RIEm supported JurnyOn to secure innovation funding for an AI-based rail ticketing service, enhancing travel experience in partnership with Transport for Wales.
The need
As more and more of our economic and social transactions are digitized, so is the exposure to dangers such as hacking, fraud, and manipulation. So, the ability to protect against major interruption and misuse of data is sought after by governments and major corporations such as banking and finance. The past few years has seen an exponential growth in the development of technology such as artificial intelligence, Blockchain, and machine learning and its application for common everyday transactions. It is in the application of Blockchain to rail ticketing that the CEO and Co-Founder of JurnyOn Divya Prashanth has already made her mark.
An astonishing £240 million is lost each year to rail card and ticketing fraud in the UK. Such losses impact on the ability of travel operators to invest in infrastructure and service improvements and undermines passenger trust.
The solution
As a Global leader in NFT, Blockchain, Web3, and Data science, businesswoman Divya is an expert in artificial intelligence and machine learning JurnyOn, has already piloted the world’s first app-enabled secure subscription-based rail ticketing service. Adopted by Transport for Wales, the technology has gone through a successful trial and will be rolled out in a soft launch over the coming months.
Divya’s relationship with Brunel University London, and the RIEm Programme in particular, began when she met Programme Director Dr Michael Joseph at an India Global Forum. She was intrigued to find out how working with Brunel might help both JurnyOn and a second product which is applying Blockchain technology to property management.
“Given the complexity of what we are trying to achieve, I realized that having access to university expertise could be invaluable. JurnyOn is already an Innovate UK start-up, so we know something of how to secure funding, but there is always more to learn. I enrolled on the RIEm Programme which started in January 2024, and soon came to appreciate the high-level conversations and potential collaborations with academics, especially in the Centre for AI. I found the workshops led by external speakers and introductions to the Professors very helpful”
The outcome
Those productive conversations are continuing as Divya looks to use Brunel expertise to independently verify the technology for her property management product.
Once JurnyOn joined the RIEm programme, discussions with the Dr Bal Ghoman, Business Development Manager and his proposal development support led to awareness of the Innovate UK’s Bridge AI programme. JurnyOn made a successful application to Innovate UK and secured funding for a feasibility study. The funding helps the business to integrate AI to engage customers as part of the train travel, secure ticket purchasing, and customer experience.
Divya adds: “Being on the programme made it so much easier to reach out to different departments, be it in AI or materials science. I can highly recommend RIEm as a means of bridging the gap between business and academia.
I now have access to brilliant minds and world-class university facilities. Anyone with an innovation and wondering how best to prove its validity and get to the next level of funding should apply for a place on the 2025 programme.
Divya Prashanth, CEO and Co-Founder of JurnyOn
JurnyOn’s experience shows how RIEm helps business to think through the practicalities of validating an innovative solution and Brunel University’s ecosystem could help businesses to access innovation funding to commercialise the solution.
Dr Michael Joseph, Business Development Manager (Healthcare and MedTech) & RIEm Lead
Get in touch with the project team member(s) for this case study
Paratharayil
i have managed large partnerships for 15+ years in private sector, in over 25 countries including for a large consultancy group in senior management role. i have led capacity strengthening programmes in the uk and overseas on resource mobilisation and funding diversification. i have secured large funding and investment in health, education, research and innovation. i manage research and innovation and knowledge exchange partnerships with businesses and health sector actors in the field of health and med tech innovation. i conceptualised and lead brunel's award winning research, innovate and emerge (riem) programme to strengthen the capacity of businesses to optimise innovation and access funding to take the solution to the market. i am a member of brunel’s business innovation board and contribute to early career academic capacity development programmes and south asia regional working group in addition to innovation ecosystem management with businesses. i previously successfully led the delivery of brunel’s business resilience fund. i am a vice chair of uk public administration \association (ukapa). reuters named me as one of the top 10 influential international programme managers in 2010. i speak at national and international conferences on innovation funding systems. i completed my phd in public health and am a fellow of the higher education academy (uk). connect with me on linkedin
Dr Michael Paratharayil
I have managed large partnerships for 15+ years in private sector, in over 25 countries including for a large Consultancy Group in senior management role. I have led capacity strengthening programmes in the UK and overseas on resource mobilisation and funding diversification. I have secured large funding and investment in health, education, research and innovation. I manage research and innovation and knowledge exchange partnerships with businesses and health sector actors in the field of Health and Med Tech innovation. I conceptualised and lead Brunel's award winning Research, Innovate and Emerge (RIEm) Programme to strengthen the capacity of businesses to optimise innovation and access funding to take the solution to the market. I am a member of Brunel’s Business Innovation Board and contribute to Early Career Academic Capacity Development Programmes and South Asia Regional Working Group in addition to innovation ecosystem management with businesses. I previously successfully led the delivery of Brunel’s Business Resilience Fund. I am a Vice Chair of UK Public Administration \Association (UKAPA). Reuters named me as one of the top 10 influential international programme managers in 2010. I speak at national and international conferences on innovation funding systems. I completed my PhD in Public Health and am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK). Connect with me on LinkedIn
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Case study last modified 02/08/2024