Transport technology company Alchera Technologies has raised £2.7m in a funding round led by Maven Capital Partners.
Alchera, which runs an AI-powered data platform used by local authorities and highways operators, said the money would fund product development.
Its platform pulls together data from sources such as sensor networks, traffic-management systems and third-party feeds to help transport operators plan and manage road networks more effectively.
“Every journey – to work, to school, to an appointment – depends on decisions someone made about a road or a bus route,” said Anna Jordan, co-founder and CEO of Alchera Technologies.
“Right now, these decisions often take weeks; despite the necessary data existing, it’s scattered across systems, formats and teams. We’ve seen how when you put that data together, you’re no longer making decisions on instinct and incomplete data but with the full picture instead.”
The British Business Bank’s South West Investment Fund, managed by Maven, made the investment alongside the Bayes Entrepreneurship Fund and The FSE Group, with a further £700,000 in match funding from Innovate UK.
Rafi Khan, Investment Director at Maven, said, “Transport and infrastructure operators are sitting on vast amounts of data but lack the tools to turn it into fast, confident decisions – and that problem has been chronically underserved by the market.”
“Alchera has built a genuinely differentiated AI platform that addresses this head-on, with proven results for its customers within an underserved segment of the transport and infrastructure market. We’re thrilled to be backing Anna and the team at this exciting stage of their journey and look forward to partnering with them to accelerate growth.”