Start-ups await judges verdict

16th October 2015

Jordan Mulcare

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16 exciting tech start-ups will be doing their best to impress a panel of over 30 judges including angel investors, VCs and tech giants, with their pitches at the 6^th Discovering Start-Ups Competition final on 21^st October. Anticipation is building not just on the side of the start-ups however as the judges look forward to what awaits in just under a week.

“I’m expecting to see start-ups with disruptive technologies driven by talented management teams that address real problems faced by a wide range of industries,” said Sohaib Mir, Judge, Cambridge Innovation Capital. “The competition should provide entrepreneurs with exposure to investors and mentors who can contribute to the development of innovative, ground-breaking companies in keeping with the core focus of Cambridge Innovation Capital.”

“It’s an honour to be asked to judge at the Discovering Start-Ups Competition,” said Alex van Someren, Amadeus Capital Partners. “There’s a diverse field of companies involved, and I’m hoping to meet some passionate and committed entrepreneurs with some truly innovative ideas.”

The shortlisted start-up finalists for the competition are: Thingful, PurrMetrix, Sensory Media, Crypta Labs, RFMOD, 1248, GeneAdviser, ZapToBuy, GiveVision, Notifyed, Nwave Technologies, Undo Software, Ubitech, Cyberlytic, Senseye and Converge.

The finalists hail from throughout the UK with the Cambridge tech cluster well represented, something that is particularly pleasing for judge Soraya Jones, Entrepreneur in Residence at St John’s Innovation Centre, who has been a keen supporter of the region’s start-ups throughout her career.

“Competitions like DS15 are a great reflection of the UK’s thriving digital ecosystem and I’m delighted to see such a strong presence of Cambridge-based start-ups among the shortlisted finalists,” said Jones. ”It will be a tough task as a judge to select the very best innovations from the variety of companies in the competition, but I really look forward to hearing them pitch their disruptive ideas at the London final.”

The competition is hosted by Deloitte, the business advisory firm and sponsored by Qualcomm Ventures, Google, IC Resources, Provence Partnership, MediaTek Labs and Breed Reply. Supporters include St John’s Innovation Centre, Tech City UK, techUK, Wayra, New Entrepreneurs Foundation, UKTI, Telecom Italia and Cambridge Wireless Business SIG Champions.