Transparency data

Freight Innovation Fund fourth round, phase 2 winning projects

Updated 3 December 2025

The second phase of the fourth round of the Freight Innovation Fund’s winning projects was announced in December 2025. The following 9 bids were selected to receive up to £130,000 each of further funding to trial their innovations with industry partners in real-world environments.

Anteam

Our AI platform matches underutilised or empty transport space with real-time logistics demand, enabling freight operators to share their logistics capacity to reduce miles on the road for smarter, more sustainable operations.

Sitting seamlessly on top of existing transport management systems (TMS), our AI delivers intelligent decision-making that facilitates route sharing, lowers costs and validates carbon reduction with audited CO₂ calculation algorithms.

Anteam has won multiple innovation awards from the Department for Transport (DfT) and Innovate UK. Backed by these funding bodies, our patent-pending AI technology has been successfully tested and validated with one of the largest UK pharmacy chains, delivering NHS hospitals’ prescriptions nationwide. It has been demonstrated that each AI-matched delivery can:

• reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 85%
• lower costs by up to 60%
• improve fleet utilisation by 15% to 40%

This trial aims to use AI for enabling real-time logistics capacity sharing across freight companies, addressing the issue of empty or under-utilised heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) – currently accounting for 30% of road freight. In partnership with Welch Group, Baxter Freight and other forward-thinking logistics leaders, we’re paving the way for smarter, greener and more sustainable freight operations.

Awarded: £130,000

Berkeley Coachworks

Our solution is a new generation of lightweight trailers, developed using advanced composite materials and motorsport-inspired aerodynamic design. By rethinking how trailers are built, we aim to cut carbon both in the manufacturing process and every mile travelled on the road. 

What makes our approach unique is the transfer of innovation from high-performance motorsport into the freight industry. By applying techniques normally reserved for racing cars, we can reduce weight significantly while improving aerodynamic efficiency. This creates real benefits for operators: lower fuel consumption, reduced emissions and a more sustainable manufacturing footprint. 

The trial will focus on proving these gains in real-world operations. Working with our partner, Welch Group, we will put the trailer through live fleet testing to measure fuel savings, durability, and ease of integration into daily logistics. Our objective is to provide clear, independently validated data that shows how fleets can lower costs and emissions without compromising performance.

Through this project, we hope to demonstrate that freight can embrace cutting-edge design, delivering immediate operational benefits while supporting the UK’s wider sustainability goals.

Awarded: £128,072

GoLink Advisory Group

GoLink Advisory Group is trialling a new high-speed rail freight operation designed specifically for the courier, express, parcel (CEP) sector. The service will combine fast, brand new modern electric locomotives (Class 93) with electric HGVs to create a fully integrated, low-carbon transport solution for long-distance linehaul networks.

What makes our solution different is the combination of speed, digital visibility, standardised unitisation and seamless transfer between road and rail. Traditional rail freight is often slow, rigid and not trusted by parcel operators.

Our approach is designed around their needs, offering faster ‘on rail’ performance, real-time tracking and reliable ‘to the minute’ arrivals. This gives delivery companies a genuine alternative to road and air freight that is both greener and more efficient.

The trial will demonstrate that time-critical volume can move quickly and reliably by rail, while connecting smoothly into existing road-based networks. We will test end-to-end journey times, the trans-shipment process between electric vehicles and rail wagons and the digital platform that allows customers to track end-to-end multi-modal network operations in real time.

By working with our partner DPD UK, we aim to prove that high-speed rail can provide a competitive, sustainable option for parcel operators and open up wider market opportunities across the UK logistics industry.

Awarded: £130,000

Optimal Cities

Optimal Cities provides a user-friendly digital platform that empowers ports, cities and logistics operators to make data-driven decisions for better health, safety and sustainability. We are delighted to deliver this trial in partnership with Wincanton, Portsmouth International Port and Port of Tyne.

Generating actionable geospatial intelligence from satellites and sensors, our platform provides a clear mapping dashboard showing where risks are highest, whether related to environment, workload or site layout. In seconds, managers can pinpoint stress factor hotspots in depots, yards or along high-risk transport routes, allowing them to adjust schedules, staff allocation and procedures in real time. 

What makes the solution unique is its ability to actively support ‘zero harm’ initiatives, providing clarity on risks and prevention while measuring the real-world impact of improvements.

Enhanced safe-routing and situational awareness tools help ensure safer movement of people, vehicles and cargo during daily operations or emergencies. Our digital spatial planner speeds up approvals and reduces delays for infrastructure upgrades, optimising up to 60% of the environmental factors that impact staff resilience, retention and safety.

By tracking key safety and socio-environmental metrics, the platform helps reduce accident costs and de-risk investments and developments, supporting operational agility and regulatory compliance.

Awarded: £129,891

Rhevia

Rhevia is building a movement intelligence platform that provides ports and operators with a live, predictive picture of how trailers, vehicles and people flow through their environments. Using advanced radar technology, Rhevia detects movement in 3 dimensions while preserving privacy, delivering an unparalleled data layer for safe and efficient operations.

