Next up in Geovation Scotland’s meet the founder series, we spoke with Mike Gill, founder of Weavecentrix, who joined cohort 6.

Weavecentrix are looking to increase the number of functioning freight wagons available for transport through their innovative geospatial solution incorporating IoT (Internet of Things) devices, operational data and geospatial predictive modelling. Informing freight operators about problems before it’s a problem.

We hear from Mike about the inspiration behind Weavecentrix and what he is looking to gain from the Geovation Scotland accelerator.

Can you give us a brief overview of Weavecentrix and where the initial idea came from?

At Weavecentrix, we take data from rail IT systems and apply it to geophysical models of the rail network to create predictive models of rail freight wagon component wear. Rail freight operators use these models to gain timely, actionable insights, which improve wagon safety and availability

The idea came when we were working with a leasing company in the Rail Freight sector.  They were tracking wagon lease contract performance using data from an old Network Rail mainframe, but getting data out of it was a real hassle – so much so that they could only manage it monthly.  With our experience in other industries, we sped up that process from monthly to daily.

This breakthrough opened more opportunities to use data in new ways, such as creating analytical models of component wear. We teamed up to develop a service to address these new opportunities.

Tell us more about the team at Weavecentrix?

I’m Mike Gill, the Founder and Managing Director of Weavecentrix. My first startup experience was in Australia when I lived out there, which taught me a lot – mainly what not to do! More recently, I completed an MBA which increased my business knowledge and sparked a passion for innovation. 

That innovation piece opened my eyes to opportunities I wouldn’t have seen before. This has directly led to the business opportunity that we are working on today.

Weavecentrix is Aberdeen based and we’ve been working with the rail freight industry for just over a year now.

What makes you excited about the problem Weavecentrix is solving?

There’s something deeply satisfying about helping people answer big questions that are fundamental to their work. For the rail freight industry, these are seemingly simple questions like: where is my wagon?; and what is wrong with my wagon?

When you provide an easy way to help answer these questions and make a big difference, it feels great. At Weavecentrix, we love solving these complex technical issues for our clients, and, if means we get to play with cool technologies, that’s even better!

Working in rail freight also feels right because one freight train can remove up to 75 HGVs from the road, and one tonne of rail freight emits 76% less CO2 than an equivalent tonne of road freight.

Plus, there is also a little bit of us all that gets excited about working with railways!

What are Weavecentrix’s goals during the accelerator programme?

During the accelerator programme we’re focused on expanding our knowledge of geospatial technologies and accessing technical resources in this field. We aim to use these capabilities to enhance our current service offering.  

Another goal is to have someone looking over our shoulder and pushing us a bit. With the business help provided in the programme, it sets expectations for meeting targets. It’s an accelerator after all, and that’s the push we need.

Additionally, we recognise that the Geovation Scotland’s ecosystem offers us the chance to explore potential markets and business partners. This helps us identify and enter additional or adjacent markets, aiding our growth.

Overall, we see the accelerator programme is a strategic opportunity to innovate and scale up.

What does it mean to be part of the Scottish Tech Ecosystem / Geovation Community

From our startup experience in Australia, we learned the hard way that startups require a lot of mental stamina. We lacked a support network there and faced resilience problems.

Fast forward a few years to Scotland today, and it’s a very different story. You are almost overwhelmed with choices of support networks. Resources like the Scottish Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Guide are invaluable for navigating this landscape.

That’s where we found the Geovation Scotland Accelerator and we quickly joined the Geovation Community – it was a natural fit for our service. Hence, we went to Geovation Scotland with a mind to getting access to people with technical knowledge that could help our service offering.

We can’t stress how important it is to have access to like-minded people and to be able to work through things in a safe environment. The entire Tech Ecosystem will help you keep going when your resilience is being challenged and that’s what you’ll need for a startup.

---

Follow Weavecentrix on LinkedIn or sign up for updates via their website (website update coming soon).