In June 2018, we started our first deep dive into London’s startup ecosystem. Our goal was to keep up on the latest trends, meet some of the main players and, of course, introduce Calcey to the crazy amount of new startups literally exploding in London right now. And we’ve seven UK startups confirmed as clients, we are delighted with the progress so far.
Here’s our six highlights from six epic months.
#1 Staying Ahead Of The Curve
Unsurprisingly, AI was the most consistently dazzling trend happening in London. The sheer breath of industry that the most exciting technology in human history is disrupting is astounding. We caught up with the Five AI Startups You Need To Know About, including autonomous vehicles that can drive on other planets, a NLP algorithm that could save us from fake news, and a voice activated communication tool for people with disabilities.
Voice Activation promises to be a monumental leap forward for our ability to communicate with AI in 2019. We heard from Bret Kinsella, one the world’s foremost figures in the voice industry, who suggested Smart Speakers Are The Gateway Drugs to more meaningful conversations with machines.
#2 Gender and Tech
We believe increasing gender parity gap is a crucial next step for the progress of the global tech industry. In the UK, only 17% of the tech industry is populated by women, with only 5% in senior management in positions. That’s why we featured Head of Analytics, Maria Koukou’s 5 Strategies for Success speech at Facebook’s new London HQ.
We also published this thought-provoking piece, Can you name five famous women in tech?
But we were sure to provide the answers, because, unfortunately, it’s a very tricky question.
#3 CEO Stories
1-2-1 Interviews with CEOs really get under the skin of what it means to run a startup. We love learning about what makes a strong leader tick and what makes young startups become fully fledged successful businesses. One of current client’s, Alex Crockford from CrockfitApp, revealed all in his How to Get 150,000+ Instagram Followers interview, while chef-turned-CEO, Caspar Rose of Fresh Fitness Food, told us how he is helping change the home-eating habits of the UK. The CEO of Doordeck—the world’s first keyless security platform—told us Why the transformation from IoT to SaaS is the pivot that matters.
#4 Green Tech
After Green Tech gathering great momentum last year last year, we’d love to see this really push-on in 2019. We interviewed IoT expert, Pilgrim Beart, who explained How IoT Is Driving Sustainable Change. We were also super impressed with mojeek, an ethical search engine, and the inspiring food waste co-operative, OLIO. They already have 700,000 users and a whopping 22,000 volunteers so they have clearly captured the UK’s public’s imagination in a big way.
#5 Pitch, Pitch, Pitch
Pitch events where boxfresh startups pitch for the hearts, minds and financial support of The Crowd are happening every week in London. They are free, fun and the best way to learn about what startups to watch out for… At the The Future Fin-Tech we heard from 11 eleven startups who have Unicorn-potential. We loved seeing 4 Startups Finally Delivering On IoT’s Promise, including a solution for single use plastic usage in the cosmetics industry. And as UK’s broken house market becomes ripe for disruption, PropTech revealed itself to one of the most competitive industries (and surprising biggest trends) in 2018.
#6 Blockchain – In or Out
We began in London in June and Blockchain was everywhere. The City was still super excited about ICO’s and in our video interview with blockchain evangelist Arfia Khan, she explained why 2018 is The Year of the Security Tokens. But since, blockchain seems to fallen off the map a little bit. Is it a conspiracy? Let’s find out in 2019.
It’s Been Epic
There’s our six highlights from six epic months. And honestly there’s so much we didn’t include. Here’s to another six…