Q3 2022 ELASTISYS AND AVASSA TEAM UP TO OFFER FLEXIBLE APPLICATION MANAGEMENT IN CENTRAL AND EDGE CLOUDS While many companies and organizations today have come a long way on their cloud journey, there are many applications that neither can nor should be migrated to a public cloud. For many companies, there are several business-critical use cases where applications need to run at the edge as well as in the central cloud, at the same time. Tech Nation selects 35 scaleups to join programme
This new issue is here to showcase a selection of businesses that are breaking the mould so that we may experience technology in brand new ways. It is their sheer passion and reliability that has resulted in these brilliant awards – and we are excited to celebrate each and every one of them. By shining a light on their ideas, goals, and achievements we are able to find inspiration and influence for our own development. Drawing upon their experience, we can fuel our own fire and feel motivated to further nourish our own mission. With advancements in all technological areas, such as digital design and AI, we can see a massive increase in the need for accurate and helpful solutions. This is where these businesses come in – the accolades that they have won truly reflect their hard work and seamless execution of plans. From start to finish, we can see that they are exactly what this sophisticated world needs. Here at Innovation in Business we are pleased to celebrate each award with you. We are also eager to welcome you back in the coming months for our next issue. Sofi Bajor, Editor www.innovationinbusiness.com Welcome to our Q3 issue of Innovation in Business Magazine. Innovation in Business is devoted to offering insight and features from across the global business landscape. This quarterly magazine is committed to bringing you updates on the digital world and all that it encompasses in this age of sophisticated technology. Editorial Team Sif Brookes, Senior Editor | Sofi Bajor, Editor Daniel Long, Senior Writer | Rebecca Scotland, Senior Writer | Gabriel Muers, Writer | Amelia Walker, Writer | Dontae Jones, Writer Design Team Daniela Levinte, Graphic Designer | Lauren Baldwin, Junior Graphic Designer AI Global Media, Ltd. (AI) takes reasonable measures to ensure the quality of the information on this web site. However, AI will not assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, correctness or completeness of any information that is available through this web site. If errors are brought to our attention, we will try to correct them. The information available through the website and our partner publications is for your general information and use and is not intended to address any particular finance or investment requirements. In particular, the information does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by us or any of our partner publications and is not intended to be relied upon by users in making or refraining from making any investment or financial decisions. Appropriate independent advice should be obtained before making any such decision. Any arrangement made between you and any third party named in the site is at your sole risk and responsibility.
4. News - Armilla AI and Mila partner to advance quality assurance for next generation machine learning systems - Grant Thornton dGTL partners with Enate to drive digital transformation for Global Capability Centres 6. REHASENSE TRACK WHEEL IS A GAME CHANGER FOR AVA 8. Elastisys and Avassa team up to offer flexible application management in central and edge clouds 9. REHASENSE: SPACE LX 10. Foresight Williams Technology invests in leading gemstone laser marking technology specialist Opsydia 11. IONETIC reveals revolutionary electric vehicle battery pack technology cutting costs and development time for automotive manufacturers 12. OwlGaze launches revolutionary predictive threat detection solution, Blacklight, in the UK 14. Tech Nation selects 35 scaleups to join programme Contents
NEWS and innovation has accelerated, “quality assurance” for AI systems—a common notion in traditional software development—has failed to keep pace. As a result, a gap persists around tools and testing frameworks capable of providing deeper insights into model quality, performance and risk. Today’s piece-meal approach to AI testing means that a high percentage of AI projects risk failing in development or contributing to realworld harms after they are released. Armilla AI and Mila will work together to equip researchers and practitioners with the knowledge and tools for building high-quality, trustworthy AI systems at scale. Armilla AI and Mila partner to advance quality assurance for next generation machine learning systems Armilla AI, a leading quality assurance platform for ML scientists, today announces its partnership with Mila, the world’s largest academic research center in deep learning. Through this new partnership, Armilla AI will work alongside Mila to pioneer applied research methods for AI testing and validation to improve model performance while addressing key issues related to fairness, bias, explainability and robustness. In 2021, the global AI market was valued at USD 93.5 billion and is projected to expand at an annual rate of 38.1% from 2022 to 2030. While investment into AI research Mila’s AI for Humanity team and Armilla will explore research collaborations on novel approaches to bias detection and mitigation. In addition, Armilla will