04.11.26, LONDON, Connected Places Catapult, the UK’s innovation accelerator for transport, construction and infrastructure, has today announced 20 companies selected across two programmes as part of the Freight Innovation Fund.
Funded by the Department for Transport (DfT) and delivered by the Catapult, the Freight Innovation Fund is focussed on accelerating the adoption of commercial solutions to address challenges in the UK’s freight and logistics sector. This year, the DfT has extended the Fund to enable more support for companies with market-ready technologies and further engage the wider industry through the Freight and Logistics Innovation Network.
The companies announced today have been selected as part of two of the Fund’s programmes. The Fund’s Accelerator programme sees ten innovators team up with industry partners to conduct trials, with the aim of proving their solution in an operational environment. The Fund’s Venture Growth programme will give a further ten later-stage companies funded support from experts at the Catapult, helping them strengthen their commercial proposition and scale.
The freight and logistics industry is crucial to keeping Britain moving, so it's important that it’s supported and well-equipped to meet modern-day demands.
"This year's extended funding and growth programme means even more companies will be able to invest in new technology and innovative solutions that will not only make a big difference to the sector but contribute to the growth of our economy too."
Keir Mather MP, Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Logistics
Sameer Savani, Transport and Infrastructure Managing Director at Connected Places Catapult said: “Freight and logistics are vital to the UK economy. By working to support the development and adoption of new technologies in these sectors, we can tackle key challenges, attract private capital, and secure long-term economic growth.
Freight Innovation Fund Accelerator
Ten companies from the fifth cohort of the Freight Innovation Fund Accelerator have been selected to progress to the trial phase with their industry partners.
The companies selected responded to an open call earlier this year, which set out three areas for solutions to address: renewable energy supply; autonomy in freight and logistics; and supply chain resilience, plus an open challenge category.
The companies, their partners and trials are:
Trial Partners: GXO and Welch Group.
Aeroflow's solution is an aerodynamic HGV trailer that shape-shifts to improve fuel efficiency, aiming to drive cost savings, increase range, and lower emissions. When the trailer is carrying less cargo, its side walls move inwards to create a tapered shape, which reduces drag.
For their trial, Aeroflow will work with GXO and Welch Group to test the performance of the trailer on a test track and in a real-world fleet operations. They will measure fuel and emissions savings across different routes, speeds and loading conditions, while also assessing reliability, ease of use and compatibility with day-to-day logistics. The findings will guide the development towards a production-ready trailer, supporting future commercial trials and adoption across the road freight industry.
Trial Partner: Portsmouth International Port
Aurrigo’s solution uses battery-electric autonomous vehicles to transport people, baggage and freight between locations, using a common autonomous driving system and sensor technology. Vehicles can be assigned missions centrally and operate autonomously along approved routes under remote or onboard supervision.
The trial at Portsmouth International Port will demonstrate that Aurrigo’s Auto-Shuttle can operate safely and reliably in a live, mixed-traffic port environment, transporting freight, passengers and cruise baggage. These activities will generate evidence on reliability, journey times, interventions, energy use and integration, providing transferable learning for future freight operations.
Trial Partners: Port of Tyne, Portsmouth International Port and Shoreham Port.
Biobright's solution is a subscription data platform which combines autonomous sensors with real-time water quality monitoring to turn port data into actionable insights. The solution detects pollution, oil leaks and operational risks, including impacts from dredging, helping ports save time and money, avoid fines, reduce environmental risk and prevent operational disruption.
Their trial will demonstrate how connected ports can use and share environmental data to improve compliance, strengthen decision-making and identify risks earlier. It will focus on water quality and dredging activities at Port of Tyne, contamination and compliance monitoring at Portsmouth International Port, and early detection of oil leaks and machinery risks at Shoreham Port.
Trial Partner: GXO.
BuildPrompt is an AI platform that helps organisations in complex, regulated industries make faster, better decisions. The system reads and understands information in any format, from structured operational records to unstructured documents and safety conversations, and connects it across their systems and external sources to surface the risks, patterns and insights that matter most.
The team will work with their programme partner, GXO on transport safety, combining their structured and unstructured safety data, particularly the rich detail held in everyday safety conversations, with external sources. Furthermore, BuildPrompt will identify root causes faster, reveal trends earlier, and give safety teams evidence to act before incidents occur, creating a repeatable model for safety improvement across freight.
Trial Partners: GXO and Sameday Transport.
Clearquote Technologies’ solution automates damage and defect detection for heavy commercial fleets. The product has the potential to reduce unreported issues, and improve the quality and consistency of vehicle checks, ultimately increasing safety.
They will work with GXO and Sameday Transport to trial their AI-powered HGV and trailer inspection solution, including mobile-app walkaround capture and automated fixed-camera capture at a GXO depot. They aim to prove their solution’s ability to support the reduction of unreported damage and defects, and improve driver behaviour in a live operational environment.
Trial Partner: Shoreham Port.
HyperGen's solution is a multifuel Micro Turbine Generator providing light goods EV charging for transmission and emission restrained customers. The solution avoids the high costs, inflexibility and long lead times of new substations, reducing capital and planning barriers to electrification.
