DfT names 20 firms for £26/27 Freight Innovation Fund

Twenty UK logistics technology companies will share support under the Department for Transport's Freight Innovation Fund for 2026 and 2027, with ten running operational trials through the accelerator programme and ten more entering a newly created Venture Growth pilot. The fund, financed by the DfT and delivered by Innovate UK's Catapult Network, targets commercial solutions to persistent problems in the UK freight and logistics sector — this year across renewable energy supply, freight autonomy and supply chain resilience, plus an open challenge category.

The expansion matters for operators and shippers because it widens the pipeline of market-ready technology aimed at cost and reliability pressures in the sector. The DfT has extended the fund specifically to back companies whose products are closer to deployment, and to deepen industry engagement through the wider Freight and Logistics Innovation Network.

Who won the accelerator places?

Ten innovators will team up with industry partners to conduct trials intended to prove their solutions in an operational environment — the closest stage to commercial rollout the fund offers:

• Aeroflow
• Aurrigo
• Biobright Ltd
• BuildPrompt
• Clearquote Technologies
• Hypergen
• MHTech Energies
• Moonbility
• Paua Tech
• TOGL Energy

All ten responded to an open call issued earlier this year. The call set out three priority challenge areas — renewable energy supply, autonomy in freight and logistics, and supply chain resilience — alongside an open category for ideas outside those boundaries. For carriers and 3PLs, the accelerator cohort signals where DfT sees the next tranche of deployable technology: electrification and energy management sit alongside autonomous vehicle specialist Aurrigo and digital tools such as Clearquote and BuildPrompt.

What is the new Venture Growth programme?

A second group of ten later-stage companies joins the Freight Innovation Fund's Venture Growth Programme, which runs as a pilot in 2026. The list:

• Anteam
• GoExpress
• Minimal
• Rhevia
• SpatialCortex
• Superlight
• Trade Harmonizer
• ubloquity
• Voltempo
• Zizo

Each company receives a four-month provision of bespoke support to refine its commercial proposition, strengthen deployment planning and build capabilities for long-term growth. They also gain access to the Catapult's network of freight and logistics operators and investors, a channel designed to validate commercial opportunities, develop strategic partnerships and strengthen each firm's investment case.

This cohort emerged from the same open call, which for the growth track named four priorities: improving multi-modality, digital freight and logistics systems, next-generation transport management and distribution, and energy and infrastructure. The presence of GoExpress, ubloquity and Trade Harmonizer points to continued official interest in digitalising freight documentation and cross-border processes — an area where forwarders have the most immediate operational stake.

Why did the DfT expand the fund?

Ministers and officials frame the extension as an economic measure as much as a logistics one. "This year's extended funding and growth programme means even more companies will be able to invest in new technology and innovative solutions that will not only make a big difference to the sector but contribute to the growth of our economy too," the fund's announcement stated.

The doubling of the cohort — twenty companies across two programmes rather than a single accelerator intake — gives the DfT a two-track instrument: early proof-of-concept trials on one side, and commercial scaling support on the other. For the operators invited to host trials, participation offers early access to tools addressing energy costs, urban congestion and supply chain shocks.

What comes next?

Themes with direct operational relevance — autonomous delivery, last-mile infrastructure and the challenge of moving goods through cities — will take centre stage at Urban Logistics, held at ExCeL London on 9-10 June 2027. With the Venture Growth pilot due to complete its four-month cycles during 2026, the sector will learn within a year whether the scaled-up fund converts public support into deployable capacity and resilience gains.