work closely with Mila’s applied research teams to develop comprehensive testing and validation solutions for the next generation of machine learning systems and to expand the platform’s AI assessment and audit capabilities. “Mila is one of the top AI institutes in the world, and a leading voice for responsible AI research and practice,” said Dan Adamson, CEO of Armilla AI. “It’s an honour to work alongside Mila’s experts to develop the cutting-edge solutions needed to make progress in the field and help businesses capitalize on their investments towards responsible AI adoption.” Armilla views the partnership as a way to deepen its network within a vibrant AI research and innovation ecosystem and to leverage the world-class talent that Mila and its community have become known for. “It is critical that organizations equip themselves with the tools to ensure their machine learning systems are developed ethically and responsibly,” says Yoshua Bengio, Mila’s Founder and Scientific Director. “We are thrilled to partner with Armilla, whose commitment to responsible AI resonates with Mila’s values.”
Grant Thornton dGTL and Enate announced a partnership to enable Global Capability Centres to streamline operations and achieve visibility across teams while ensuring that the new technology and employees operate in synergy. Commenting on this partnership, Raman Shenoy, Partner – dGTL, Grant Thornton Bharat, said, “We are pleased to announce our partnership with Enate, combining dGTL’s vast experience in consulting services with Enate’s superior process orchestration platform. The partnership is a step toward helping organisations address challenges about fragmented processes, integration of technology, service delivery, governance and workforce productivity. Leveraging on dGTL’s functional expertise, powered by Enate’s no-code orchestration tool, our collaborative solution seeks to deliver improved operational efficiency by achieving a seamless collaboration between humans and digital.” Grant Thornton dGTL is committed to creating sustainable value through their digital transformation services that put high-calibre operating models into practice. In this context, the collaboration with Enate will help enterprises to orchestrate work efficiently, streamline workflows and enable end-to-end automation. “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Grant Thornton dGTL, combining their world-class finance advisory capabilities with Enate’s work orchestration platform to deliver improved outcomes to clients in the region. dGTL’s expertise enables us to deploy solutions with pace and precision, transforming the way work is done in the back office. Utilising Enate’s software together with dGTL’s finance solutions, clients can expect improved productivity, greater visibility of their work, and the ability to incorporate digital workers at scale across their operations,” says James Hall, CEO of Enate Ltd. Grant Thornton dGTL partners with Enate to drive digital transformation for Global Capability Centres
May21135 REHASENSE TRACK WHEEL IS A GAME CHANGER FOR AVA 6 year old Ava from Peterborough can now enjoy family days out without worrying about her new wheelchair getting stuck thanks to its Rehasense Track Wheel. Ava, who was born with Cerebral Palsy which mainly affects her legs and core which means she has to use a walker or wheelchair at all times attends a mainstream school and is determined to be as independent as possible. When her parents decided to purchase a new wheelchair they wanted to get one that would help her achieve this as Ava’s mother Lauren explains: “We started fundraising as we knew the type of wheelchair we wanted was going to be quite expensive. We were amazed how generous people were and when we had reached our target, I put a post on Instagram asking for any recommendations for a reliable wheelchair supplier and that is how we discovered Taylor Made Wheelchairs”. Chris from Taylor Made Wheelchairs met with Ava and her parents to conduct an assessment after which it was decided that a Ki Mobility Little Wave Click would be the perfect wheelchair for Ava’s requirements. When they explained how much they enjoyed days out in the forest, on the beach or at the local farm he immediately recommended the addition of a Track Wheel from Rehasense. “The team at Taylor Made Wheelchairs were extremely helpful in advising us on what wheelchair to get and the addition of the Track Wheel is a real game changer. The wheelchair meets all of Ava’s needs and I am always amazed at how easy the Track Wheel is to attach and deattach from the wheelchair. Whenever we have a day out we always put the Track Wheel in the car as it is so lightweight and easy to use should we need it” continued Lauren. Since getting her new wheelchair and Track Wheel Ava has been able to do things which were previously very challenging or impossible. For example, Ava recently took part in her school sports day, and the family have just returned from a camping trip where Ava was able to get about on the beach. Up until now Ava’s parents have always had to carry Ava across the beach as they physically couldn’t use her old chair on the sand etc so the fact she can now move around independently is fantastic for Ava’s confidence and independence. Ava loves her new wheelchair and Track Wheel “they help me get on the grass when we go to the farm, around the garden at home and I used it lots when we went camping” commented Ava.
