Back in November Conigital were honoured to be selected as part of the delegation in LA Future of Transport month. This was a month long, highly collaborative virtual mission that brought together stakeholders and companies from across the US and UK to discuss innovative new technology and opportunities within the automotive, autonomous transport, mobility and smart city sectors.

The trade mission was run by the UK Department for International Trade (DIT) out in LA and consisted of numerous opportunities to engage with other companies, VCs and accelerators through one-to-one introductions and events. It also enabled businesses to gain insights into the US market and how they could possibly start expanding into North America. The awareness that we gained from some of these presentations was incredibly insightful; through this trade mission, we were able to see what is available to smaller companies within this space and not just major OEMs such as Tesla and Waymo.

The most significant event of the programme was the Autotech Council meeting, an exclusive invitation to give a five-minute pitch to a wealth of large companies and VCs. Coupled with this, the event enabled those within the cohort to network and book one to one meetings with each other as well as major OEMs. This was easily the pinnacle of the event for us, as we are sure it was for many companies. The ability to showcase our product suite to a vast array of companies all at once facilitated numerous engagements after the event, something which we are continuing with into the new year.

We would wholeheartedly recommend this event to any small, medium enterprise or start-up as it is a great way of showcasing your products to those who have the means to take them to the next level. It has facilitated new relationships for us, and we shall continue to build on the foundations that have been set from our participation in this cohort.

A special thanks goes to those within the team at DIT who made this event possible in the face of difficult circumstances and wish them all the best for the future.