In this trial, Rhevia will work with Portsmouth International Port and DFDS to create the first end-to-end digital freight picture across 2 ports. By combining radar insights with operational data, the project will map the entire trailer journey – from gate entry and yard dwell to tug movements, vessel loading and discharge.

This unique data foundation enables predictive insights that improve efficiency, enhance compliance and reduce safety risks. For example, the system will help optimise tug operations, ensure priority cargo is always loaded and give ports a live overview of capacity and flow. The outcome is a scalable model for ‘smart port’ operations: a shared, neutral intelligence layer that benefits every stakeholder while laying the groundwork for future autonomous systems and greener, more efficient freight movement.

Awarded: £127,080

SLANT Sustainable Technologies Ltd

SLANT Sustainable Technologies is trialling an electric trailer system that helps couriers carry more cargo, more easily, without using motor vehicles. The system is adaptable to most bike trailers and uses an integrated motor to assist with heavy loads, making deliveries faster, safer and more sustainable. 

Unlike other electric solutions, our product is modular, meaning it can be fitted to existing trailers and designed for small courier companies who need affordability and flexibility, not expensive fixed equipment. This makes it easier for operators to adopt zero-emission transport without replacing their entire fleet. 

The trial will test how the system performs in real-world deliveries, focusing on ease of use, safety, speed and the impact on rider fatigue. We aim to gather data on operational efficiency, delivery capacity and rider experience to refine the product before launch.

Our trial partner is The Pedal Collective, Bristol’s worker-owned cycle courier cooperative. Expected outcomes include confirming the product’s cost-effectiveness, demonstrating its potential to replace short van trips and proving its value as a practical step toward reducing urban congestion and emissions.

Awarded: £109,021

SpatialCortex Technology Ltd

Protecting freight sector staff from musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) injury risks to ensure long-term health and safety.

We are trialling MOVA, a wearable sensor and AI-driven safety solution that monitors posture, movement and strain in real time, helping identify and reduce MSD and ergonomic risks in demanding freight environments.

Unlike traditional assessments, which are often reactive and based on short observation periods, MOVA provides continuous monitoring in real working conditions. It offers full-body analysis, instant feedback and tailored recommendations, helping both staff and managers make quick, informed decisions to prevent injuries before they occur.

Trial objectives:

• validate MOVA in high-risk freight roles to proactively detect and prevent MSD risks
• deliver actionable insights for ergonomic improvements, including task and shift design, fatigue-risk mitigation, training needs and exosuit suitability
• demonstrate seamless integration with partner health and safety management systems
• evaluate usability, comfort and operational effectiveness for staff and managers             

Roles in focus:

• manual-handling roles
• plant and machinery operatives                                              

Expected impact:

• reduce MSD exposure in high-risk roles by greater than 25%
• improve risk assessment productivity 3 to 4 times for health and safety teams
• transition from ‘reactive’ to ‘proactive’ approach in MSD risk management
• potential to drive best practices across the industry

Our trial partners are Port of Tyne, DHL and Portsmouth International Port.

Awarded: £129,840

Supply Chain Analysis Ltd

We are trialling an AI-powered planning and scheduling tool with DFDS, designed to improve the movement and handling of trailers in ferry operations. The system uses real-time and historical data to forecast trailer dwell times, destinations and handling needs before they arrive or depart.

This foresight enables smarter scheduling for vessel loading, yard space allocation and truck appointments, helping reduce congestion, waiting times and unnecessary trailer movements.

What makes our solution stand out is its ability to combine predictive analytics with live optimisation in a single platform. Unlike traditional static planning systems, it adapts dynamically to operational changes, ensuring resources are used efficiently while improving service reliability for customers.

The trial aims to test the tool’s effectiveness in improving trailer scheduling and yard coordination, with expected outcomes including faster vessel turnarounds, reduced truck waiting times, lower fuel use by yard equipment and fewer missed departures. The ultimate goal is to support more efficient, coordinated and sustainable ferry operations.

Our trial partner is DFDS, one of Europe’s leading ferry and logistics operators and the results will inform how similar solutions can be deployed more widely across the freight and maritime sectors.

Awarded: £111,696

Zizo

Our platform, Zizo Confluence, combines our patented technology platform with GenAI to deliver data analysis on massive datasets, while ensuring trusted outcomes and granular data. This data can be used to drive improvements in decarbonisation, operational efficiency or to develop new products and/or services.

Individual users or user groups can view their own set of data through the use of ‘personas’, providing them with the data they need to perform their job, driving efficiency at scale. By breaking down the skills barrier, we will be able to deliver the right data to the right person at the right time.

We will be working with Welch Group and Portsmouth International Port to find key areas of their businesses that will benefit from integrated data sets and improved access to data, driving new opportunities or enhancing existing processes, such as warehouse availability, predictive maintenance and operational efficiencies in port or depot management.

Awarded: £100,006