Tellme is a UK startup offering visitor attractions a way to connect with audiences and deliver enhanced experiences through an AI-powered app. The browser-based web app uses computer vision to recognise what a visitor is looking at in real time, letting them ask questions and receive personalised, conversational explanations in their preferred language.

By participating in Digital Catapult’s High Growth AI Accelerator for the Innovate UK BridgeAI programme, UK startup Tellme gained access to computational power, technical and industry expertise, and valuable strategic guidance to help accelerate the commercial readiness of its solution.

The challenge

Although many sectors have undergone rapid digital transformation, driven first by the pandemic and more recently by the boom in generative AI, UK visitor experiences have remained largely unchanged.
Younger and more tech-savvy audiences expect to be digitally engaged, and are increasingly turning to online sources, including GenAI, to add another layer of information during their visits. Yet these external interactions lack the contextual nuance and storytelling that attractions work hard to deliver, resulting in missed opportunities for deeper engagement and visitor satisfaction.

Rapid development with High Growth Accelerator

The Tellme team’s aim is to present a cost-effective way for venues to modernise their visitor offering and attract broader audiences, while providing an AI content management tool that enables attractions to oversee and shape AI responses, ensuring accuracy and alignment with their brand, values and objectives. The accelerator programme gave Tellme a clear timeframe and structure to push its prototype to a point where it could actually be used in a live environment, as well as enabling it to test with real audiences in a live environment.

Working with Digital Catapult experts and industry challenge owners, Merlin Entertainments, Tellme could address technical, commercial and strategic needs through holistic diagnosis sessions. With tailored, hands-on support, it could accelerate data and product readiness; and develop and improve its product, technical, commercial and ethical roadmaps.

As part of the programme, the Tellme team attended workshops and masterclasses covering diverse topics, including data readiness and maturity, regulatory compliance, and ethical best practices.

• The team found the session involving the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent authority on data protection and privacy, and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), the government body responsible for IP rights, to be particularly valuable. Data protection and regulatory considerations around AI can be difficult for early-stage startups to navigate, while understanding IP strategy around AI systems is not straightforward — professional advice in this area can be quite expensive for startups, and this session and follow-up discussion helped Tellme to clarify some options and considerations for protecting its technology.
• The team found that the Digital Catapult & huglondon brand sprint workshop prompted reflection on brand and positioning, and encouraged wider thinking about the direction and strategy of the business.
• Finally, the showcase demonstration event enabled it to present progress to industry representatives and customers, putting all the team had learned from the pitch workshop into practice.

Testing at Madame Tussaud’s

Being able to work with Merlin Entertainments during the programme enabled the Tellme team to test its prototype with visitors at Madame Tussaud’s in London. As one of the largest operators in the attractions sector, this was a rare chance for an early-stage startup to test ideas with and learn directly from a major industry player. This trial demonstrated how AI could enhance the visitor journey and provided early evidence of strong engagement levels: up to 89% of users engaged with the app throughout the entire visit. Findings from the trial have enabled Tellme to refine its product and accelerate its path to market.

Towards commercial launch

Tellme has since raised pre-seed funding and secured a Creative Catalyst grant from Innovate UK, enabling development of a full, robust platform that will soon be commercialised with partner attractions. The app has already been soft launched at a number of museums, including Amgueddfa Cymru, and users are seeing strong visitor engagement outcomes broadly in line with those achieved during the trials. The next phase is scaling, with interest already in place from other institutions.

Tellme has now hired two AI-focused developers; one leading on computer vision, content generation, and backend systems, and the other focusing on front-end app development and how AI is integrated into the visitor experience. As AI technology advances, Tellme is well-placed to lead the next wave of digital transformation in the attractions sector, helping venues remain vibrant, inclusive and relevant for all audiences.

The accelerator came at a pivotal moment for Tellme. We were able to validate our ideas and gain the kind of feedback you can only get by testing directly with real visitors. The results from those trials then gave the evidence needed to start raising investment to build the full platform.

The mentorship and industry access provided by Digital Catapult gave us clarity on our strategy and the confidence to move forward faster than expected. Up to that point I had largely been building things independently, so having access to expert sessions and feedback was very valuable.

Being part of a recognised programme like BridgeAI also provided credibility when speaking to partners and investors.

– Eamon Byrne, Founder and CEO, Tellme