Total Control of the Car: 2Hire's CEO Filippo Agostino

Filippo Agostino, CEO of 2Hire

On Wednesday, March 15, 2017, the Institute for Entrepreneurship and the Center for Professional and Continuing Education welcomed Filippo Agostino, co-founder and CEO of 2Hire. Filippo was a guest in Professor Riccardo Maiolini’s Management of Firms in an International Environment class, which is part of JCU’s Continuing Education offerings. Agostino described to the students his experience with 2Hire, from its inception to the acceleration phase the startup is currently undergoing at LUISS EnLabs.

2Hire offers a device (and the connected architecture) that can be plugged into any car’s OBD-II port, the global automotive standard port for diagnostics. Once plugged in, the device allows the car’s functions to be controlled via app, ranging from diagnostics to unlocking doors and trunk. The company’s team also developed the control app and a diagnostics and fleet control platform. 2Hire’s services are targeted to cars and scooters rentals, corporate fleets, and both private and corporate car sharing.

2Hire was born from an idea of founders Filippo Agostino, Andrea Verdelocco, and Matteo Filippi during their time as undergraduates. After starting the company as an electric scooter sharing service, they soon decided to develop the device that became 2Hire’s core, moving from a B2C (Business to Consumer) business model to a B2B2C (Business to Business to Consumer) one. In fact, 2Hire’s customers are other businesses (car rental companies, etc.), but their solution is ultimately mutually beneficial for companies, end consumers, and 2Hire itself.

Filippo concluded by describing his experience with startup incubator LUISS EnLabs and explaining to the students how the incubator “accelerates” a startup.