REHASENSE TRACK WHEEL IS A GAME CHANGER FOR AVA “I cannot thank the team at Taylor Made Wheelchairs enough for their help and for recommending the Rehasense Track Wheel and I would also like to thank Rehasense for coming up with such a fantastic product in the Track Wheel. In the short space of time we have had both, we have been able to do so much more as a family and that is all we wanted. I would certainly recommend the Track Wheel and Taylor Made Wheelchairs to any family in a similar position to us” concluded Lauren. Taylor Made Wheelchairs has been a Rehasense dealer for over a year. “We love the Rehasense product range and the team are all very helpful and always available to answer any queries we may have and as a dealer this is very important. We mostly sell the Track Wheel and PAWS but since opening our new shop in Pensnett, Brierley Hill, West Midlands we are now stocking the Rehasense rollators and wheelchairs which are also very well made and competitively priced. Hearing what a difference we have been able to make to Ava’s day to day life is incredibly rewarding” commented Emma Taylor, Managing Director, Taylor Made Wheelchairs. The Track Wheel has been designed to transform a standard manual wheelchair into an agile tricycle to enable wheelchair users to experience greater freedom. Whether you are out and about around town or going for more adventurous days out over rougher terrain such as in the forest or on the beach, the Track Wheel is the ideal companion. By attaching the 12” Track Wheel, the wheelchair’s castors are raised which slightly tilts the chair backwards and by noticeably reducing the rolling resistance, the user can enjoy increased speed, manoeuvrability and comfort. Weighing from only 2.6 kg and available in single arm carbon and double arm aluminium or carbon, the Track Wheel adds very little weight to the existing wheelchair. The single arm model has been designed for use with rigid wheelchairs while the double arm model will be for use with foldable wheelchairs featuring fixed integrated footrests. Attaching the Track Wheel to the wheelchair frame requires no tools and the entire process takes a matter of seconds. For more information on the full range of mobility solutions available from Rehasense or to find your nearest Rehasense dealer call 0333 220 0704 email [email protected] or visit www.rehasense.co.uk You can contact Taylor Made Wheelchairs on 01384 438150, email: emma@ taylormadewheelchairs.co.uk or visit: www.taylormadewheelchairs.co.uk
May21135 Elastisys and Avassa team up to offer flexible application management in central and edge clouds Today, Elastisys, provider of a Kubernetes platform, and Avassa, provider of an edge-native application orchestration platform, announce that they enter a partnership to offer an easy-to-use, secure and efficient way to manage applications across distributed and centralized environments. “Enterprises are looking to augment their central clouds with edge clouds for reasons including business continuity, improved customer experience and reduced bandwidth spend. As they look to place applications where they provide the best value for the business, they design applications with a mix of centralized and distributed components. Leveraging the benefits of both domains can provide significant value to the business when done right.” says Carl Moberg, CTO of Avassa. A two-tier approach to application management — the distributed edge being one and centralized public clouds being the other — can be seen in a variety of industries such as retail, manufacturing, logistics, and hospitality. This hybrid approach to application placement leads to a synergy effect as the two environments are combined using the compatible and innovative technology that Elastisys and Avassa jointly offer. While many companies and organizations today have come a long way on their cloud journey, there are many applications that neither can nor should be migrated to a public cloud. For many companies, there are several business-critical use cases where applications need to run at the edge as well as in the central cloud, at the same time. “Many of our customers have workloads that for regulatory reasons only can use central clouds in part, but still want the benefits of modern containerized software orchestration and enjoy a fully managed platform. In Avassa’s technology, we found the missing piece to allow customers