Startups

The adoption of large cargo and passenger drones (car sized and above) will play a key role in the transformation of the transport of goods, services, and people in the near future. According to a recent PWC report, in UK skies alone there will be 171,000 transport and logistics drones...

Early diagnosis is key to improving cancer survival rates because survival rates are just 10% when cancer is diagnosed at a late stage, but as high as 90% when diagnosed at an early stage. Currently, only three types of cancer have available screening tests, and they can only test for...

Addressing the need for mental and physical well-being support is a global challenge. 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem, of some kind, each year, in England alone*. However, despite the large number of people needing support, the type and degree of support required is not uniform,...

Despite the current turbulence in VC funding and cryptocurrency, blockchain technology’s potential remains vast, with over $7bn in funding for Web 3 startups in 2022 alone. However, blockchain platforms have suffered from the risk of attack, performance issues and the potential for expensive system outages that hamper more general blockchain...

Commuting is the primary source of air pollution in cities, leading to millions of deaths and chronic diseases every year. Cycling is an obvious solution, but only 4% of commuters cycle, with many people citing safety and environmental concerns as key reasons for the low adoption rate. To address this,...

Bringing a pharmaceutical drug to market generally takes over a decade and can cost billions of pounds. Once on the market, 40% of drug developments fail at the clinical stage due to insufficient efficacy and unforeseen toxicity. In the UK alone, this costs the pharmaceutical industry over £400M per drug...

Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) are growing exponentially, with a clear upswing in enthusiasm for sustainable transport. However, frustration with their charging experiences has caused many EV drivers to revert to conventional fuels or hybrids, and issues such as range anxiety, where drivers are concerned about running out of charge,...

Sound engineers are an integral – and often hidden – part of the modern entertainment experience. The specialists mix and manipulate various audio feeds to build sonic environments that transport us to new worlds, enriching our favourite movies, music and live shows. The highest quality recordings are traditionally captured in...

Over the past decade, more than seven billion user identities have been stolen in data breaches. Online businesses are a major target for cyber-attacks that are costly for both customers and companies alike. Strict regulations have emerged around the globe in recent years to protect people’s privacy and these are...

The cost of making satellites has dropped dramatically in recent years, leading to a boom in their production. Nearly 10,000 satellites will be launched in the next five years, led by constellations of nano- and micro-satellites. Satellites need accurate control over their movement in space to effectively carry out their...

Over 40 million people die prematurely every year as a result of preventable chronic illnesses. The striking data from the World Health Organisation identifies these diseases as the world’s biggest killers, responsible for seven out of every 10 deaths worldwide. Chronic care is a complex, time-intensive and expensive operation, with...

The chemical industry is one of the largest emitters of CO2 in the world, accounting for 880 million tonnes of CO2 per year, which represents six percent of all global greenhouse emissions. Huge efforts are being made to mitigate emissions through storage strategies, however these offer only a finite solution....

Cultures across the world value their heritage and archaeology. Because of this, in the UK, like many countries, it is a legal requirement to assess the potential for archaeological damage when submitting planning applications for building work. Most of us think of Stonehenge when hearing the word archaeology but most...

Professional team sport is a game of winners and losers and globally the stakes have never been higher. In 2018, over 100 different sporting franchises were each valued at over $1bn individually. As any manager (or fan) knows, the right team selection is vital to success on the field, which...

Elite sport, recreational exercise, and medical rehabilitation all share a common goal: realise individual potential by improving muscle performance and quality of movement. But, muscle weakness, imbalance and poor control limits athletic performance and leads to the majority of musculoskeletal disorders, the leading cause of pain and disability in the...

The rapid adoption of solar energy is quietly powering a dramatic transition towards renewables. Providing encouragement in the quest for sustainability, the International Energy Agency highlights that global supplies of renewable electricity are growing faster than expected and could expand by 50% in the next five years. In particular, buildings...

It is acknowledged that humankind is facing a massive crisis in the form of climate change. Increasingly, this is being attributed to the activities of the largest businesses in the world, the ones that create the goods and services that power our everyday lives. Each of us, in everything we...

Advances in quantum physics are set to push the boundaries of future technologies, revolutionising some of the world’s biggest markets. Unlike modern electronics, which rely on the manipulation of electrons, quantum devices tap into the potential of new physics exploring tiny energy levels of atoms and sub-atomic particles. Miniaturised atomic...

Cyber-attacks and data breaches represent one of the greatest risks facing modern businesses. The scale and subsequent damage of these digital threats continuously underlines the vulnerability of poorly protected IT systems, with the average data breach costing companies £3m in 2019. The Wannacry ransomware attack in 2017 affected more than...

Biomarkers are naturally occurring molecules that can be used in the diagnosis of disease, targeting of treatment and monitoring of recovery. These biological markers can serve as companion diagnostics in healthcare, helping pharmaceutical experts recruit patients with the molecular pathology expected to effectively respond to treatments. The global biomarker market...

The World Health Organisation estimates there are around 40 million people who require a prosthetic limb and this figure is expected to rise in the coming decades. These bespoke devices are designed by skilled and experienced clinicians, however an absence of analytical tools can result in their fitting becoming a...

Disposable pregnancy tests have become a familiar and trusted product for an instant diagnosis in the home environment. They are cheap, easy to use and provide a quick answer to an important question: are you pregnant, or not? There are situations however where patients would value knowing more than one...

The average Briton spends nearly a decade of their adult life watching television, but millions of viewers enjoy a limited experience through a small set of loudspeakers. In real life, we hear and locate sounds all around us. This reality can never be truly recreated through our screens or even sophisticated...

