Norfolk- based Aitrak joins Conundrum and Foundries.io in the trio of winners
Conundrum (Cambridge, Industrial Autopilot)
Founders: Konstantin Kiselev, Victor Portnov, Vlad Mironov
Conundrum is AI-powered software for industrial companies. It oversees a whole production process and assists factory engineers in decision making, helping to reduce waste and downtime.
Foundries.io (Cambridge, Devices & IoT)
Founders: George Grey, Ian Drew, Trina Watt
Foundries.io is addressing security and device management for IoT and Edge devices. FoundriesFactory is a self-service cloud solution that provides turnkey services to develop, secure, deploy and maintain embedded IoT and Edge compute products. They enable secure IoT devices and provide lifetime software maintenance at a fraction of current costs.
Aitrak (Holkham, Visual Optimisation)
Founders: David Bailey, Michael MacMillan, Kasper Kuijpers
Aitrak is a visual optimisation solution for brands, retailers, and advertisers. It provides all the benefits of traditional eye-tracking studies, but with results in minutes, not days. Aitrak’s app allows brands, retailers and advertisers to upload, analyse and optimise their creative in minutes, without the need for special cameras, software, or study participants.
Highly Commended in East of England: Robok, Pickr, Insurtechnix
According to the Tech Nation 2019 Report “UK Tech on the Global Stage”:
- Turnover from digital tech businesses in the East region of England is currently £8.3bn
- Digital tech business count stands at 19,000
- Employment in the digital tech sector has reached 89,000
- Digital tech productivity per worker is £101,000
Thea Goodluck, Entrepreneur Engagement Manager, East of England, Tech Nation commented: “The East of England has an extremely innovative technology ecosystem and this has been demonstrated by the quality applications for Rising Stars across the region. They represent a broad range of sectors, inclusive of AI, insurtech and healthtech, with super impressive entrepreneurs behind them with a real desire to scale. I am really excited that our national panel of judges have crowned Conundrum, Aitrak and Foundries.io as regional finalists this year and am looking forward to following their journey throughout the competition.”
George Grey, Foundries.io CEO, commented: “We are excited to have been selected as a Rising Stars regional winner for the East of England. We look forward to presenting Foundries.io and our disruptive IoT software platform in the national round of the competition.”
Please see the full announcement below:
TECH NATION REVEALS THE UK’S TOP REGIONAL EARLY-STAGE SCALING TECH COMPANIES
- 33 companies announced as regional winners of the UK’s only truly national early-stage tech scaleup competition, Rising Stars
- Demand for the Rising Stars competition sees 39% rise in applications compared to 2018
- Opportunity for finalists to pitch their business in front of over 200 investors, accelerators, entrepreneurs and corporate leaders at the Rising Stars Grand Final pitching competition in London
- Competition winners to be revealed in February 2020
Tech Nation, the UK’s leading network for ambitious tech entrepreneurs, has today revealed the 33 regional winners of its nationwide competition. Rising Stars represents and recognises the UK’s most exciting and innovative early-stage scaling tech companies.
The UK is already a world-leader in producing successful tech companies, creating more $1bn tech companies than any other European country and Israel. While London is undoubtedly at the forefront of global tech, the rest of the UK is also home to thriving clusters of tech innovation. The UK has six cities that are home to at least two unicorn companies - Cambridge, Oxford, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol and Edinburgh.
Rising Stars, the UK’s only national early-stage tech scaleup competition, is designed to help the most exciting early-stage scaling tech companies take their business to the next level and become the world-leading tech companies of the future.
The 33 regional winners revealed today were required to be at Seed to pre-Series A funding or generating annual revenues up to £1.5m. Selected by a panel of industry experts, the companies have been regarded as tech leaders within their respective regions. Following the semi-final in January, the competition will culminate in a grand final in February 2020, where the top 20 companies will pitch to a high-profile panel to become one of Tech Nation’s 10 Rising Stars.
The competition’s prize package has been built to significantly raise the profile of the winning companies on both a national and international level. Companies will have their profile raised throughout the competition and have access to pitch coaching to enable them to compete to the best of their ability. Furthermore, they will have the opportunity to pitch to over 200 high profile investors and corporate leaders.
Now in its second year, demand for the competition from early-stage founders has seen a 39% rise in applications compared to 2018, demonstrating the value the Rising Stars competition holds for founders at this critical stage of growth.
The judging panel of industry experts included Louize Clark, Director ConnectTVT, Mark Lyons, Investment Director, Praetura, Simon Bailie, CEO, Digital DNA and Pam Sheemar, Entrepreneur Development Manager, Natwest.
The Rising Stars competition has been supported by sponsors BDO Drive, Microsoft, Soldo, Talent Works International and TLT.
Mike Jackson, Entrepreneur Success Director, Tech Nation, commented: “The Rising Stars regional winners announced today are testament to the UK’s exceptional tech sector, and demonstrate that there are hugely exciting tech companies across the entire nation. Rising Stars is an excellent platform for early-stage scaling tech companies to build their profile as they look to scale their businesses and support the UK in maintaining its position as a world leader for producing successful tech companies.”
Esme Caulfield, Competitions Lead, Tech Nation, said: “As the UK’s only early-stage tech scaleup competition, Rising Stars is an incredible opportunity for companies across the whole of the UK. We are hugely excited to shine a light on these early-stage scaleups across the nation and to support in creating opportunities for them to scale their business and one day become the UK’s next generation of tech leaders.”