Aurrigo launches licensing and hub programme

Image courtesy Aurrigo International

Aurrigo International plc, which recently raised £14.1 million to scale-up its autonomous and connected airport solutions, will seek local relationships, funding, operations and manufacturing support to bring its Auto-DollyTug, Auto-Cargo, Auto-Shuttle and Auto-Sim solutions to more airports and ground handling operators.

The hubs are expected to be established through commercial collaborations or strategic partnerships at a local/subsidiary level, with the UK-based business contributing its proprietary intellectual property, technical expertise and operational knowhow in return for partners providing the required working capital and market access to accelerate product deployment into regional airports.

In addition to its global headquarters and advanced manufacturing centre in Coventry, the firm plans on launching four principal hubs in North America (Cincinnati), South East Asia (Singapore and Malaysia), the Middle East (Dubai) and Europe (Amsterdam).

David Keene, CEO of Aurrigo International, commented: “With the completion of our £14.1 million fundraise in September, we now have the financial platform to accelerate our international expansion and rapidly increase the scale of our business.

“The launch of our hub strategy represents the next step in our long-term vision to become the global leader in airport automation. We believe that the combination of regional hubs, localised manufacturing and targeted investment will provide a scalable framework to capture the rapidly growing demand for automation solutions across the aviation industry.

“The demand we are seeing from major airports, airlines and logistics partners around the world underlines the growing recognition of Aurrigo’s technology and its potential to transform airside operations. As a result, we are planning for a step change in our activities through a capital efficient approach, focused on delivering significant international expansion.”

This distributed hub structure will complement Aurrigo International’s headquarters in Coventry, which will remain the global centre for engineering, software development and initial manufacturing. 

The company already operates subsidiaries in Singapore and North America, which currently support client projects and technical liaison in their respective regions. It intends to establish a new hub in the Middle East, expected to be based in Dubai, to serve as the regional centre for commercial development and client support across the Gulf and surrounding markets.

Each hub, apart from Amsterdam, will evolve towards local manufacturing and deployment partnerships, allowing vehicles to be assembled closer to end markets.  

This regional manufacturing model will seek to significantly reduce the impact of trade barriers and tariffs, reduce logistics costs, shorten delivery times and align with regional regulatory and procurement frameworks, while maintaining the firm’s centralised design and quality standards.

David said: “Alongside this strategy, we will also accelerate the manufacture of our proprietary autonomous vehicles in Coventry to meet expected client demand.  

“This initial manufacturing phase will comprise a much larger number of vehicles than produced to date and will be undertaken within our HQ, ensuring close control over quality, safety certification, and delivery timelines.  

“These vehicles are expected to be deployed with key clients internationally as part of early commercial rollouts, forming the foundation for larger-scale programmes and long-term service contracts – acting as the blueprint for international hubs to follow.”