Startups

Founded by Milo Hill and David Hampshire, DOOZY was built during lockdown and allows people to create free quizzes, share them with friends and play them instantly. And it really is as simple as that – no downloads, no sign-ups, just creating a quiz and sharing it with friends.

While the world battles a loneliness epidemic, reinforced by COVID-19 imposed lockdown and social-distancing, a new, rapid growth startup uses technology to help solve the problem for companies individuals. Panion has recently announced a suite of features that solidify the startup’s position as the most exciting new virtual community-building app in the world. Panion encourages its members to be authentically themselves and to lean into the interests that make them unique.

No Isolation  was founded with the aim of reducing loneliness and social isolation through the creation and implementation of warm technology. Following the success of its first product, the AV1 telepresence avatar, designed to tackle loneliness amongst children and young adults affected by long-term illness, the company brought its second product, ​KOMP​, to the UK in 2019. KOMP – a one button communication device, designed to connect seniors with their wider family unit – has been bought by 3,300 families across Europe.

It is fair to say that so many startups have used the year 2020 to really show how they can adapt and help and shine through, but for the Biggest 2020 Hero category this year there was one clear winner who really have done some amazing work in 2020 and through the COVID crisis, and that is Joanna Montgomery, Founder and CEO of Little Riot which develops connected products that enable human connection in an otherwise very digital world, such as the product Pillow Talk.

Enter Farm-Hand: a software startup revolutionising life for farmers in India by applying Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology to irrigation hardware.

Award-winning startup, e-peas, a supplier of advanced energy harvesting solutions, has just completed its latest funding round.

Chocolate and technology, arguably two of the greatest two things in the entire world, and Sergio Figueredo, Founder of the startup Choco4Peace, is therefore arguably one of the greatest men in the world, as he managed to combine the two. Not only that he has also this year been chosen as the first Hustle Awards Winner in the category Social Impact Hero!

With a large and growing range of smart devices and intelligent products, Imou serves global IoT users through a ‘three in one’ business system encompassing Imou Cloud, the smart devices and the intelligent technology – and the latest and arguably most exciting one is the Ranger IQ.

Embracing her entrepreneurial spirit and pursing a new venture, Suzann Bozorgi launched a tech platform designed to make interior design more accessible for clients.

Secto Design has made a significant investment in startup company Paptic. “Until recently, Secto Design has purely invested in developing its own production. However, Paptic has such a meaningful goal and it fits perfectly to our own philosophy, that we had to jump along,” said Tuula Jusélius, the Founder of Secto Design.

From a young age Olivia Higgs, always knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur. Although initially it was more of a dream to own a boutique hotel, rather than being the Co-founder of NAVA, an app that enables users to explore cities in a personalised way whilst supporting local independent business owners, but it was through her interest in artificial intelligence that she found herself here.

Cazoo, the UK’s fastest growing digital business which is transforming the way we buy used cars, has today joined the exclusive list of companies known as unicorns, with valuations in excess of $1bn. Founded 18 months ago by serial entrepreneur Alex Chesterman and having launched only 6 months ago, Cazoo is now the fastest British business ever to have reached the rare and coveted unicorn status.

With recent news showing the British economy shrunk by 20.4% in April, several business owners are concerned about whether their businesses will recover and what the ‘new normal’ will look like. Here we chat to Pete Reis-Campbell, CEO and Founder of Kaizen, who discusses how he navigated the pandemic why remote working is the future for many companies.

AI tech startup Greyparrot has raised £1.825m to tackle the growing waste crisis by introducing digitisation and automation to recycling. The round was led by Speedinvest, a leading early-stage industrial tech investor, with participation from Force Over Mass.

As we live through the most connected time in history, its clear to see that data plays a huge role in many businesses. It’s what keeps businesses running smoothly, so naturally it needs to be of the highest quality. But what are the most reliable sources? Customer feedback is at the top of most businesses lists. Customers certainly won’t hesitate to tell you what they like or dislike about your product or service. But how can we use all this information? Can conversations with call centres or an online chatbot harvest all the value from these conversations?

Paul Landau, Founder and CEO of Careology, started his entrepreneurial journey back in 2005. Before tracking steps was cool and when wearable technology was just beginning to emerge, he created a healthtech company which tracked its users’ fitness levels, sleep, aerobic steps and calories burned.

Pioneering smart technology for women with the world’s first silent wearable breast pump and the world’s smartest and smallest kegel trainer.

Echo is an online NHS pharmacy which allows patients to order prescriptions directly to their door – and during COVID this has been invaluable for people who are self-isolating and can’t risk a trip to bricks-and-mortar pharmacies for the sake of their health. Ana Maria Ciubotaru, Operations Manager at Echo spoke to Startups Magazine about how the team have had to work extraordinarily hard, shifting dispensing and dispatching operations to 24 hours a day, six days a week.