HS2 Accelerator cohort 2 applications are now live!

Today, the HS2 Accelerator launches its second cohort, a programme for start ups and SMEs with innovative ideas to drive project efficiencies and to create wider long-term economic benefits.

Innovate@HS2, which is the HS2 accelerator programme, is in collaboration with Connected Places Catapult and Innovation Birmingham and is focused on Railway innovation solutions.

We want to hear from start-ups and small businesses who can meet the challenges outlined below. ​The programme will provide guidance, support and insight to develop your innovative idea or product and develop your company to be fit for HS2 supply chain.

There are two challenges for this cohort:

Challenge 1

The way we work

• We want to reduce or remove paper-based activities and automate and optimise processes as efficiently as possible.
• We want to develop and explore solutions that can consolidate business process to achieve a step change in efficiency.
• We want to explore technology that can replace manual ways of working and activities that are historically labour intensive or inefficient.

Challenge 2

Stations Experience

• We want to put the customer in control of their time to deliver a great stations experience.
• We want to maximise commercial value from the customers station experience.
• We want to ensure our stations are accessible for all. Here we are particularly interested in solutions for supporting blind and partially sighted and neuro-diverse customers around our stations.