HyperGen’s trial will see their 15 kilowatt micro gas turbine generator placed at Shoreham Port to provide overnight charging for electric forklifts. The generator will run on propane and hydrogenated vegetable oil and will be assessed for future use with second generation sustainable fuels. The trial will evaluate the generator’s operational performance, charging reliability, fuel consumption, and compatibility with existing chargers. The data produced will help inform wider rollout across UK ports and offshore logistics.
Trial Partner: TwentyForty.
Opening a depot’s chargers to other operators is already possible. MHTech’s Smart Depot Share increases how much charging time the operator can offer, by working out a day ahead how much energy the depot’s own trucks will actually need. Planning each charge to the next job rather than a standard target shows how long chargers are really needed, giving windows the depot can release to visiting fleets with confidence.
MHTech Energies will work with TwentyForty to trial the technology at a working freight depot, testing whether the forecasts hold in real operations and how much extra charging time a depot can release.
Trial Partner: TwentyForty.
Moonbility’s Disruption Impact Platform predicts how disruptions ripple across road freight and multimodal networks. When roadworks, incidents or delays hit any point in the network, the platform calculates the downstream effect and surfaces ranked interventions, scored by time saved and cost avoided.
Working with trial partner TwentyForty, Moonbility will apply the platform to live freight operations. The trial aims to demonstrate faster response times and produce a documented framework for coordinating across independent fleet operators, a model that can be replicated sector-wide.
Trial Partners: Welch Group, TwentyForty and GXO.
Paua Tech's solution is a harmonised charge point booking service designed for commercial EV fleet operators, which is aiming to improve charging certainty and accelerate freight electrification.
Their trial with GXO, TwentyForty and Welch Group will focus on booking interoperability and reservation workflows. It will also consider driver experience, fleet manager needs, authentication, and cancellation rules.
Trial partner: Welch Group.
TOGL Energy is developing depot flexibility software for commercial electric vehicle fleets and depot operators. The platform brings together vehicle and charger data, electricity tariffs, site power limits and departure times to plan charging around operational requirements. It is designed to reduce charging costs, make better use of existing grid connections and keep vehicles ready for their next shift.
TOGL Energy will work with its trial partner, Welch Group, to test the platform in an operational environment. The trial will gather evidence of fleet and depot requirements to inform the platform’s continued development and assess its potential benefits.
Freight Innovation Fund: Venture Growth Programme
Ten companies have been selected for the Freight Innovation Fund: Venture Growth Programme, which is being run as a pilot in 2026.
The companies will receive a four-month long provision of bespoke support to refine their commercial proposition, strengthen deployment planning, and build the capabilities needed for long-term growth. They will also benefit from access to the Catapult’s network of freight and logistics operators and investors, which will help them validate commercial opportunities, develop strategic partnerships and strengthen their investment case.
The companies selected responded to an open call earlier this year, which set out four priority areas in which DfT was looking to support innovators. These were improving multi-modality, digital freight and logistics systems, next-generation transport management and distribution, and energy and infrastructure.
The companies selected are:
Anteam delivers the AI Boost for Industrial Operations. Their patented industrial AI sits on top of existing systems, turning operational data into intelligent predictions, decisions and recommendations that reduce costs, improve efficiency and deliver measurable carbon reductions. It helps freight operators, freight forwarders, large retailers and ports optimise logistics and asset utilisation.
GoExpress is the UK’s first middle-mile network to use high-speed electrified rail for low-carbon, full container load express transport. Combining brand-new electric locomotives with electric HGVs, it delivers a fully integrated linehaul solution designed specifically for Courier, Express and Parcel (CEP) operators seeking faster, more sustainable long-distance networks.
Minimal is building a new system for moving goods in cities: next-generation electric vehicles, the software that guides them and autonomy built in. Engineered and assembled in their local factories, the vehicles improve with every mile they cover. They are designed for logistics fleet operators and couriers who need to need a better way of moving goods.
Rhevia is building the intelligence layer for the physical world. Using privacy-first radar sensing, contextual data and AI, they transform how people and vehicles move and interact into actionable intelligence, helping local authorities, infrastructure operators and industrial organisations improve safety, evaluate interventions and make better-informed decisions.
SpatialCortex’s solution is MOVA - wearable sensors and analytics that measure manual handling risks faced by staff across a shift and automatically produces HSE-aligned assessments to help prevent musculoskeletal injuries. It is designed for health and safety and operations leaders at freight and logistics operators, including ports, warehousing, distribution and rail.
Superlight’s solution is an all-digital 7.5-tonne electric commercial vehicle designed for middle-mile logistics and cargo transport.
Trade Harmonizer’s solution is an award-winning AI customs compliance platform that classifies goods, checks origin and free trade agreement eligibility, screens sanctioned parties, and recovers overpaid duty, so declarations are right first time. It is designed for UK importers and the forwarders, third party logistics providers, ports, and carriers handling their goods.
ubloquity’s solution is a trust platform that authenticates, tracks and securely moves critical assets through complex supply chains. It has been designed for aerospace and defence primes, government agencies, and regulated freight and pharma operators.
Voltempo is creating a ‘Pathway to Autonomy’ programme, designed to support fleet operators and vehicle original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to trial and deploy autonomous HGVs.
Zizo has developed Confluence, an AI-driven data engineering and analysis platform. It delivers advanced analytical capability to senior leaders across complex datasets to improve operations, find new areas of efficiency and drive down costs.
