Wincanton’s W² Labs set to drive startup innovation
by Startacus Admin
British logistics company Wincanton has launched W² Labs – a fab looking new programme aimed at challenging startups from around the world to develop innovative solutions to industry challenges defined by the Wincanton Group.
Wincanton is a leading third party logistics and supply chain solutions provider in the UK and Ireland working across various industry sectors from defence, milk, energy, retail, consumer goods and construction.
Wincanton’s W² Labs, run in partnership with our friends and corporate innovation specialists L Marks, are looking for applications from both early-stage and establishing startup businesses who can offer innovative solutions in the following key business areas:
-
Improving asset utilisation – improving the management of both internal and customer assets.
-
Accessing and brokering excess space – helping Wincanton buy and sell underutilized warehouse space and transport capacity
-
Connected cab and driver technology – creating a better connection between the driver in the cab and vehicle to improve safety, increase efficiency and deliver a better driving experience.
-
Data challenges – enhancing the value of our data to improve decision making.
-
Wildcard – this is an open category for ideas that could help Wincanton make breakthrough developments in its business model or supply chain market.
In return this programme will offer startups:
- The chance to trial your product / solution with Wincanton
- Access funding from Wincanton and L Marks
- Receive mentoring from Senior Wincanton Executives
- Gain insights from subject matter experts through a top-notch education programme
Mentors will include senior executives from Wincanton, experts within the wider Wincanton business, entrepreneurs and external subject matter experts. The first-class mentorship on offer means successful startups will have the chance to learn from experienced subject matter experts, who will be on hand to help at the dedicated office at Wincanton’s headquarters. Each startup will then have opportunities to pitch for investment from both Wincanton and L Marks.
Zero equity is taken in exchange for joining W² Labs, however Wincanton and L Marks have allocated capital to invest in the startups invited to participate in W2 Labs - happy days.
Applications
Applications for W² Labs are open until 9th April 2017, with the best entries invited to pitch in late spring. A 10-week intensive collaboration period, run from the 5th June – 5th September, between Wincanton and the selected startups will then follow, with concepts being demonstrated at the end of the process. At this stage, the concepts could be progressed on a longer-term commercial basis by the W² Labs partners.
So if you reckon you’ve the drive for this corporate innovation programme, then simply head over to Wincanton’s W2 Labs to find out all, read over all the FAQ’s and of course apply!
Best wishes to all that apply and hi-5’s all-round to Wincanton and L Marks for this fab looking corporate programme.
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
Frolo is a social networking app on a mission to connect single parents to likeminded single parents living in the same area.
Know Your Money, the independent financial comparison website, recently conducted research to find out which UK cities are best to start a business outside of the capital.
University digital academy SurreyIDEA, to scrap tuition fees like a conventional university, for investment in their students’ enterprises.
Starting up a business is difficult. To help, here are 5 things you need as a startup business.
Creating a website can be both costly and time-consuming. So here's 7 ways you can build a budget-friendly website.
Premium fashion resale service Cudoni secures £1.4m investment to support brand growth internationally at a time when the secondary fashion market is booming fuelled by consumer concerns for sustainability.
ESTHER, a pocket-to-pocket giving app which allows a user to give directly to an individual living in poverty, wins an all-expenses paid trip to New York.
The FinTech startup that's using blockchain to make the financial side of filmmaking easier
The London based startup that's created a game that inspires children to code and teaches professional programming skills.
So much is written about how people should go about starting a business, but little is said about whether someone should start one! These are the question we should be asking...
Published on: 13th March 2017
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- ESTHER set for success with New York prize 24th Jun 2019 ESTHER, a pocket-to-pocket giving app which allows a user to give directly to an individual living in poverty, wins an all-expenses paid trip to New York.
- Experiential learning initiative mTech.Academy to build on year 1 success 20th Jun 2019 NI experiential learning initiative mTech.Academy announces plans to expand it's programme for the 2019/20 academic year.
- Stashbee announces £1.6m funding round on Seedrs 17th Jun 2019 Stashbee, the online sharing-economy platform for storage space, has announced a £1.6m funding round on leading European investment platform Seedrs.
- The upSTART finalists at Digital DNA 2019 13th Jun 2019 upSTART, the startup pitch competition at Digital DNA 2019 will see over 20 disruptive NI-based startups pitch to determine who will win an all-expenses paid trip to explore the New York tech scene.
