We have received the below message from the Department for Transport which we are relaying verbatim.  An important element of the Freight Innovation Fund is the provision of grant funding to SME’s, to undertake trials of new technology in an operational environment. There is a one hour webinar to be held on the 4^th February, if you are interested please sign up to attend.

You are all aware of the Freight Innovation Fund (FIF), but to briefly recap. FIF was one of the flagship announcements which accompanied the publication of Future of Freight in summer 2022. £7m over three years concluding this financial year. A key component of FIF is an innovation accelerator where grant funding is provided to SMEs to undertake trials of their technology in an operational environment. These trials rely on infrastructure and wider support from industry partners, and we have drawn these partners from across your memberships (including DPWorld, Wincanton, Bradford Swissport, FedEx etc). Industry partners are incredibly important to the effectiveness of the FIF programme and many of those that have participated have highlighted the benefits they accrue by returning year after year.

We are currently planning on the basis that FIF will be extended to include FY25/26 and as such we are looking to brief as wide a range of potential industry partners as possible through a webinar on 4^th February. Our delivery partner is the Connected Place Catapult and it has emailed its corporate contacts list with the text below. I am keen to reach into as many organisations as possible at a senior level and not just with innovation leads.

“We are excited to share that we are in the process of planning a potential Cohort 4 of the Freight Innovation Fund (FIF) Accelerator. To ensure its continued success, we are reaching out to industry leaders who may be interested in partnering with us to drive meaningful innovation in the freight sector. You can learn more about the programme here: Freight Innovation Fund Accelerator 2024 – Connected Places Catapult 

We would like to invite you to our Webinar for Potential Partners, taking place on 4th February from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. To join us, please sign up here.  

During the webinar, we’ll cover:  

• Potential challenge areas and opportunities we aim to address in Year 4  
• New Structure of the Accelerator programme. 
• Next steps for becoming a programme partner.  

Why join as an Accelerator Partner?  

By partnering with us, you will have the opportunity to:

• Engage with and validate innovative, market-disrupting technologies.
• Mentor and collaborate with cutting-edge SMEs.
• Provide access to testing environments, data, or other resources to support impactful projects.  

The trials will be fully funded by the programme, with each successful SME receiving up to £150,000 to conduct a real-world trial in collaboration with the programme partners.  

We would be delighted to have you join us and explore how we can work together to shape the future of the freight sector.”

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