to get a seamless cloud native experience all the way from edge to cloud and back. Our relationship with the Avassa people goes many years back. We are excited to partner with this greatly team with the unique experience required to address the challenging edge orchestration problem” says Johan Tordsson, CEO of Elastisys. Carl Moberg continues: “Having followed the Elastisys team from their early days to become the leading provider of hosted Kubernetes in the Nordics, we believe that their deep experience from packaging and operating Kubernetes in central environments combined with our solution for a cloud-operated edge provides a robust solution for enterprises that are looking for a solid solution for application hosting and orchestration for central and edge environments combined.” Company: Elastisys / Avassa
Apr21843 - - - SPACE LX THE LIGHTWEIGHT ROLLATOR Rehasense UK +44 (0) 0333 220 0704 [email protected] www.rehasense.co.uk
May21135 identity features that cannot be tampered with or removed without negatively impacting the value of a gemstone. Current methods for identifying diamonds do not fully prevent fraudulent practices. For example, surface inscriptions can be polished away or replicated to mislead a purchaser and/or grading laboratory. With consumers placing greater emphasis on the traceability of gemstones, coupled with the growing market for laboratory-grown diamonds, there is an increasing need for stakeholders to ensure their gemstones are accurately identifiable. Opsydia plans to capitalise on the large addressable market of polished diamonds, including the hundreds of millions of smaller-size stones processed annually across both the natural diamond and laboratorygrown diamond sectors. The investment will also enable Opsydia to expand its research and development capabilities, in addition to increasing production and support for existing and future customers. Opsydia has already sold systems into diamond companies operating in both the synthetic and natural stone markets, and its customers include some of the largest diamond companies in the world. The injection of funds will aid in expanding Opsydia’s research and development arm, which is working on the emerging fields of diamondbased electronics and diamond-based quantum solutions, and will also allow for fresh hires across engineering, software development and production departments. Commenting on the investment, Christopher Wiles, Investment Director at Foresight said: “Opsydia’s technology has the potential to become the de facto marking standard in the diamond industry for the next 20 years. We look forward to supporting Opsydia’s experienced Management team as they deliver on this ambition.” Andrew Rimmer, CEO at Opsydia, added: “The Foresight Williams team bring a deep understanding of advanced technology and hardware systems, which along with this funding, will enable us to embark on the next phase of growth with this unique technology.” Matthew Burke, Head of Technology Ventures, WAE, commented: “In addition to the investment from FTW, we look forward to supporting Opsydia’s growth plans with access to WAE’s engineering, production and manufacturing capabilities.” Foresight Williams Technology invests in leading gemstone laser marking technology specialist Opsydia • Opsydia places immutable and microscopic ‘identifiers’ beneath the surface of diamonds and coloured gemstones to securely identify stones • Core products sold to the international diamond manufacturing companies Foresight Group (“Foresight”), a leading listed private equity and infrastructure investment manager, has invested growth capital into Opsydia (the “Company”), a company producing sub-surface gemstone laser inscription technology. The investment is part of a £3.5 million round, alongside existing investors Parkwalk Advisors and Oxford Science Enterprise, and has been made through the Foresight Williams Technology (“FWT”) EIS and VCT funds. Opsydia was spun out of the University of Oxford in 2017 to commercialise research carried out by academic founders, Prof. Martin Booth and Dr. Patrick Salter. The Company has developed a laser-based technology that rapidly and accurately performs sub-surface marking of diamonds and other gemstones. Opsydia Systems produce secure
