Connected Places Catapult’s Intelligent Mobility Accelerator

• The programme is a Collaboration between Wayra UK and Connected Places Catapult, supported by Hyundai, AMEY/Ferrovial and Stagecoach
• It is designed to scale disruptive startups to revolutionise the UK’S transport supply chain
• 11 Startups will deliver short pitches to investors 15th January

Based in Milton Keynes, the Intelligent Mobility (IM) Accelerator is a partnership between Connected Places Catapult and Wayra – Telefónica’s global innovation arm. It also has support from Stagecoach, Hyundai and Amey (Ferrovial in the UK). To date, it has created 24 commercial pilots for participating startups which have raised over $250M in investment.

The programme is designed to attract disruptive startups with high-growth potential into the UK transport supply chain while helping them grow into world-leading companies. It is the first in the UK to cover the full range of areas related to intelligent mobility, supporting data-driven solutions for the most pressing transport problems facing the world today.

Taking place on 15 January at The Conduit, in Mayfair, Central London, the demo day marks the end of the six-month programme. During the day, 11 start-ups will deliver short pitches:

• minicabit
• BriteYellow
• Xtellingent
• Grid
• Podaris
• Protean Electric
• Tomorrow’s Journey
• Alchera Technologies
• Opencapacity
• Parknav
• Liftshare

The exclusive event will welcome 150 guests (invite-only) and the presentations will be followed by networking.

Alex Weedon, SME Director at the Connected Places Catapult said:

“We have been constantly impressed by the quality of the start-ups that have been part of the accelerator programme over the past six months. They all have the potential to disrupt the transport sector with their innovative solutions to solve a host of mobility challenges and we believe they have a bright future ahead of them.”

The IM Accelerator provides the startups with office space, mentoring and networking. The successful ones also get access to the partners’ networks of investors, government agencies, customers, large corporates and universities.

The programme has already accelerated 28 startups including some very successful business such as Appyway (formerly AppyParking) which recently won Street of the Future at the TransTech Award. Valerann, a startup from the first cohort was just awarded CES Top Tech Winner and its Smart Roads Platform has been awarded 2020 Best of Innovation in the CES Innovation Awards.

For further information, contact:

Wayra
Victor Aloi
E: victor.aloic@wayra.org

Connected Places Catapult
Stephen Lynn
E: stephen.lynn@cp.catapult.org.uk

Note to editors:

WHAT: Intelligent Mobility Demo Day
WHO: Wayra UK (Telefónica’s open innovation hub); Connected Places Catapult, Hyundai, Amey (Ferrovial in the UK) and Stagecoach
WHERE: The Conduit, Mayfair, Central London
WHEN: 15 January, 10:30 – 15:00

ABOUT WAYRA

At Wayra UK, we democratise entrepreneurship. We do this by providing unparalleled access to networks and capital that turn start-ups into scale-ups while ensuring that our cohorts reflect the diversity of the UK and, indeed, the world. Our 190 portfolio companies have a combined value of near $1bn and have had 136 trials with Telefónica, generating $18m in revenue for our portfolio of startups.

Add to this a further 7 programmes that have supported 94 start-ups in 6 cities throughout the UK, and it becomes clear why it is said that Wayra UK is Great Britain’s only truly national innovation programme. We bring world-class start-ups not only to Telefónica globally and O2 locally but also to our network of partners, including Cisco, Novartis, Ferrovial, Hyundai, Bosch, Innogy, Network Rail and the British Government via the GCHQ and NCSC. In each case, our primary aim is to find new sources of revenue and/or innovation.

We are part of the larger Wayra network. At Wayra, we scale start-ups. We offer start-ups access not only to investment but also to business development opportunities with some of the world’s largest companies, including our parent company, Telefónica. Wayra operates in 6 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Spain and the UK). This makes us one of the world’s most global, connected and technological innovation hubs.

ABOUT TELEFÓNICA

Telefónica is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world by market capitalisation and number of customers with a comprehensive offering and quality of connectivity that is delivered over world class fixed, mobile and broadband networks. As a growing company, it prides itself on providing a differential experience based both on its corporate values and a public position that defends customer interests.

