Thirteen startups have joined a University of Edinburgh ‘AI for good’ entrepreneurial scheme – including a wearable tech firm focused on reducing drug deaths.
Participating firms in the university’s latest accelerator cohort also feature AI for affordable financial guidance and a device that captures birdsong to evaluate natural capital.
The data-driven companies were selected for their dedication to harnessing AI for health, climate and social impact and will benefit from education, mentoring and growth support.
Now in its sixth year, previous programme cohorts on the AI Accelerator (AIA) have generated £71 million in financing so far.
Dr Andrea Taylor, CEO of Edinburgh Innovations, the university’s commercialisation service, said: “The AI Accelerator is an excellent example of the innovation ecosystem that extends out of the University of Edinburgh. Here, we support global businesses to develop their AI and entrepreneurial expertise in order to improve lives in our key challenge areas of climate and sustainability, AI and data for good, and future health and care.”
Amongst the new AI Accelerator class is Edinburgh company NOMW Health, whose wearable device, LifeSavr, monitors the vital signs of drug users to detect opioid overdoses, alerting them, their contacts and the emergency services to prevent avoidable deaths.
London-based Engage Smarter has a platform of conversational AI Agents trained to give risk-managed financial guidance to an estimated 26 million UK consumers who either can’t afford or don’t want their own financial advisor, which leads to financial exclusion.
And Chirrup.ai captures and analyses bird song to evaluate the natural capital of land managed by farmers, forestry businesses and local governments, to demonstrate best practice, support funding applications and enhance sustainable supply chains.
Conrad Young, founder of Chirriup.ai, said: “Scaling Chirrup.ai requires R&D led growth in our hardware, Al and reporting platform. The University of Edinburgh is renowned for its expertise in AI and data science, so we’re looking forward to the AI Accelerator giving us access to this expertise as well as experienced business mentors and trainers.”
The AI Accelerator is open to founders from across the globe who are scaling businesses to address the world’s biggest challenges. Previous alumni include US-based MindTrace, which makes software tools for neurosurgeons, and Italian chatbot Indigo.AI, which was subsequently acquired by tech company Vedrai.
This year, the founders will be supported by new Entrepreneur in Residence, David Farquhar, who has started, scaled or invested in over 20 companies, most recently catapulting vertical farm manufacturer Intelligent Growth Solutions from an academic project to a global company with a strong market valuation.
Mr Farquhar said: “I’m delighted to be joining this excellent programme, which supports founders from across the world to take their proposition and business to the next level, including fundraising. We offer coaching, connections, and tailored mentoring, tapping into our partners’ networks and their expertise as well as the University’s.”
New to AIA 8.0 is the Wild Card theme for companies that are disrupting markets in other sectors; including cyber security and tax management.
Further support is offered by companies providing pro bono mentoring to founders. For example, this year data and cloud computing expert Eviden will be offering help on topics such as digital marketing and building technical roadmaps.
