HS2 Accelerator 8.0

High Speed 2 Limited (HS2), supported by Connected Places Catapult and in partnership with the Department for Transport, has launched its search for innovative small businesses to develop new technology business cases and funded pilot projects for the rail scheme.

Application support webinar

On 9 October, Connected Places Catapult will hold an application support webinar to give applicants the opportunity to find out more about the programme offering, challenges, application process, scoring criteria, and the assessment process.

Summary
Challenges
Eligibility
Dates
How to apply

Overview

Since launching in 2020, the HS2 Accelerator has supported 37 small tech firms who have collectively secured 33 pilot projects across HS2, realising more than £50M in cost-savings across the HS2 baseline.

More than 40% of the alumni firms are now working on other projects/contracts across the supply chain. They have subsequently raised over £240 million investment & funding, and more than doubled their team headcounts, creating over 580 new jobs.

For our eighth iteration, the HS2 Accelerator is taking a multi-phased approach to create more showcasing and networking opportunities for our applicants at each phase. This year the focus will be on solutions for Data and AI themed challenges.

Phase One will support 36 applicants for 4 weeks whilst they rapidly explore the challenge(s), engaging with relevant sponsors and user groups, to develop and refine their proposals. This phase will involve an Exploration Day (London), Q&A Clinic (Virtual), and Assessment Interviews (Virtual).

Phase Two will support up to 12 finalists in which they will each receive £5,000 funding to develop a small-scale demonstrator in 4-6 weeks, using real data provided by HS2. This phase will involve a Demo Day (London) and Assessment Interviews (Virtual).

Phase Three will support up to 6 winners for 12 weeks of bespoke support to accelerate and scale-up their demonstration into a trial project with HS2, receiving up to £50,000 funding each* and the benefits detailed below.

*subject to required project approvals via HS2’s internal innovation gateway process.

Why apply?

Business development opportunities

With sponsors and stakeholders across HS2, Tier 1 contractors, and wider industry.

Investment readiness support

Including opportunities to meet investors, and bespoke advice for raising investment and refining investment strategies and plans.

Bespoke business coaching

From a consortium of sector-specific mentors and technical experts, with specialisms in areas including marketing & PR, commercial strategy, product development and more.

End of programme showcase

To celebrate success and share learnings, including press & marketing opportunities.

Female engineers taking notes at Cappers Lane, March 2022

Data led safety management

How can we harness data, AI, and predictive analytics to anticipate reportable incidents on HS2 — identifying patterns, precursors, and risk factors that signal when and where the next serious event may occur?

Unlock predictive safety intelligence with historical data, near-miss reports, conditions, and behaviours

Identify leading indicators to catch early warning signs before harm occurs

Enhance situational awareness through real-time site, sensor, and digital data

Support targeted interventions with timely deployment of resources, training, and controls

Drive cultural change by embedding predictive insights into daily decision-making

A hand using a futuristic AI programme on a computer to manage data

Smarter cost verification

How can AI enhance HS2’s cost verification, empowering commercial managers with sharper insights to proactively manage and mitigate disallowable costs?

Enable faster decision-making by finding contextual insights from previously inaccessible documents.

Reduce the number of false positives that commercial managers must review, minimising time spent on irrelevant or low-risk items and allowing teams to focus their expertise on genuinely disallowable costs.

Extract meaningful data from different formats (including excel and PDF) using AI and OCR
Seamlessly move into Microsoft Fabric (likely via OneLake or Lakehouse using scalable pipelines)

A HS2 Engineer inspecting the inside of a tunnel

Unlocking value from site & asset data

Major infrastructure projects rely on accurate information to coordinate multiple contractors, but reporting is often fragmented across spreadsheets, presentations, and inconsistent data. Progress is hard to validate, assurance remains paper-heavy, and structured data like BIM models and programme plans is under-used. This limits visibility, weakens cost-to-progress alignment, and reduces confidence in programme control.

How can we harness data, AI, and digital technologies to verify site activity, automate assurance, and unlock the full value of structured delivery information — improving transparency, productivity, and confidence from design to delivery?

Capture and integrate real-time site data (IoT, drones, imagery, BIM, laser scans).
Validate progress by comparing planned vs. actual delivery.
Track workforce and equipment productivity.
Link site activity to costs for stronger financial alignment.
Automate assurance by checking design data against as-built evidence.
Align contractor delivery plans with programme schedules to reduce risk.
Use AI/ML to automate validation, detect anomalies, and boost reporting confidence.

Who should apply?

To be eligible, applicants must be:

You must be a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) headquartered or with a registered presence in the UK or Europe.

You must be a data, software, or digital-based business (e.g. product company, AI/analytics solution provider, digital tool developer).

You must be revenue-generating (exceptions may be made for late-stage MVPs with strong traction/pipeline).

You must have a financial runway of at least 12 months, or a credible plan to sustain operations through the programme.

You must have demonstrable experience delivering projects involving complex datasets (enterprise-scale, infrastructure, transport, energy, government, or similar).

23 Sept