The company has a significant presence in 14 countries and over 346 million accesses around the world. Telefónica has a strong presence in Spain, Europe and Latin America, where the company focuses an important part of its growth strategy.

Telefónica is a 100% listed company and its shares are traded on the Spanish Stock Market and those in New York and Lima.

ABOUT CONNECTED PLACES CATAPULT

The Connected Places Catapult accelerates smarter living and travelling in and between the places of tomorrow. We focus on growing businesses with innovations in mobility services and the built environment that enable new levels of physical, digital and social connectedness. The Connected Places Catapult operates at the intersection between public and private sectors and between local government and transport authorities.

We convene the disparate parts of the market to help innovators navigate the complexity of doing business, creating new commercial opportunities and improving productivity, socio-economic and environmental benefits for places.

ABOUT FERROVIAL

Ferrovial Services is an international benchmark in the maintenance and operation of public and private infrastructure for transport, environment, industry, natural resources (oil, gas and mining) and utilities (water and electricity), and in the provision of facility management services.

With a solid international presence in stable regions such as the UK, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Chile, and with a workforce of more than 80,000, Ferrovial Services provides end-to-end solutions for infrastructure and cities to improve their efficiency, functionality and sustainability.

ABOUT AMEY

Amey is Ferrovial’s UK operation. Our team of 20,000 works across four continents – making us a leading supplier of consulting and infrastructure support services both in the UK and internationally.
We’ve been in business for nearly 100 years. We’re proud of our long history and the difference we make; serving the communities we work in, whatever the weather and whatever the challenge.

We create safer, smarter, and sustainable places to live, work and travel. By designing, building, maintaining and investing in our country’s services and infrastructure we make a difference including engineering, facilities management, utilities, transport, environmental services, defence and justice.

ABOUT HYUNDAI

The power of new thinking has helped Hyundai become the world’s fifth-largest motor group in less than fifty years, selling 4.05 million vehicles in 2011. In 1967, in an innovative arrangement, Chung Ju-Yung started the Hyundai Motor Company to build the Cortina in Korea, in association with Ford.

Smart enough to realise world-class expertise could unlock lucrative new markets, Chung hired former Austin Morris boss George Turnbull in the 1970s to lead the development of the very first Hyundai car.
Within two decades Hyundai was exporting in volume, to the huge US market among others. Today, Hyundai has the world’s biggest car plant. Ulsan, in South Korea, builds 1.5 million cars a year – the equivalent of one every 20 seconds, thanks to 34,000 personnel and berths where three 50,000 ton ships can anchor simultaneously. It’s also known as the ‘forest plant’ because it has 58,000 trees landscaped within it.

Hyundai also has Europe’s most modern plant, Nošovice in the Czech Republic, with advanced technologies and waste-management systems to ensure exceptionally high levels of quality, while keeping impact on the environment to a minimum.

ABOUT STAGECOACH

Stagecoach Group is a market leader in delivering greener, smarter travel, with bus and rail operations in the UK and overseas. The Group operates some of the most recognised and successful brands in the transport sector. The Group operates bus, coach, rail, and tram services in regulated and deregulated markets.

In the UK, Stagecoach is the biggest bus and coach operator. They operate a major city bus operation in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Hull, Sheffield, Oxford and Cambridge, as well as inter-urban services linking smaller locations. They also run the low-cost coach service megabus.com in the UK.
The Group is also a UK rail operator, directly running the East Midlands Trains network Stagecoach and Virgin have partnered to jointly run the West Coast inter-city rail franchise.

Stagecoach also operates a major tram network in Sheffield. The Group’s joint ventures include Virgin Rail Group and Scotland’s biggest coach operator, Scottish Citylink.

The company strives to be a trusted and successful public transport business and a respected community partner. It has partnered with bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) and technology company Fusion Processing to produce a single deck autonomous bus, the first of its kind in the UK.