Lab by Transport for Wales start-ups ready to pitch their products

Wales’ leading rail-dedicated innovation programme, Lab by Transport for Wales, is about to see its second batch of candidates pitch their ideas.

The 12-week accelerator programme looks to stimulate growth in Wales, offering an opportunity for business innovators to develop their ideas which look to enhance the railway experience for customers.

The pioneering scheme’s second cohort have been working closely with Transport for Wales (TfW) over the course of the 12-week programme. The 11 start-ups – some of the brightest tech talent from across Wales and the UK – have received dedicated mentoring from business experts to develop their products, ideas and innovations.

The start-ups are now gearing up to pitch their products to leading Transport for Wales decision-makers during a virtual demo day on 13 November 2020. The winners will be awarded funds to develop their products further.

During the demo, each start-up will share a video presentation to pitch their final product. Attendees will then be able to ask questions and network with each start-up in break out rooms (via Microsoft Teams).

Some of the innovative ideas being developed include revolutionary wearable technology for staff to help reduce manual handling injuries, a ‘travel assistant’ service that will provide customers with a personalised rail-optimised journey plan and real-time passenger counting and seat occupation detection to help customers make more informed decisions around how they travel.

The demo day will look to inspire innovation within businesses, offering an insight into some of the cutting-edge developments coming to the Wales and Borders rail network.

Head of Marketing at Alt Labs, Adam Foster, said: “We’re really looking forward to cohort 2 demo day, not only to see the exciting projects that our start-ups have been working on, but also the challenges that they have overcame caused by COVID-19 and remote working. Despite these hurdles, every start-up has done a fantastic job of participating in workshops, engaging with stakeholders and getting their heads down to develop solutions that will improve rail services across Wales and borders.”

Cohort 1 of the programme proved to be extremely successful, with Transport for Wales Rail advancing with three businesses chosen as the winners. Brite Yellow Ltd, Passage Way and CleverCiti were each awarded funds to develop their products further, ranging from wayfinding apps to parking solutions for customers.

Barry Lloyd, Head of Customer Experience and Innovation at Transport for Wales Rail, said: “It’s been great working with the cohort and seeing the ideas flourish into products and services that will meet our business needs, both now and in the future.”