The Overview
Following a competitive pitch, Alt Labs was selected by London North Eastern Railway (LNER) to manage its flagship innovation programme, Future Labs. The team recruited start-ups from across the UK to apply, with seven diverse businesses ultimately chosen to participate in the 12-week programme.
Throughout the programme, the innovation team at Alt Labs provided an insightful mix of online and in-person sessions, focused on a range of skills including developing minimal viable products (MVPs), branding, and pitching. The programme culminated in a Demo Day event at LNER’s York HQ, during which the start-ups pitched to a panel of senior management from LNER and invited experts from across the rail industry.
Signalbox emerged as the winner of Future Labs 3.0, having developed a hybrid version of its technology to plot the location of trains across the rail network. Having successfully delivered the recruitment, programme and finale of Future Labs 3.0, Alt Labs has since secured a new contract to deliver additional innovation programmes.
The Challenge
LNER was keen to work with a new partner to deliver the third iteration of its flagship innovation programme, Future Labs. The programme focuses on finding start-ups that can deliver creative and viable solutions to challenges set by LNER. For Future Labs 3.0, the challenge themes included sustainability, increased activity, security, new revenue and future tech.
In addition to delivering the 12-week innovation programme, the new partner would also need to scout and recruit potential start-ups, revise the scoring assessment for shortlisting, and organise ‘Demo Day’, the culmination of the programme where the overall winner would be announced.
Following a competitive pitch, Alt Labs was selected as the preferred partner to lead the Future Labs 3.0 programme.
The Process
Alt Labs worked alongside LNER’s internal innovation team to define the challenge statements and build a microsite dedicated to the Future Labs programme.
The team used a variety of methods to scout suitable participants, including networking, LinkedIn groups, and F6S marketing. Each participant’s application was then assessed against strict criteria to determine their suitability for the programme and how well their proposed solution addressed one of the challenge statements.
The seven chosen participants were 4 Roads, Algacraft, Amygda, Emu Analytics, Polychord Ltd, TouchByte Ltd and eventual winners, Signalbox. Alt Labs then led a series of workshops, over 12 weeks, in order to help the start-ups develop a minimum viable product (MVP) that was tailored to the needs of LNER. The programme included sessions on preparing value proposition statements, use-ability testing, branding, pitching and more. Outside of the sessions, the participants also had the opportunity to access data and speak to customers at LNER stations.
The Results
The programme concluded with all start-ups taking part in a final ‘Demo Day’ event. The event, held at LNER’s York station, was attended by the senior management team, as well as experts from across the rail industry.
Signalbox emerged as the winner of Future Labs 3.0, having developed a hybrid version of its technology to plot the location of trains across the rail network.
Having successfully delivered the recruitment, programme and finale of Future Labs 3.0, Alt Labs has since secured a new contract to deliver additional innovation programmes.
