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
The Freight and Logistics Innovation Network (FLIN) brings the sector together to enable and accelerate innovation, tackling fragmentation and helping new solutions move faster from idea to adoption across modes in freight and logistics.
Through FLIN, organisations connect through targeted matchmaking, structured mentoring, shared insights, and practical routes to funding, pilots, and commercial partnerships that turn collaboration into delivery.
FLIN is open to SMEs, larger operators, technology providers, academia, investors, and public sector bodies who want to collaborate, shape the future of freight, and scale innovation with the right partners.
Stories from the Freight Innovation Fund
Opportunity
The Clean Transport Accelerator: Maritime is a six-month programme supporting SMEs developing innovative solutions for maritime decarbonisation.
Article
Data management specialist Zizo expects to make £1 million from its AI platform in the next year; created with help from the Freight Innovation Fund accelerator.
Article
Concern with zebra crossing safety led one entrepreneur to take his technology idea from Powerpoint to product in under a year, with support from Connected Places Catapult.
Article
Innovators showcasing their emerging technologies at the Connected Places Summit included start-up firm SpatialCortex, from the Freight Innovation Fund accelerator programme.
Article
Innovators showcasing their emerging technologies at the Connected Places Summit included start-up firm SLANT, from the Freight Innovation Fund accelerator programme.
News
Up to £110k and access to expert business support is available to innovators with ideas to tackle the sector’s biggest challenges.
