Many of the world’s greatest inventions were made by British inventors, such as steam engines, the telephone, and the World Wide Web. And today Tech Funding News has compiled a list of the most impactful new products and ideas, the startups in the country have given to the world. The list is based on solicited nominations from TIME Magazine. Let’s take a look.
Deepmind AlphaFold
Founders: Shane Legg, Demis Hassabis
Founded year: 2010
Funding: NA
A few years back, it took nearly five years to discern the exact 3D structure of a single protein. Now, it is possible to complete this task in a few seconds, thanks to AlphaFold, the machine learning program developed by DeepMind, an Alphabet subsidiary.
Earlier this year, the London-based AI lab announced that AlphaFold had predicted the structures of 200 million proteins. AlphaFold is now being used to fight antibiotic resistance and Parkinson’s disease as well as to tackle plastic pollution.
Ravin AI Inspect App
Founder/s: Eliron Ekstein, Roman Sandler
Founded year: 2018
Total funding: NA
Ravin uses completely autonomous artificial intelligence to inspect vehicles using everyday mobile or stationary cameras, creating trust in car rental, sharing, sales, and insurance. Its AI inspect app makes it easy for rental agencies and car dealerships that traditionally inspect vehicles for damage by hand, which is a time-consuming process.
The Ravin AI inspect app works with smartphones and CCTV cameras to detect even minor damages. It also creates a complete vehicle condition report. This report shows damage severity and repair estimates. The company built this app from 360-degree vehicle scans of more than two billion images. Currently, it is used by automotive, insurance, and vehicle rental providers in Europe and the US.
Nextbase IQ Dashcam
CEO: Simon Grantham
Founded year: 1999
Total funding: $13.2M
Nextbase designs and manufactures dash cameras. The Nextbase IQ is a next-gen 4k resolution always-on dashcam system, which delivers cutting-edge security features. Nextbase iQ comes with Witness Mode, a voice-activated hands-free recording function, which saves the footage to the cloud and notifies an emergency contact in the case of any stressful situation.
It comes with 4G LTE connectivity via the iQ app, which notifies contacts 24/7 as it is always on. In the case of a collision, the dashcam automatically goes into SOS Mode and alerts 911.
ROLI Seaboard Rise 2
Founder/s: Roland Lamb
Founded year: 2009
Total funding: $44.4M
London-based ROLI is creating the future of musical expression. It started with the Seaboard, an award-winning digital keyboard that you can play with all the depth and nuance of an acoustic instrument. The ROLI’s 49-key four-octave Seaboard Rise 2 introduces guitar-inspired silicone frets to give users more control.
The keyboard is designed for limitless exploration of sound. It is said to be more intuitive and powerful than ever before. As per the company, the RISE 2 is the new pinnacle of musical expression.
Kokoon Nightbuds
Founder/s: Richard Hall, Tim Antos
Founded year: 2013
Total funding: $4.5M
Kokoon is a digital health company on a mission to transform the sleep experience. Last year, it announced the Nightbuds, a sleep-focused pair of wireless earbuds specifically designed to wear in bed. These are rated by their OEM to track and enhance sleep through a combination of hardware such as an in-built heart-rate sensor and an app that delivers personalised sleep coaching.
The Kokoon Nightbuds are connected to an ultra-slim battery pack that conforms to the back of the head via equally flexible spring-like cables. There are optical heart-rate sensors that stay right in place and keep working as the user wears them throughout the night.
Sensate 2 Smart Wearable
Founder/s: Anna Gudmundson
Founded year: 2015
Total funding: NA
The Sensate 2 is a smart wearable that claims to aid relaxation. It does this via a combination of vibration, sound, and visual deprivation. This helps users to focus on just being, rather than doing, which ultimately allows them to clear their minds quickly, achieving relaxation.
With the Sensate 2 anti-anxiety and stress relief device, one can achieve relaxation and peace in an easy, safe, and enjoyable 10-minute daily session. There is no effort, training or experience required to use this wearable.
OX Delivers Far-Reaching Delivery
Founder/s: Gordon Murray, Torquil Norman
Founded year: 2013
Total funding: $5M
The objective of OX Delivers is to deliver affordable transport in emerging markets. It creates a self-reinforcing cycle of economic growth and social impact. OX Delivers allows farmers to book cargo space on trucks via cell phones and aims to make freight hauling more efficient.
The company has rolled out a fleet of trucks in Rwanda that enables farmers to access distant markets at affordable pricing. Now the fleet, run by local OX Delivers drivers, is going electric and more vehicles are expected to be out by 2024.
Rain Hub Lyra Radioactive Robot
CEO: Frank Allison
Founded year: 2018
Total funding: NA
A robot named Lyra has been used to inspect a ventilation duct in Dounreay’s redundant nuclear laboratories and map radioactive materials. The deployment of Lyra was completed in partnership with the operations team at DSRL.
Lyra was designed as a low-cost robot, featuring 5 radiation detectors, a laser scanner for positioning, 2 cameras, lights, and a manipulator arm that was used to take swab samples of the radioactive contamination from the wall or floor of the duct. Lyra was developed by researchers at The University of Manchester, working within the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence for Nuclear (RAIN) Hub.
Small Robot Company
Founder/s: Ben Scott-Robinson, Sam Watson Jones
Founded year: 2017
Total funding: NA
The Small Robot Company revolutionises the way technology is used to create food, by delivering per plant farming for the world’s biggest crops. Its trio of AI-driven farm robots – Tom, Dick, and Harry farm zero in on each plant in a field, enabling more efficient application of herbicides and fertilizer to save money and cut pollution.
GAMA Healthcare
Founder/s: Allen Hanouka, Guy Braverman
Founded year: 2004
Total funding: NA
GAMA Healthcare is a company specialising in manufacturing and distributing unique, innovative products within the healthcare industry. Last year, it launched Rediroom, the world’s first portable isolation solution. Rediroom is close to receiving its 400th order and has been successfully adopted by NHS hospitals.
Rediroom is a mobile cart that expands into a HEPA air-filtered isolation room with a hands-free entry in five minutes, providing a flexible solution to increasing isolation capacity in response to outbreaks of infection, suspected or unconfirmed infections, and the ability to isolate patients anywhere, including multi-occupancy wards.