May21135 mainly catering for mass-produced cars. There’s a risk that some of these niche, historic car brands might not survive electrification unless companies such as IONETIC address their specific needs.” Dr. Monica Marinescu, Co-Founder of IONETIC and Senior Lecturer, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, said: “The EV battery sector is set to grow 15-30% annually for the next 10 years and so there is a huge opportunity for an agile start-up such as IONETIC. At a time when competition in this space is stronger than ever, it is crucial automotive companies pursue battery technologies that provide a balance between performance, cost reduction and resource optimisation. Our battery solution is the product of a diverse team of battery scientists, educated and trained at Imperial College, one of the world’s leading universities. We leverage the latest, stateof-the-art technologies to help businesses transition to electric mobility.” IONETIC reveals revolutionary electric vehicle battery pack technology cutting costs and development time for automotive manufacturers • UK start-up IONETIC’s state-of-the-art battery pack design platform can enhance energy density of EV battery packs by over 30% compared to existing off-the-shelf solutions1 • Its software quickly generates customisable, optimised designs that can increase the utilisation of pack volume by up to 120%2 • IONETIC can reduce battery pack design costs by over 90%3 for automotive OEMs • With plans to open a UK-based factory next year, IONETIC is set to be the only UK-based battery pack developer to offer an end-to-end, in-house battery solution, from initial conceptualisation to mass production IONETIC, the dynamic UK start-up specialising in electric vehicle (EV) battery pack technology, today launches its state-of-the-art EV battery pack design platform, which can cut the development cost and time for automotive manufacturers bringing a new electric vehicle to market. Producing a high-performance and safe battery pack solution has traditionally been expensive and time-consuming for many automotive companies. Fully customised designs are often unaffordable, while existing off-the-shelf battery pack solutions suffer from low energy density and poor optimisation. This is particularly true for lower volume niche automotive manufacturers with unique requirements. IONETIC overcomes these problems by offering an efficient blend of cost and customisation to help accelerate battery pack development like never before. Its state of the art software-based platform can boost energy density by 30% and increase utilisation of pack volume by up to 120%, compared to existing off-the-shelf solutions. It can also produce a battery pack design in days and reduce the costs of getting from requirements to mass manufacture by over 90% for automotive OEMs. This is due to the platform’s ability to automatically generate designs according to a series of fully adjustable parameters, while offering a vertically integrated solution to battery pack production, which includes homologation and mass manufacture. IONETIC is planning to open its first UKbased battery manufacturing facility next year, which will enable it to begin pilot production of its own battery pack designs. This will make IONETIC the only UK-based battery pack developer to offer an endto-end, in-house battery solution, from conceptualisation and prototyping through to homologation and production. James Eaton, CEO and Co-Founder of IONETIC, said: “There are many stages needed to get a battery pack into production. Automotive companies need to consider requirements, system design, homologation, embedded control, manufacturing options, and vehicle integration, to name a few. These stages are often done by different companies, which can lead to a costly, fragmented process. At IONETIC we facilitate all these stages, simplifying the process and reducing the cost for EV OEMs. “We’re currently focusing on niche automotive companies in the UK and Europe. They typically make less than 10,000 vehicles per year, so probably don’t meet the minimum order quantities of large global battery pack suppliers, or can’t meet their high design fees. These niche vehicle-makers are the unsung heroes that keep society functioning. Trucks, buses, construction vehicles, service vehicles and emergency vehicles all need to electrify in the next decade. We’re also in talks with iconic car brands and sports car manufacturers. Gigafactories are “These niche vehiclemakers are the unsung heroes that keep society functioning.”
