SA-founded B2B software-as-a-service fleet management company GoMetro, now headquartered in London, has been selected as a recipient of a £147,000 grant from the UK Freight Innovation Fund. This comes within months of GoMetro announcing its Series A funding of £9 million (~$11.4 million), led by Zenobē Energy and Futuregrowth Asset Management. 

Says Group CEO and founder of GoMetro Justin Coetzee, “The grant will be used to finance a six-month trial with leading UK logistics companies Maritime Transport and Welch’s Transport to implement GoMetro’s EV-FIT solution for electric vehicle (EV) fleet transformation and the GoMetro Bridge fleet management software platform.“

With its trial partners, GoMetro will be collecting and analysing fleet movement data for a chosen UK depot, from which they will identify critical vehicle and infrastructure specification needs.

“The grant is an amazing validation for GoMetro in the UK freight market, and implementing our solution with major logistics players is an incredible opportunity to show how our software platform can help fleet owners achieve better results,” Coetzee continues.

GoMetro’s EV-FIT project lead, Christopher de Saxe, comments: “I’m thrilled to be trialling our solution with MaritimeTransport and Welch’s Transport to address one of the UK’s biggest decarbonisation challenges. Data is fundamental to decarbonising UK road freight, and we have the tools needed to unlock key insights for the industry.”

The funding, announced on 10 October by UK Future of Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood, is the third tranche of the UK department’s Freight Innovation Fund Accelerator Programme. The programme is a £7-million government investment across three years to support the freight sector in deploying AI and automation to improve the way trains, lorries, vans, and ships carry parcels and goods. 

It is funded by the UK Department for Transport (DfT) and delivered through Connected Places Catapult, the UK’s innovation accelerator for cities, transport and place leadership.

During the announcement, Future of Roads Minister, Lilian Greenwood, said, “Freight is a crucial engine of our economy and it is only right we do all we can to improve working conditions, pioneer innovation and drive sustainability across the industry.

“Our funding, combined with investment from the industry, will ensure lorry drivers can enjoy safer parking, a proper rest and a warm meal, while supporting UK businesses to harvest the best of technology to move freight faster, decarbonise our supply chain, and grow the economy for all.”

Delivered by Connected Places Catapult, the Freight Innovation Fund gives SMEs access to technical and business support from the organisation to develop new groundbreaking projects.

Chief Executive Officer at Connected Places Catapult, Erika Lewis, said, “This programme gives bespoke support to SMEs, working hand-in-hand with industry as they trial their solutions in real-world environments. By supporting new ideas in freight, we are helping to unlock the sector’s potential to be greener and more efficient.“

EV-FIT is GoMetro’s electric vehicle (EV) feasibility and planning solution driven by the company’s telematics aggregation platform, Bridge. Given the complexity of lorry operations and the upfront vehicle and infrastructure investments at stake, an effective EV transition plan must be customised to suit the unique operating characteristics of each fleet.

Telematics data is the key to unlocking this, de Saxe says. Telematics data provides insights into key operational metrics such as daily mileage and idle time at depots. These insights help to identify the required vehicle and charging infrastructure specifications such as battery capacities and the number, power, and location of chargers.

“Unique to GoMetro’s solution, Bridge streamlines the data collection process by aggregating telematics data from a range of telemetry providers directly via API, including those from subcontracted fleets. With our trial partners Maritime Transport and Welch’s Transport , we will be collecting fleet movement data using Bridge alongside the collection of important contextual non-telematics information. The data will then be analysed to identify optimal routes, vehicles, and charging infrastructure needed for a successful EV pilot within the fleet. The outputs will help accelerate our partners’ EV transition journeys and will in turn help to refine the EV-FIT offering to address the needs of UK fleets,” de Saxe explains.

The other SMEs selected to join the third cohort of the Freight Innovation Fund Accelerator are: Botanic Energy, Ecomar Propulsion Ltd, Gaussion, GPC Systems Ltd, Innervated Vehicle Engineering, RailX, RAD Propulsion Ltd. TUAL and XeroE Sustainability Logistics Ltd