligence. Users can interact naturally via chat or voice, and instead of receiving a list, they receive a curated map. That map visualises locations, points of interest, activities, and routes based on individual preferences.

“People travel with a map in mind,” says Moritz. “We help visualise that, using AI to match interests with real-world locations. It’s about building a trip that’s yours, not just one-size-fits-all suggestions.”

Bareways TravelAI with navigation. Photo credit: Bareways ©2025

The company is now opening this product up to the hospitality and tourism industry, targeting hotels, car rental companies, and tourism boards. The vision is to allow smaller businesses to easily integrate this digital travel guide into their websites—using a widget that is simple to set up, but powerful in what it can deliver.

A Navigation Engine Powered by Space

The depth of Bareways’ capabilities lies in their use of satellite data and Earth observation, making their work highly relevant to the space sector. As part of the ESA BIC Northern Germany programme, Bareways has access to expert support, tools, and networks that help them further integrate space technologies into their products.

“We can only obtain a lot of necessary global data through satellites,” explains Moritz. “Using Copernicus satellite data, we can recognise vegetation, road surfaces, road quality, and more. That’s essential for building accurate, real-time travel intelligence that goes far beyond the average mapping app.”

This geospatial layer allows Bareways to create hyper-localised, context-aware routing options. For example, they can adjust recommended routes based on current weather conditions, terrain quality, or environmental hazards—something traditional navigation systems often overlook.

A Personalised Future

Bareways isn’t just developing features—it’s developing user profiles. From swiping on landscape photos to answering simple lifestyle questions, users are subtly shaping the way the system responds to them. These profiles help the software learn and adapt, making future route suggestions even more aligned with individual tastes.

The company has hardcoded several sample profiles into its system for early testing—such as one that prioritises eco-friendly hotels and local food experiences. The idea is to allow the system to intuitively refine travel suggestions without forcing users to fill out tedious forms or questionnaires.

“Navigation today gives you two options: the fastest route or the shortest one,” says Moritz. “What if the best route is neither? What if it’s the most interesting, the most scenic, or the most peaceful? That’s what we’re building.”

Growing Within the ESA BIC Northern Germany Ecosystem

Since joining ESA BIC Northern Germany in early 2024, Bareways has significantly sharpened its focus on applying satellite data to real-world mobility and travel challenges. The incubation programme has played a direct role in helping the startup bridge the gap between idea and execution—especially in terms of technical validation, networking, and business development.

For a company already dealing with large-scale geospatial data and Copernicus satellite information, ESA BIC has offered tailored access to expert knowledge, tools, and mentoring. This support has helped Bareways refine its use of satellite-derived insights in both its core navigation system and the newly launched Bareways Travel AI.

Through the programme, Bareways also gained access to experienced coaches and workshops that helped shape their go-to-market strategy for their new B2B travel product. While the company had already proven its value in the automotive space, the support of the ESA BIC continues to stand behind the Bareways team as they pivot into the tourism and hospitality sector with more clarity and focus.

The ESA brand itself has also had a powerful impact. “Being an ESA BIC startup sends a strong signal,” says Moritz. “It’s a seal of approval. When you’re reaching out to potential partners—whether they’re OEMs, investors, or regional tourism boards—being part of the ESA BIC gives you immediate credibility.”

That credibility is now fuelling Bareways’ expansion. With Travel AI entering its first beta phase and a goal of onboarding hundreds of customers by the end of the year, the foundation laid during their ESA BIC incubation has helped transform Bareways from a specialised mobility service into a broader location intelligence provider.

Looking Ahead

The roadmap for 2025 is ambitious. The team plans to transition their Bareways Travel AI from beta to a market-ready product, with the goal of reaching 800 customers by the end of the year. These customers will include hotels, restaurants, tourism offices, and small businesses looking to offer travellers a new kind of digital concierge.

This expansion requires more than just technical upgrades. The product must be accessible, lightweight, and easy to integrate—a web widget that any business can embed on their website without the need for custom development. And the business model is designed accordingly: usage-based licensing that scales with customer adoption.

As the mobility and travel sectors increasingly shift toward personalisation and sustainability, Bareways is positioning itself as the go-to partner for those who want to offer more than just directions.

“We want people to get in touch, try it, and be astonished,” says Moritz.

A Success Story Still in Motion

In the fast-changing world of mobility technology, Bareways is moving steadily—guided by clarity, user empathy, and a clear sense of purpose. With solid foundations in AI, geospatial data, and automotive know-how, they are building the kind of tools that turn information into experience.

Their work is a testament to what is possible when advanced technology is put to work solving human-centred challenges. By bridging the gap between data and delight, Bareways is carving a space for itself not just on the roads, but in the future of intelligent travel.

With the support of ESA BIC Northern Germany and the thriving innovation hub of Bremen behind them, they’re well on the way.

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About ESA BIC Northern Germany

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Business Incubation Center (BIC) in Northern Germany (ESA BIC Northern Germany) is headquartered together with the state’s aerospace association in the Bremen Innovation and Technology Center BITZ and the Digital Hub Industrie – two of Bremen’s largest innovation and technology centers for high-tech companies and startups. The ESA BIC Northern Germany brings new startup impulses to the region and thus strengthens the aerospace innovation cluster of the state of Bremen. The AVIASPACE BREMEN e.V. supports the space incubatees with its network, public relations and targeted coaching, not only during the incubation period, but also in the application phase and afterwards as alumni. The STARTHAUS Bremen & Bremerhaven  is the central point of contact in the Bremen start-up ecosystem and supports the startups with all questions regarding business development and financing. The ESA BIC Northern Germany is managed by Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO), an international network and branding company for European space programs.

Since 2021, the ESA BIC Northern Germany has also been offering its service to startups with space connections in Schleswig-Holstein. The Technikzentrum Lübeck with GATEWAY49, AviaSpace and AZO jointly operate this expansion of the ESA BIC Northern Germany. Since 2024 the Innovationport Wismar of the Forschungs GmbH Wismar, together with AviaSpace and AZO, has also been providing access to the ESA BIC Northern Germany. It is further planned to expand the ESA BIC Northern Germany to the northern federal states of Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Berlin-Brandenburg.

The technical support of the ESA BIC Northern Germany is provided by Fraunhofer IFAM,  German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence DFKI, DLR-RY Institute for Space Systems, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar Research AWI, universities in the state of Bremen including various institutes such as the Institute of Environmental Physics, the University of Lübeck, the University of Applied Sciences Lübeck, the Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity ZARM, Life Science Nord, Airbus Group, ArianeGroup, AES Aircraft Elektro/Elektronik System.