Sunderland’s Land Digital raises £705,000 for AI tolling and parking platform

Sunderland transport technology company Land Digital has raised £705,000 to speed up development and commercial rollout of its AI platform for tolling, parking and other transport operations.

Northstar Ventures put in £500,000 through its Venture Sunderland Fund, Creative England invested £180,000 and business angels added £25,000.

The money will go on developing the platform and growing the team as the company goes after the tolling and airport parking markets. Airport parking in the UK alone is thought to generate £2.1bn in revenue each year.

Land Digital’s technology lets transport operators swap traditional barrier-controlled systems for barrier-free ones. The platform brings together AI, data processing and Automatic Number Plate Recognition to optimise pricing and inform operational decisions.

The company says it can help operators improve compliance and keep traffic moving, cut manual processes and give customers a better experience. Removing barriers can also lower emissions from stop-start traffic.

Its configurable back-office platform is built to be deployed faster and more flexibly than conventional transport management systems.

It already supports open-road tolling at Warburton Bridge and the Tyne Tunnel, which carries about 17 million journeys a year, and has been taken up for parking operations at London Southend Airport.

Land Digital has moved from a consultancy-led model to a product-led technology business. Its chairman is Julian Leighton, who founded OrangeBus, a former Northstar Ventures portfolio company, and ParkVia’s former managing director Mark Pegler is a non-executive director.

Jon Leighton, Land Digital’s founder and MD, said: “Operators don’t want more technology – they want less friction, for their customers and their back office. This investment lets us bring AI-driven efficiency to both, faster, whilst meeting demand from operators ready to move on from barrier-based systems.”

Naomi Allen Seales, an investment manager at Northstar Ventures, said: “Land Digital has developed a genuinely differentiated software platform for transport infrastructure at a time when operators are increasingly looking to modernise legacy systems. The team combines deep sector expertise with strong technical capability and has demonstrated the ability to win and deliver contracts across both tolling and airport environments.”

Malcolm King, investment manager at Creative England, which invested through its Creative and Cultural Investment Programme (CCIP), said: “The team has built an innovative platform that helps transport operators address key operational challenges, from reducing congestion to enhancing passenger experiences. As demand for smarter, more connected transport infrastructure continues to grow, Land Digital is well positioned for the future.”