Tech start up firm DriverNet wins Merseyside Innovation Award | St Helens Star
A TECH start up firm has won a regional award for innovation and being given a £10,000 boost.
DriverNet was founded by Eccleston resident Ant Chisnall and Emma McNally from Sutton.
The firm won the prestigious Merseyside Innovation Award, beating some tough competition to win the £10,000 prize for its innovative features and commercial potential.
DriverNet provides transport and mobile workforce management systems to improve the speed, safety and security of a wide range of operations, from passenger transport and security teams to couriers, healthcare professionals and housing associations.
The company was founded in 2017 by Ant Chisnall who sold his property put his life savings into DriverNet.
They have since received more than £100,000 of funding from Innovate UK and the DfT, as well as seed funding from a local Angel Investor.
The app was originally developed for commercial logistics, but has now gained traction in passenger operations, security, healthcare and beyond.
Following a successful pilot with St Helens Council in early 2019, DriverNet’s smartphone app is now being used on their passenger operations for Adult Social Care, Special Educational Needs pupils and NHS patient transfers. DriverNet is now scheduled to roll out with a Dial A Ride operation with a local bus operator.
Chief executive Ant said: “It’s ten times more difficult to find a team, launch an app and find an investor in Sankey Valley than it is in Silicon Valley, so the award means a lot to us. Everyone across the region has really got behind what we are doing.”
“Winning the competition has led to developments with local NHS trusts, CCGs and one of the largest private healthcare providers in the UK. Aside from coordinating logistics in smarter ways, they recognise our app significantly increases the security of highly sensitive personal data of vulnerable clients and patients, removing the need for deploying staff with paper print outs or diaries containing these details.
“DriverNet provide business users with channels for messaging and reporting, lone worker safety alerts, journey information, client profiles, navigation and vehicle safety. In ways similar to Uber, we also let passengers, patients, customers or families know precisely when vehicles or mobile workers are scheduled to arrive. We remove a major pain point faced daily by millions of people.
“We’ve now been named in the finals of the national TRANSTech Awards 2019 for improving transport safety and security, and have been selected to pitch to Volvo, Ford and Honda at the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Future Mobility Challenge in October – a massive opportunity. So far customer and industry feedback has been extremely positive, and we look forward to working with more partners in 2020.”