Overview
Following a competitive pitch, London North Eastern Railway appointed Alt Labs to lead Future Labs 3.0, the third edition of its flagship innovation programme.
Alt Labs managed the full programme, from shaping the challenge statements and recruiting suitable start-ups through to delivering the 12-week accelerator and organising the final Demo Day.
Seven businesses were selected to take part, each developing a solution in response to a live challenge set by LNER. Signalbox was named the overall winner after creating a hybrid version of its technology capable of plotting train locations across the rail network.
Following the successful delivery of Future Labs 3.0, AltLabs secured a further contract to deliver additional innovation programmes for LNER.
The Brief
LNER wanted to appoint a new delivery partner for FutureLabs, its established programme for finding and developing solutions to challenges across the rail industry.
For Future Labs 3.0, the organisation was looking for start-ups with ideas linked to sustainability, increased activity, security, new revenue, and future technology.
The chosen partner would need to manage more than the accelerator itself. The brief also covered start-up scouting, recruitment, application assessment, programme design, participant support, and delivery of the final Demo Day.
LNER needed a partner capable of attracting strong applicants, assessing them against clear criteria, and helping the selected businesses turn their ideas into products that could respond to the needs of a major rail operator.
Our Solution
Alt Labs designed and delivered an end-to-end innovation programme built around LNER’s strategic priorities.
Working alongside LNER’s internal innovation team, Alt Labs refined the programme’s challenge statements and created a dedicated microsite to support applications and communicate the opportunity to prospective participants.
The team then developed a structured recruitment and assessment process, identifying businesses with relevant technologies, strong commercial potential, and a clear understanding of the challenge they intended to address.
Once selected, the seven participants joined a 12-week programme focused on developing a minimum viable product tailored to LNER and its customers.
"This is a fantastic opportunity to be involved in bringing new innovations into LNER, and also for bringing real change to our customers."
Our Approach
Alt Labs used targeted networking, LinkedIn communities, F6S, and wider start-up networks to identify and attract suitable applicants from across the UK.
Each application was reviewed against a revised scoring framework, assessing the strength of the business, the relevance of its proposed solution, and its potential to deliver value for LNER.
The seven chosen participants were 4 Roads, Algacraft, Amygda, Emu Analytics, Polychord Ltd, TouchByte Ltd and eventual winners, Signalbox.
Across the 12-week programme, Alt Labs delivered a mix of online and in-person sessions covering value propositions, minimum viable product development, usability testing, branding, and pitching.
Participants also had access to LNER data, customers, and station environments, allowing them to test assumptions and develop their products using direct operational and passenger insight.
The programme concluded with a Demo Day at LNER’s York headquarters, where each business pitched its solution to senior LNER leaders and invited experts from across the rail industry.
Results
All seven businesses completed the programme and presented a fully developed solution at the final Demo Day.
Signalbox was selected as the winner of Future Labs 3.0 after developing a hybrid version of its existing technology to show the location of trains across the rail network. The solution demonstrated how clearer access to live rail information could support better decision-making and improve the way network activity is understood.
The programme also gave LNER a pipeline of new technologies and potential partners across areas including sustainability, safety, customer experience, data, and future mobility.
Alt Labs successfully delivered every stage of Future Labs 3.0, including recruitment, assessment, programme design, participant support, and the final event. Following the programme, LNER appointed Alt Labs to deliver further innovation activity.
