Belron, parent company of Autoglass, will invest £50,000 in personalised customer relationship startup - Sorry as a Service - the first startup investment from its global start-up accelerator. Innovation partner L Marks will match the investment.

In March, Belron launched its global initiative, called ‘Drive: the startup accelerator’, alongside investor and innovation partner L Marks.

The initiative was designed to fast-track the growth of startups and improve Belron operations and its approach to delivering an exceptional customer experience.

Four startups - Sorry as a Service, Atta, Smartcalling and TheThings.io - were selected to join the accelerator and partnered with Belron Business Units across the globe for an opportunity to trial their products and solutions.

During the 12-week programme, Sorry as a Service was mentored and immersed in the customer and digital team at Autoglass.

As a result, Sorry as a Service is now developing a platform to provide easy access to information about each customer’s experience and interaction with Autoglass.

With the ultimate goal of delighting customers with a personal touch, Autoglass is exploring how to leverage the new partnership and implement the Sorry as a Service platform.

Following a successful day of demonstrations in July from the four startups taking part, Belron has announced that it will continue working with all of the companies and, together with L Marks, will invest £100,000 in Sorry as a Service.

Nick Burton, head of digital  and innovative technology at Belron, said: “We’re thrilled to be investing in Sorry as a Service and can really see the potential of their approach and the value it will add to Autoglass.”