Four Cambridge scale-ups selected for supercharging by Tech Nation’s Applied AI Growth Programme
Four Cambridge companies have been selected for Tech Nation’s Applied AI Growth Programme, the government initiative designed to aid scaling up - and create the artificial intelligence unicorns of the future.
Conundrum, Robok, SATAVIA and Techspert are among 32 deep tech companies nationwide chosen by the growth platform following a judging process.
Part of the government’s AI Sector Deal announced in 2019 to promote the positive economic and social potential from artificial intelligence, the Applied AI Growth programme is also backed by venture capitalists. It will offer peer-to-peer learning and mentoring.
Conundrum, based in Merlin Place off Milton Road, offers AI solutions for predictive maintenance, quality control and optimisation of industrial processes. Overseeing the whole production process via a digital twin, it assists factory engineers in decision making, reduces waste and downtime, prevents defects and unexpected shutdown and addresses personal data management.
CEO Konstantin Kiselev said: “We are happy to be chosen for Applied AI 2.0, among so many outstanding businesses.
“Being recognised by Tech Nation is a solid stamp of approval, and a vote of confidence that helps Conundrum accelerate its business development and opens new opportunities for business in terms of new clients and new funding. We look forward to leveraging all the opportunities that lie ahead.”
Chesterton Road-based RoboK is a University of Cambridge spin-out using computer vision and deep learning to build optimised 3D sensing and perception software solutions for low-power computing platforms.
Its technology can be used to help cars and machines to ‘see’ and ‘understand’ the implications of changes to their environment.
Obtaining 3D information from cameras and sensors, it enables object detection, classification, localisation and depth estimation on low-power embedded systems.
CEO Hao Zheng said: “We’re looking forward to being part of a like-minded cohort and surrounded by support to accelerate the growth journey of RoboK.”
SATAVIA, based at Castle Park, is focused on making aviation smarter, greener and cheaper.
It offers flight-by-flight exposure analytics to manage the deterioration caused by flight operations in damaging environments, enables smarter fleet management and promotes engine performance optimisation to allow aircraft operators to reduce costs and fuel burn, and manage carbon emissions and offsets.
It is currently the only solution delivering actionable insight in aviation that can combine and validate multiple environmental, weather, aircraft and maintenance datasets.
The end result is that aircraft condition monitoring is 20 per cent more accurate, delivering fuel savings and emission reductions.
CEO Dr Adam Durant said: “We are absolutely delighted to be selected for the Applied AI programme. Tech Nation has a fantastic global reputation for selecting and scaling high-calibre, cutting-edge companies.
“Participation in the programme provides our growing team with world-leading mentorship, networking and visibility. We look forward to being part of, and contributing to this high-calibre community.”
Techspert.io, in Burleigh Street, uses AI to map the world's expertise and match experts to business customer needs. It provides an efficient, convenient interface for customers to engage in primary research and gain insight through calls and surveys with precisely matched experts, while handling payments to experts for their time.
David Holden-White, co-founder and managing director, said: “We're really excited to be on board with Tech Nation. The growth of the alumni speaks for itself and we look forward to working with Tech Nation to boost our growth trajectory.”
A study by Tech Nation shows that UK is leading Europe - and is third globally - for VC investment into AI in 2020, having raised $1.48bn so far, well ahead of France ($538.83m) and Germany ($400.25m). Only the US ($17.94bn) and China ($9.55bn) are ahead of the UK.
The majority of AI investment this year has flown into big data ($872.42m), technology, media and telecoms (TMT) ($712.96m), software as a service (SAAS) ($588.39m) and fintech ($474.65m).
AI investment in mobility tech has already surpassed 2019 levels by 240 per cent, while fintech is already up by 120 per cent, SAAS by 36 per cent and cyber security by 10 per cent.
Demand for AI skills has risen 111 per cent between 2017 and 2019 and a quarter (25 per cent) of all data scientist roles advertised in 2019 required AI as a skill.
With AI unicorns like Cambridge-based Darktrace , Babraham’s Benevolent AI and Bristol’s Graphcore, the companies on Tech Nation’s programme have plenty of inspiration.
Harry Rhys Davies, AI programme lead, Tech Nation, said: “The UK must take every opportunity to nurture scalable, globally-competitive, home-grown AI companies that solve real problems and have far-reaching impacts on the productivity potential of the economy.”
“The Applied AI growth programme aims to do exactly this, taking 32 of the UK's most exciting AI scale-ups, and through peer-to-peer learning and mentoring removing many of the unique barriers to growth that companies in this sector face. Backed by leading VCs and led by an exceptionally talented group of founders, this cohort of companies is primed to make an impact.”
There were 179 applications to the programme. Some 59 per cent of those joining it are based outside London and 44 per cent have a female founder.
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