Apr21077 OwlGaze launches revolutionary predictive threat detection solution, Blacklight, in the UK OwlGaze, the provider of cutting-edge, end-to-end cybersecurity solutions, today announces the UK launch of its revolutionary predictive AI threat detection software, Blacklight. OwlGaze’s mission is to keep organizations protected and to enable businesses to navigate their way through today’s complex and disjointed layers of cybersecurity. Blacklight is the first ever truly predictive, cloud-native, AI-powered detection software that acts as a centralised cybersecurity command centre for any organisation. Using advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), Blacklight is capable of sophisticated predictive threat detection, based on the collection, normalization, and analysis of all telemetry data. Blacklight’s investigation and threat hunting capabilities are aided by AI & ML based security analytics and data correlation. Enabling security teams to uncover threats more efficiently and gain better visibility. Blacklight significantly decreases risk and minimizes cost, and is available from a single, unified platform that is fully compatible with other security tools. “OwlGaze is proud to offer British businesses our unique, end-to-end predictive threat detection solution, enabling them to identify, prioritise and prevent cyber-attacks using advanced analytics and AI technology,” says Ralph Chammah, Chief Executive Officer of OwlGaze. “The threat detection market is undergoing radical transformation fuelled by continuously evolving changes to infrastructure, remote workforce, budget restructuring, and other business, compliance and security drivers. Today’s businesses, from startups through to large, multinational enterprises, are increasingly affected by cyber threats and they struggle to keep up. “Not only are we seeing a growth in the number of businesses targeted by cyber criminals, but attacks are also becoming ever more sophisticated, with increasing financial, operational, and reputational costs. At the same time, the cybersecurity market is highly fragmented and opaque for most businesses. To date, there has been very little cooperation between software vendors in the industry, and many claims about the intelligence and effectiveness of various solutions are exaggerated, at best. This was the reason we started OwlGaze, guides clients through complex cyber-related issues through our proprietary software, Blacklight. Our team’s decades of experience in cybersecurity gives us an unrivalled view of corporate requirements for British businesses, across multiple client industries.” A truly next-gen Security Information & Event Management (SIEM) using advanced Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to enable predictive threat detection and threat hunting Company: OwlGaze Legacy Security Information & Event Management (SIEM) platforms no longer meet the growing needs of security practitioners who face new and emerging threats. In its early days, SIEM was shaped by compliance drivers that dominated the era, like PCI or HIPAA. In recent years, however, SIEM has struggled to keep up with the challenges of cloud adoption and other digitization initiatives, falling behind in three critical areas: speed, flexibility, and scale. Traditional reactive SIEM approaches are becoming obsolete in today’s dynamically changing threat landscape, generating excessive alerts and false positives, and requiring time-consuming deployment and implementation, with limited scalability. OwlGaze’s Blacklight software gives today’s security leaders and SOC analysts a unique SOCaaS solution with attack detection, investigation, response, and compliance capabilities. Blacklight works seamlessly with other existing security solutions within a client’s technology stack, and uses all available data points to continuously detect, prioritize, and act upon attempted malicious activities. Blacklight’s cloud-based design allows low costs, truly predictive approach and scalable architecture that are unique features within the industry. “Many of today’s organisations are playing a catch-up game with increasingly sophisticated cyber criminals,” says Miro Pihkanen, Chief Security Officer, OwlGaze. “At OwlGaze, we understand that cyber threats shouldn’t be managed at an individual level, but that a more holistic approach is needed. Our mission at OwlGaze is clear: we help organisations identify, manage, and mitigate daily cyber risks to transform business performance in a safe environment. Importantly, we help proactively detect and prevent multi-disciplinary cyber threats, not just singular events. “Our unique approach is scoped, designed, and developed by cybersecurity and software industry leaders. It is based not only on theory but on decades of hands-on experience, by a team with a very clear understanding of the challenges and pain-points of the users of SOC and SIEM software. We are truly leveraging AI and ML, as Blacklight has been built from the ground up with these technologies in the core roots and foundations of the software. Unlike many other vendors who just scatter randomly trendy buzzwords into marketing materials.”
