INSIGHTS / News

Now in its 6^th year, the Discovering Start-Ups Competition 2015, hosted and sponsored by Deloitte, the business advisory firm, on 21 October, is set to have another great line-up of cutting edge technology, new innovations and business models. Entries are rolling in from across the UK and Europe and from a range of industries including IoT, security, games, health, analytics and social media platforms. 

Jointly delivered by Cambridge Wireless (CW) and SETsquared, the Discovering Start-Ups Competition helps entrepreneurs and small businesses in the technology sector by providing opportunities to gain exposure, mentorship and traction. Start-ups are encouraged to apply for the chance to pitch their new products and initiatives to an elite panel of judges from Google, Qualcomm Ventures, Deloitte, Samsung, IBM and London Business Angels.

“The competition provides us with a great opportunity to potentially develop some more commercial exposure and publicity” said Andrew Holland, CEO and Founder of RFMOD who plan to pitch the BeanIoT™, a multi sensor Internet of Things hardware platform, mobile app and big-data Insight Service. “We feel what makes us stand out from the crowd is the level adaptability that the BeanIoT™ has to offer. It can be easily deployed within a host of key consumer driven markets such as entertainment, fitness, retail, agritech and has a number of applications within commerce, smart homes and cities.” 

Also among the entrants is French start-up ECHY, showcasing a technology which diffuses natural sunlight within buildings using fibre optic cables. “Excessive amounts of energy are wasted unnecessarily lighting inside buildings when outside the sun is shining. Our solution was to capture, transport and diffuse daylight inside by placing panels, made of lenses, onto a tracker on the roof. Behind each lens, we place a fibre optic cable, which directs and diffuses the sunlight for as long as the sun is shining” said Stephanie Le Beuze, Co-Founder of ECHY. “We are relishing the opportunity to introduce the concept to the wider UK tech community and gain some valuable feedback from industry influencers”.

Startups and entrepreneurs can enter the 6th Discovering Start-Ups Competition by 14 September 2015. Fifteen companies will be selected for the finals based on a set of evaluation criteria, including the originality and feasibility of their vision, the economic and financial viability of their business strategy and the value they provide end users.

Tickets for the competition finals that will showcase the disruptive technologies of the fifteen finalists, are available from http://www.cambridgewireless.co.uk/DSU/delegateregistration/.

The 6th Discovering Start-Ups Competition will be chaired by Dr. David Cleevely CBE, FREng, FIET, Chairman of Cambridge Wireless and David Cobb, Partner at Deloitte, the key sponsor.  The competition also includes keynote addresses by Miles Kirby from Qualcomm Ventures and Google; networking opportunities with industry professionals and culminates in the Drinks Reception for the announcement of the winners. 

For more information and to register to attend, please visit http://www.cambridgewireless.co.uk/DSU/