The 12 innovative companies are among the 18 finalists shortlisted from over 80 UK entrants from the South West to the North of England that will face a panel of 23 judges, including industry experts and investors from the likes of Google, BT, Broadcom, IBM, Orange Labs, Samsung, London Business Angels and Cambridge Angels.
The Discovering Start-ups competition is organised by Cambridge Wireless (CW) and SETsquared Partnership - an enterprise collaboration of the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey – along with the support of Tech City UK, techUK, The New Entrepreneurs Foundation and UK Trade & Investment. The London finals will be sponsored and hosted by Deloitte.
The start-ups representing the Cambridge tech-cluster will be giftgaming® - a patent pending in-game advertising service; GeoSpock, a scalable platform for mobile developers to enhance and monetize their applications; Aseptika, an integrated suite of self-monitoring devices and services under the Activ8rlives brand; Speechmatics, a provider of cloud-based pay-as-you-go speech recognition; Cambridge Intelligence, with a toolkit to build custom network visualisation apps; and AppNearMe, a development platform providing solutions for developing proximity-based IoT applications using Near Field Communication.
From London, the companies looking to make a good impression are CrowdEmotion, a software company providing cloud based facial coding technology that can measure emotions; Enigmedia, providing real-time and tailor-made data encryption solutions; PLAYIR, a provider of real-time 3D multiplayer game and app design tools; The Outside View, a predictive analytics company that uses complex algorithms and machine learning; KO-SU, a mobile learning platform; and Our Mobile Health, a provider of apps for healthcare organisations.
“It's great to be involved in a project attracting so many talented start-up founders drawn from across the country,” says Paul Lee, Global Head of Tech, Media & Telco Research at Deloitte.“The DS14 Competition brings creative talent and industry expertise together to network, mentor and pitch in a dynamic and challenging way. The London final line-up looks really exciting.”
Five lucky winners will take home the following prizes: the ticket to the Mobile World Congress 2015in Barcelona, a unique opportunity to pitch to the UKTI stand during the MWC15, SETsquared 6 month Virtual membership with mentoring and investor support, Cambridge Wireless Founder Membership for one year, the ticket to Cambridge Wireless ‘Future of Wireless International Conference 2015’and a £500 cash prize.
The DS14 Competition final is sponsored and hosted by Deloitte at its London offices on 22 October 2014 and jointly sponsored by Qualcomm Ventures, Google, Microlease and Keysight Technologies, IC Resources, Dorsey & Whitney and supported byTech City UK, techUK, The New Entrepreneurs Foundation and UK Trade & Investment.
To find out more and to attend the DS14 visit www.cambridgewireless.co.uk/dsu
About Cambridge Wireless (CW)
CW is the leading international community for companies involved in the research, development and application of wireless & mobile, internet, semiconductor and software technologies. With 400 members from major network operators and device manufacturers to innovative start-ups and universities, CW stimulates debate and collaboration, harnesses and shares knowledge, and helps to build connections between academia and industry. CW's 19 Special Interest Groups (SIGs) provide its members with a dynamic forum where they can network with their peers, track the latest technology trends and business developments and position their organisations in key market sectors. CW also organises the annual Future of Wireless International Conference and Discovering Start-ups competition along with other high-quality industry networking events and dinners. With headquarters at the heart of Cambridge, UK, CW partners with other international industry clusters and organisations to extend its reach and remain at the forefront of global developments and business opportunities. For more information, please visit www.cambridgewireless.co.uk
About SETsquared
The SETsquared Partnership is the enterprise collaboration of the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey. Together, the universities employ 7,400 academic staff; earn nearly 10% of the UK’s higher education research budget; and produce 11% of all UK university patents. The partnership has a 10-year track record of supporting companies through its innovation centres, which provide access to industry specialists, investors and experienced entrepreneurs. SETsquared currently supports over 250 early stage high-tech, high growth potential businesses, and 88% of its incubated companies are still in business three years on. In the past five years, nearly £0.75bn in investment funding has been raised by spin outs and incubated companies. SETsquared supports its student population of over 90,000 graduate and undergraduates to gain hands on business skills and entrepreneurial training through experiential inter-university activities. The Partnership also provides opportunities for industry to access academic ideas with commercial potential and develop collaborative R&D relationships. The Partnership seeks to promote the impact, economically and socially, of its institutions’ research and enterprise activities.
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For Cambridge Wireless please contact:
Lily Cheng
Cambridge Wireless
01223 967101, lily.cheng@cambridgewireless.co.uk
For SETsquared please contact:
Simon Bond
SETsquared Partnership
023 8023 8001, simon.bond@setsquared.co.uk
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