OwlGaze launches revolutionary predictive threat detection solution, Blacklight, in the UK
May21135 and HRtech company Flair) raise Seed funding within their first few months of joining the programme, and 6 companies (Boxx, Compare Ethics, Eccobell, Framework, Ruka and Owni) awarded the Black Fund Grant by Google for Startups. Tech Nation is delighted to be partnering with Cooley once again to deliver this year’s Libra 2.0 programme. Chris Coulter, a London-based Cooley partner and member of the firm’s diversity committee, said: “We were hugely impressed by the first cohort of businesses in Libra’s inaugural programme for underrepresented founders, and we are excited by the second group about to start this month. The quality of ideas and level of entrepreneurship we have seen are testament to the huge contribution to be made by the UK’s leading ethnic minority founders. We are proud to play a part in these startups’ journeys and to support the ongoing mission of Libra.” Tech Nation, the UK’s leading growth platform for tech scaleups, today announces the 35 tech startups with Black, South Asian, East Asian or Arab founders who have been accepted into Libra 2.0; the second iteration of the Libra programme for ethnically underrepresented tech founders in the UK. Companies accepted into the newest Libra programme are working to transform multiple sectors; from finance, healthcare and clean technology to education and HR. This includes innovative companies who are creating technology to help growing diverse communities save money for the future (Bloom Money), working to end period pain for women (Hormonious Flo), and turning under-used nutritious plants from the forest in Central America into novel, carbon-negative superfoods (Tierra Foods). This year, 40% of the new cohort companies are based outside of London - including companies from Scotland (such as Cyberodane), the North West (such as Dicey Tech), the East of England (such as Swapped) and the West Midlands (such as &facts). On top of this regional diversity, 63% of the companies have female founders, and collectively the companies operate in over 17 different countries (including the UK). The aim of this year’s Libra programme The six-month government-backed Libra programme was created to tackle the racial diversity challenges that exist in UK tech. Last year, Extend Ventures reported that between 2009 and 2019, three quarters of VC investment went to all-white founding teams, while under a quarter (23%) went to multi-racial founding teams, and just 0.24% went to allBlack founding teams. By supporting ethnically underrepresented tech leaders based in the UK (who are growing and scaling despite VC funding challenges), Libra aims to strengthen the UK’s position as one of the best places in the world to start and grow a business - for everyone. While the inaugural Libra programme focussed on improving the Black founder experience, Libra 2.0 will focus on companies with at least one ethnic minority founder with lived experience of little or no access to capital, networking and commercial opportunities, to help them access equal opportunities and accelerate their scaling journey. Libra 2.0 follows on from the success of the Libra 1.0 programme, which saw 2 Black-founded startup companies (edtech company Framework Tech Nation selects 35 scaleups to join programme • 35 tech startups have today been selected to join Tech Nation’s second Libra programme; designed specifically to combat racial inequality in UK tech by supporting ethnically underrepresented founders. • The companies selected to join Libra 2.0 are: &facts, Alice Camera, Boltzbit, Bendi, Bloom Money, COYOSY, Cyberodane, Data Duopoly, Dicey Tech, Fintellity, FoodLama, FullSpektrum, FutureMatch, Heyr, Hormonious Flo, Husmus, Hypha, Kodobe, Kweevo, LMF Network, CargoScanner, Manageable, Melior AI, Monadd, MySocialPulse, Ocushield, Resony, Sitigrid, Softlink.ai, Swapped, Tierra Foods, Uome, Veriom, WealthOS and ZeroCode Cloud. • The new companies joining Libra collectively employ over 170 people and have raised over £10 million in venture capital investment. • A majority (63%) of companies joining this year’s Libra programme have at least one female founder, and 40% hail from outside of London. Companies accepted into the newest Libra programme are working to transform multiple sectors; from finance, healthcare and clean technology to education and HR. This includes innovative companies who are creating technology to help growing diverse communities save money for the future (Bloom Money), working to end period pain for women (Hormonious Flo), and turning under-used nutritious plants from the forest in Central America into novel, carbonnegative superfoods (Tierra Foods).
Company: Tech Nation
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