FINDING + PROMOTING
RAIL'S NEXT SUPPLIERS
Start Up Rail is our programme to discover new start up & small suppliers across the UK.
We have identified from engagement with larger rail suppliers that there is a shortage of start up & digital companies throughout the UK ready to supply into the rail sector.
Our Start Up Rail programme offers regional events hosted in tech hubs to stimulate the development of rail-based start-up communities.
Companies wishing to support a one-off Start Up Rail event at a location of their choice will reach new communities and encourage innovation into their supply chain.
“The Rail Innovation Group’s Start Up Rail programme will help to unleash the potential of UK tech communities to meet national challenges and promote global opportunities for even the newest UK businesses.”
UK Minister for Business and Industry
The scheme is targeted at finding rail’s next generation of suppliers, we have to look in the most diverse places & tech clusters.
“As the founder of a start up company in Bristol, the Start Up Rail programme has been invaluable to us in discovering the scale of routes into the rail sector. Many we’d never have known about. The national tour will have a definite impact on the tech communities given the opportunity to engage with the rail market from their own locations.”
Emily Kent, Founder, One Big Circle
The Rail Innovation Group saw that there was a need to create a larger pool of new diverse types of suppliers to help meet rail’s challenges. We created Start Up Rail to seek out new tech companies and show them some of the exciting opportunities in the rail supply chain. Start Up Rail is a national programme, building an engaged tech community through a series of regional events designed to discover innovative suppliers and products under development, whether or not they are intended for the rail sector.
The tech communities we attract are not part of traditional rail supply chain communities, and so by providing an introduction to the opportunities in rail, we nurture these new suppliers into the rail space creating new ideas and broadening the talent pool.
Success of the Start Up Rail scheme will see the creation a self-sustaining flow of new start up talent entering into the rail sector, inspired by the success of their peers.
Find out how the programme aligns with the Rail Sector Strategy & government targets to ensure 33% of public spending goes to SME. Download our info pack here or contact us for more information.