Y Split formerly known as Cluttr Students are moving into shared homes this autumn and forging new friendships that will last for a lifetime. They join millions of people experiencing house and flat shares across the UK. However, life for many in the rental sector can be far from harmonious....

Liquid crystals are essential to the electronic displays of televisions, computers and tablets that dominate our contemporary lives. Optimising these devices is a competitive and fast-paced business, with liquid crystal engineers needing specialist equipment to measure and characterise key properties of the liquid crystal cells. These researchers must assess the...

Smart acoustical design can enhance the aesthetics and performance of the devices and spaces that fill our daily lives. However, many architects and designers don’t have the skills to address acoustical challenges. This has contributed to noise becoming one of the largest pollutants of our planet. Unwanted sounds cause anxiety,...

The well-being of students is of critical importance to universities and a poor record of attendance can be a key indicator of a dangerous downward spiral. Measured attendance is already a legal requirement for non-EU students and professional courses, however traditional methods of confirming students’ presence at lectures are often...

Injury, disease and advancing years can all result in tissue deterioration. There is a bone fracture every three seconds around the globe, ranging from aging family members living with joint disease to younger sports-playing relatives. Fracture treatments cost the NHS more than £2bn per year in the UK, with 10%...

Social media is an essential tool for businesses to create and maintain brand awareness. Over 1.7 billion people around the world have active social media accounts, with around 500 million tweets posted from these profiles daily. Businesses need to post frequent and relevant content to engage and communicate with customers....

Our immune system protects us from a variety of diseases, including cancer. Immunotherapy is a relatively new treatment which works by helping the immune system recognise and attack cancer cells. With the current market for cancer immunotherapy estimated to become worth more than 110 billion dollars by 2021, scientists and...

Potholes and overhanging branches are a common frustration for road users in the UK. However, for bus companies the complaints are far more serious. These hazards endanger passengers and damage vehicles, leading to ongoing repair costs for operators. Accurate data of hazards would mitigate these problems but until now there...

Three out of 20 men and two out of 20 women in the UK are diagnosed with kidney stones during their lifetime. Ureteral stenting is a critical component in the treatment of kidney stones and bladder or prostate tumours, aiding the healing process and reducing the risk of complications following...

Businesses everywhere can optimise their products and performance by better knowing who their customers are and how they spend their money. Online businesses benefit from rich data on their customers’ activities, however traditional brick and mortar retailers find it very difficult to generate the same information. Across the world, retailers...

Fifteen million premature babies are born around the globe every year and statistics from the World Health Organization indicate that this number is rising. Advances in care have led to a higher rate of survival, however half of babies born before the 26th week develop neonatal chronic lung disease. These...

Escape Rooms are one of the fastest growing entertainment experiences in the world, with over 300 venues now open in the UK and Ireland alone. The activity challenges groups to race against the clock in an immersive story-driven environment to solve fiendish puzzles that test logic, memory and collaboration skills....

Lake Victoria is the world’s largest tropical lake, providing food and jobs for millions of people in Africa. Around 60 per cent of all fish consumed on the continent is reported to come from the great lake, as lucrative night fishing generates much-needed income for rural communities. Despite its vast...

Wearable technologies are increasingly available in our modern society to record our heart rate and physical activity, but it remains extremely difficult to effectively monitor the continuous chemical changes of the body or the effectiveness of medical drugs. Current detection technologies rely on expensive medical equipment and infrequent one-time measurements...

Learning a new language is often strenuous, but when the written form involves over two thousand individual characters the challenge is far greater. Intricate kanji characters are an intrinsic part of the modern Japanese writing system. At schools in Japan, children devote hundreds of hours to memorising the complex forms between the...

Aortic valve disease is becoming an increasing problem in our ageing population. Treating this condition has created a market worth $1.2 billion worldwide, growing at over 30% per year. The aortic valve is key to the efficient flow of blood around the body, operating in sequence with the heart’s many...

Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the world. The condition, which is caused by the narrowing or blocking of blood flow to the brain or body, is particularly dangerous when narrowing occurs in the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart. The state-of-the-art procedure to...

Infectious diseases are threatening catastrophic outbreaks with an ever greater intensity as bacteria develop resistance to treatments. Medical experts and world leaders alike are warning of extreme dangers as crises occur with increasing frequency around the world and the drugs used to treat infectious conditions become ever more ineffective. The...

Thirsty customers can be left dissatisfied by a warm pint of beer or an off-taste tipple. A disappointing service affects sales so pubs, bars and hotels across the country are increasingly using internet-connected draught beer monitoring systems to review the sales and quality of their beer. The industry is known...

Please note: Vivoplex has now rebranded as Verso Biosense. The inability to conceive is a highly distressing condition that affects one in six couples across the world. Sophisticated tests have been developed to analyse couples’ eggs and sperm, however doctors are sadly still unable to determine the cause of fertility...

Transportation companies could be significantly reducing their expenses through the use of fuel saving products. Although technologies exist which can make vehicles run more efficiently, without compelling evidence of the results, uptake has been limited. The average heavy goods vehicle burns through about £43,000 of fuel every year in the UK. Companies...

Printing techniques have been used for centuries to pattern textiles and clothing, and the same methods are being put to good use today in the electronics industry. Circuit boards and hybrid circuits which are commonplace in devices around the home and office are all being printed. Electronic circuits printed on...

The introduction of fifth generation wireless systems (5G) will allow us to download and view data 10 times faster than we can on our current mobile devices. The cutting-edge technology could be at our fingertips in five years’ time if superfast hardware is advanced to meet the high-tech demands. Research...

The majority of the next three billion internet users will browse the web solely on their mobile phones and live in some of the world’s least economically developed countries. Access to relevant information about health, education, produce prices, weather, news and entertainment can lead to a better life and a...