Nine UK tech start-ups selected as finalists for Cognicity Challenge

Canary Wharf Group plc has announced a further 12 tech start-ups – nine UK based – to join Cognicity’s smart cities accelerator, following last years initial 36 alumni businesses.

The innovative companies will work alongside four other streams of finalists in a 12-week residency in High Growth Space:24 at One Canada Square, to develop an interoperable suite of smart city technologies. They will receive mentoring and training from experienced Canary Wharf Group executives and industry experts from Intel and Innovate UK.

The six winners selected – one from each stream – will each receive £50,000 in grants and will have the opportunity to pilot their technologies within the Canary Wharf estate. Pilots for the third and fourth streams will start at the end of May 2015.

The scheme was launched on 21 October 2014 to transform Canary Wharf with pioneering smart city technologies across six key sectors including: sustainable buildings, integrated transportation, integrated resource management, automated building management, connected home, visual design & construction.

The 12 start-ups selected for the Cognicity Challenge are:

• KiWi Power – (UK) a smart grid company that monitors and controls energy usage resulting in reduced consumption during peak demand
• Open Energi – (UK) Dynamic Demand technology enabling the National Grid to balance supply and demand for electricity on a second by second basis
• SEaB Energy – (UK) develops Anaerobic Digestion plants which retail, agricultural and hospitality businesses use to transform waste into renewable energy
• Power Drive Efficiency – (UK) technology that monitors and dynamically adjusts motor performance to match load requirements.
• Strawberry Energy – (Serbia) installs solar powered wi-fi enabled charging stations to bring the Internet of Things to public spaces
• Stintex – (Bulgaria) offers real-time analytics and reporting for traffic flows, retail activities and crowd tracking in cities

• Boldmind – (UK) develops bespoke apps to control connected systems and devices and analyse the data they generate
• Converge – (UK) a building automation and monitoring company with an end-to-end solution for the collection, storage and analysis of sensor data
• Demand Logic – (UK) uses big data analytics to discover energy savings and performance improvements for commercial buildings
• Exa-Informatics – (UK) another big data analytic start-up that aggregates and analyses information from different devices and reduces the risk of unauthorised exploitation of that data
• Future Decisions –(UK) uses data mining, predictive algorithms and custom-designed sensors to create intelligent, self-regulating buildings that can ‘talk’ to one another
• OrbiFire – (US) a smart cities fire application suite that leverages city data in a 3D, real-time environment for informed decision-making in the event of a building fire.

Head of Smart City Programmes for Cognicity, Mikele Brack, said: “The concept of interoperability might be new to some, but it has been recognised by many experts as the key to creating a true smart city.

“The Cognicity Challenge aims to move beyond stand-alone solutions, with the technologies developed and piloted during the accelerator creating a fully integrated and interoperable suite of innovations.”

Sir George Iacobescu, chairman and CEO of Canary Wharf Group plc, commented:

“Our vision for the Canary Wharf estate was recognised around the world as ground-breaking and innovative, and our execution of that vision has resulted in Canary Wharf’s status as the most future-forward part of London. The Cognicity Challenge will help us write the next chapter of that vision.”