Startup Weekly: Startupbootcamp’s IoT demo day, Founders Factory BeautyTech cohort & more

Here’s your weekly round up of news about startup competitions, awards, co-working spaces, accelerators and any other exciting things happening in the UK tech sector.

Startupbootcamp’s IoT Demo Day

On Wednesday this week, Startupbootcamp hosted its first IoT Demo Day in London with nine startups pitching their companies to a room of over 300 investors, partners and mentors.

Having been originally selected from 425 applications, the nine companies showcased work from across a broad range of IoT applications, from the industrial IoT through to smart cities and EdTech.

The following UK founded startups pitched during the day:

Doordeck replaces traditional proximity cards with your smartphone.

ThingTrax helps manufacturers reduce downtime and increase operational efficiency with their devices capturing data from machines and motors for their AI cloud platform to analyse.

Trackener is a wearable that analyses a horse’s heart rate, activity and behaviour 24/7 in order to alert owners to problems or abnormalities with their horse.

Other startups included:

YodelUP’s device sits on top of your ski glove or mitten, letting you use your phone and apps without needing to even touch them.

Joyride’s devices generate data for bike fleet managers to improve their service, and for cities to build world class cycling infrastructure.

Eskesso helps you cook meals without even having to be in the kitchen.

Woogie is an alien buddy that makes learning and discovery fun for children. Using AI and machine learning, their device is able to understand what each child is interested in.

HomyHub lets you control your garage door through your smartphone with a device that can be installed by anyone in under two minutes.

CityCrop is a connected indoor garden that lets you grow pesticide-free vegetables, herbs and fruits in your own home. Through their mobile app you can decide what to grow and monitor your produce throughout.

Applications for Startupbootcamp IoT | Connected Devices next 3-month program, which begins in September, are now open.

To find out more about the day, check out this week’s episode of The Week in Tech.

Oracle’s startup accelerator comes Bristol

Oracle has announced the expansion of its Startup Cloud Accelerator program.

The initiative will continue to fuel cloud-enabled innovation around the globe by opening new centers in Bristol, Delhi, Mumbai, Paris, Sao Paulo, Singapore and Tel Aviv.

Run by members of the Oracle research and development team, the program provides six months of mentoring from technical and business experts, a co-working space, access to Oracle customers, partners and investors.

The program, which began its Bangalore pilot in April 2016, will launch in UK in 2017. Oracle will base its UK accelerator at Engine Shed in Bristol.

It will work with organizations and institutions, such as the University of Bristol, its award-winning SETsquared business incubator and Invest Bristol and Bath, to drive innovation and re-imagine how enterprises help start-ups grow and contribute to the UK and global economies.

“Bristol has one of the most vibrant and exciting startup ecosystems around today,” said Dermot O’Kelly, senior vice president, Oracle UK and Ireland. “We will be working as part of this buoyant community to support local start-ups and nurture new waves of development and talent here in the UK, and ensure we continue to build upon the heritage we have in leading global innovation.”

The Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator is open to early-stage technology and technology-enabled startups. The call for applications will open later in 2017.

Interested startups can sign up to receive more information at www.oracle.com/startup.

Women in IT Awards: Winners revealed

The Women in IT Awards, organised by Information Age in partnership with Amazon Web Services, aims to tackle the tech industry’s gender diversity imbalance by identifying new female role models within the sector.

This year’s winners were announced at an awards show in London. They were as follows:

Advocate of the Year Bernadette Andrietti, Intel

Business Leader of the Year Sophie Harrison, Panaseer

 Business Role Model of the Year Wendy Tan-White, Entrepreneur First

CIO of the Year Maggie van’t Hoff, Shell

Digital Leader of the Year Beverley Bryant, NHS Digital

e-Skills Initiative of the Year Amali de Alwis, Code First: Girls

Editor’s Choice Vladlena Benson, Kingston University

Employer of the Year Rolls-Royce

Entrepreneur of the Year Brynne Herbert, Move Guides

Future CIO of the Year Claire Priestley, City, University of London

Global Leader of the Year Bethany Mayer, Ixia

Innovator of the Year Estelle Lloyd, Azoomee

Rising Star of the Year Harriet Lester, Internet Watch Foundation

Security Champion of the Year Michele Hansom, Transport for London

Transformation of the Year Helen Gowler, Avon

Woman of the Year Alison Ross, Auto Trader

L’Oréal and Founders Factory announce cohort

Narrowed down from 180 applications, L’Oréal and Founders Factory have announced the five startups selected for a six month acceleration programme.

The selected companies are:

InsitU: Personalised, natural skincare available online, developed by scientific experts and available through an online store. Founded by Dr Maria Salichou, a scientist of Greek origin, who holds a nuclear medicine PhD from the University of Oxford and has over 10 years of scientific experience in BioTech and healthcare.

Preemadonna: Created by Pree Walia from the United States, Preemadonna’s Nailbot device and app enable users to design and print art onto their nails, using their phone, in a matter of seconds. 30,000 people have already signed up to try the Nailbot.

Tailify: London-based Tailify founded by Fredrik Segerby from Sweden and Didrik Svendsen from Norway, connects big brands to social media influencers to create campaigns, whilst enabling those influencers to track, distribute and monetise their content.

Veleza: Founded by Lithuanian entrepreneur Martynas Nikolajevas, Veleza is an app-based, supportive community of beauty lovers that helps users discover products that best match their needs providing inspiration, advice and product reviews in real time.

Cosmose: Founded by Polish entrepreneur Miron Mironiuk, Cosmose uses sophisticated location technology that allows retailers to target offline customers via online channels.  Already a success in Asia, Cosmose is based in Shanghai and Hong Kong.  

Lubomira Rochet, chief digital officer at L’Oréal, said: “We believe that open innovation will be key to identify new disruptive ideas and co-develop new services to meet the aspirations of our consumers. We are excited to champion the next generation of beauty entrepreneurs through our partnership with Founders Factory and accelerate their development by bringing them our expertise of the beauty industry.”

That’s all for this week .. stay tuned for next Friday’s edition!