Five wireless businesses won the praise of technology investors and wireless industry experts at yesterday’s finals of the UK Discovering Start-Ups 2014 competition hosted by Deloitte in London. The winners, ranging from mobile education and healthcare solutions to speech recognition, data analytics and wireless encryption, were chosen from 18 finalists who pitched their technologies and business plans to a panel of 21 judges that included senior executives from the likes of Deloitte, Google, BT, Innovacom, IBM, Orange Labs, Samsung, London Business Angels and Cambridge Angels.
Now in its 5th year, the Discovering Start-ups competition is organised by Cambridge Wireless (CW) and the SETsquared Partnership with the support of Tech City UK, techUK, The New Entrepreneurs Foundation and UK Trade & Investment. The initiative is kindly sponsored and hosted by Deloitte along with Qualcomm Ventures, Google, Microlease and Keysight Technologies, IC Resources and Dorsey & Whitney.
Aseptika: An integrated suite of self-monitoring and self-management healthcare devices and services focused on respiratory diseases. www.activ8rlives.com
Enigmedia: Real-time, tailor-made data encryption solutions that claim to be 90% more efficient than existing technologies. www.enigmediacorp.com
KO-SU: A mobile learning platform for schools and teachers to create and deliver interactive mobile learning activities for students, parents and wider community. www.ko-su.com
Speechmatics: Cloud-based speech recognition technology for audio-to-text with a high degree of accuracy, easy-to-use interface and simple pay-as-you-go system. www.speechmatics.com
The Outside View: Predictive analytics that harnesses data to solve business problems using complex algorithms and machine learning. www.theoutsideview.co.uk
Full list of winners, finalists and judges can be seen at: http://www.cambridgewireless.co.uk/dsu/
The winners were presented with prestigious Discovering Start-ups trophies along with a ticket to Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona and an invitation to pitch to the UKTI stand during the show; a SETsquared six month Virtual membership with mentoring and investor support, Cambridge Wireless Founder Membership for one year with a ticket to the Cambridge Wireless ‘Future of Wireless International Conference 2015. In addition, each winner received a £500 cash prize sponsored by Qualcomm Ventures and handed over by Managing Director Miles Kirby.
“The quality and passion of the 18 pitches at yesterday’s finals certainly shows that UK innovation and ambition in the wireless technology industry is as strong as ever,” said David Cleevely CBE, Chair of CW. “The diversity and vision of the entrants made it difficult for the judges to make their decisions and I am sure we will hear a lot more from the winners and other finalists over the next few years.”
“With a record number of entrants this year and the high standard of the final pitches, it is clear that there is no shortage of UK technology inventors and entrepreneurs looking to make their mark in the fast moving wireless and mobile markets,” said SETsquared’s Innovation Director, Simon Bond. “The chance to get in front of over 20 investors and industry influencers at one time is something most new companies can only dream of. As well listening to the pitches, the judges had the opportunity to ask probing questions and provide valuable advice.”
“Deloitte is committed to supporting start-ups and helping them grow. It has been great to see so much talent and creativity from technology start-ups across the UK,” said David Cobb, Deloitte partner. “The Discovering Start-ups competition goes from strength to strength and showcases the next generation of companies that will help keep the UK at the forefront of the global wireless and mobile industry.”
The event was concluded by Nicholas Zylberglajt, Co-Founder & Vice-President of the European Young Innovators Forum, (http://eyif.eu), who announced that Discovering Start-ups 2015 will be open to entries from European partner countries.
“It is vital to harness new technologies and support early-stage businesses to drive economic growth and the winners and finalists of this year’s Discovering Start-ups provide an exciting vision of the future,” said Nicholas Zylberglajt.” We are delighted to have the opportunity to be part of next year’s search and open the competition to other European partner countries.”
For more information visit www.cambridgewireless.co.uk/dsu
