Programme
Freight Innovation Fund
The Freight Innovation Fund is a multi-faceted programme funded by the Department for Transport, focussed on accelerating the adoption of commercial ready solutions to address challenges in the UK’s freight and logistics sector.
The objective of the Freight Innovation Fund is to support SMEs to trial, validate and scale technologies that address some of the most pressing challenges in the freight and logistics sector, ranging from decarbonisation and wastage to efficiency and upskilling of staff, while convening industry, government and innovators around shared challenges.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has dedicated £10m to the programme to support SMEs through the Accelerator Programme and Freight Innovation Cluster from 2023-2026.
“We know how crucial the freight industry is to keep Britain moving, and how important it is that transport is equipped to face modern-day challenges.
“Our funding will allow businesses to start trialling their revolutionary technology on our roads, ports and railways, meaning they can make an immediate difference and help grow the economy.”
Aviation, Maritime and Decarbonisation Minister, Keir Mather
Freight Innovation Fund Accelerator
The Accelerator supports late-stage SMEs (around TRL 5–6) for 6 months, where they can access between £100,000-£150,000 in funding to trial their solutions in live freight environments with selected industry innovation partners.
Technologies trialled include lightweight trailers inspired by the aerodynamics of racing cars, sensors designed to improve the well-being of staff working at ports, and environmentally-friendly electric trailers, which can be pulled along by bikes.
The programme has strengthened industry understanding of how emerging technologies address real operational challenges in the transportation of goods and management of the supply chain. SMEs have reported clearer routes to market, commercial traction and follow‑on funding opportunities linked to accelerator trials.
Find out more about what to expect from the Accelerator programme through our previous open calls for cohort 3 and cohort 4.
Freight Innovation Fund Accelerator cohort four brochure
File type: pdf
File size: 30.16Mb
Download Report
“The Freight Innovation Fund enabled us to work side by side with the teams at Associated British Ports and The Bristol Port Company to refine Athena with real feedback from the people running day-to-day operations.
“That experience helped us build a flexible workforce management platform that genuinely supports accurate planning, safe staffing and operational confidence for ports. Both partners have since moved to commercial contracts, and the platform’s success has already resulted in new partnerships with further UK operators and with major global operators overseas.”
Cato Davies, Co-founder and CEO of Ensemble Analytics – a previous beneficiary of the Accelerator
Meet the innovators
Find out more about how the Freight Innovation Fund Accelerator is helping innovators transform the freight and logistics sector.
Previous Accelerator Partners
Freight Innovation Cluster
The Freight Innovation Cluster is a core feature of the programme. Complementing the Freight Innovation Fund Accelerator, it will be the go-to community for innovating organisations in the freight industry.
Through sector specific engagement activities, cross-pollination opportunities, ad hoc business support, and community-building exercises, the cluster aims to become a vibrant ecosystem, where new ideas and collaboration can flourish.
The Freight Innovation Cluster is open to anyone in the freight industry, including innovative SMEs, industry partners and academia. Technology agnostic, this initiative will focus on developing innovation across the sector and will last for the whole duration of the programme.
Stories from the Freight Innovation Fund
Article
Rapid and reliable charging for electric commercial vehicles is now offered by TUAL, a participant of the Freight Innovation Fund accelerator delivered by Connected Places Catapult.
Article
Venture capital and angel investors gave advice to SMEs developing technology as part of the Freight Innovation Fund.
Article
Maritime tech scale-up Ecomar Propulsion widened its focus from designing motors for boats to managing their energy needs after joining the Freight Innovation Fund Accelerator, and aims to become a £100m company within five years.
Article
Alexei Andreev of Autotech Ventures speaks about his financial backing of Gaussion, a fast-growing battery technology firm supported by Connected Places Catapult that raised over £9 million in investment in 2024.
News
Government to provide £1.1 million in funding to help British businesses trial cutting-edge technologies, solving some of the biggest challenges in the freight and logistics sector.
Article
Signing of a major contract and securing new jobs have been achieved by a maritime-focused software firm, recently supported by the Catapult through a trio of grant funded programmes.
