• Swindon & Wiltshire News
• Tuesday June 20 2023
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Young Bristol innovator wins investment through Innovate UK awards scheme

A young innovator from Bristol has been awarded a £50,000 boost to his early-stage businesses by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, through the Young Innovators Next Steps Awards.

Albie Baker Smith (27) is the creator of Route Zero, a web platform designed to help people and businesses find the most eco-friendly travel routes, in turn helping to reduce their travel related emissions.

Since winning the award, Albie has established partnerships with travel providers, deployed the tool to a number of large, global corporations, and is now looking to expand his team.

Now Innovate UK is launching its biggest and most ambitious programme to tackle underrepresentation in innovation to date, the Diverse Innovators Award.

This brand-new programme builds upon the success of the Young Innovators Awards. Backed by a £6 million budget, it will allow Innovate UK to support even more young entrepreneurs, women founders and other communities who are underrepresented in innovation.

“We have long-term ambitions to make a substantial contribution to combatting climate change,” said Albie.

“By collaborating with thousands of enterprise customers, we aim to prevent 10 million tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.

“Innovate UK’s Young Innovator Award provided invaluable pitch coaching and advice. With the Next Steps Award, our plan is to expand our team, accelerating the development of products on our roadmap.”