19.03.26 LONDON, Connected Places Catapult has announced today the names of three organisations with AI powered technology that have been awarded further funding to develop their business cases.

The small to medium-sized enterprises selected have been taking part in the ‘Smarter Transport Systems – AI in Transport’ competition, which is delivered by the Catapult and funded by the Department for Transport.

The competition aims to harness AI's potential to digitalise and better integrate transport systems. Representatives from each of the three companies took to the stage at the Connected Places Summit in London to present their innovations to delegates.

The selected companies and their innovations are:

KIGO which is building the School-Run Optimiser, an AI-powered mobility platform that helps schools and local authorities optimise school-run travel, encourage walking and cycling, and enable safer shared journeys.

MoniRail which has developed a system that enables predictive maintenance of railway tracks by collecting data, using in-service trains, and applying AI to predict track degradation. 

Trackbase which uses Bayesian statistical AI models to assess the likely condition of rail assets using operational and asset data, enabling emerging failures to be identified before they impact train services.

Each will now receive £13,000 of further funding to develop their business cases, alongside support from the Catapult to identify and engage with prospective clients.

The ‘Smarter Transport Systems – AI in Transport’ competition received 83 applications, and 23 organisations were shortlisted; each receiving an initial £1000 to develop use case proposals.

Proposals developed by the shortlisted companies included systems focused on predictive maintenance, infrastructure intelligence, climate risk modelling, and operational optimisation. Also in the mix were solutions aiming to improve safety, reliability, efficiency, accessibility and inclusivity across the UK transport system.

Earlier this month, the three chosen companies took part in a pitch day, which saw them pitch as part of a group of eight businesses to present their technology innovations to a panel of four judges. They were, Lilian Greenwood MP, Transport Minister; Annette Pass, Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Transport; Justin Anderson, Managing Director for Data & Digital at Connected Places Catapult; and Vaibhav Puri OBE, Director of Sector Strategy and Transformation at the Rail Safety & Standards Board.

“AI is one of the greatest economic opportunities of this decade. The data and AI economy will unlock new transport markets, boost productivity, and create high-value jobs across the UK. Smarter, data-driven systems will cut costs, improve performance, and accelerate growth for the wider economy. At Connected Places Catapult, we’re committed to helping UK businesses harness AI’s full potential to create and scale solutions that deliver real economic impact.”

Erika Lewis, CEO at Connected Places Catapult