Markets are beginning to look fairly buoyant. There’s money pouring into entrepreneurial ventures propelled by a belief in investors and VCs to spot tomorrow’s unicorn. Why invest in a mundane idea that offers – at most – a sliver of return when you could take a bet on a super-innovative startup? Obviously, the downside risk is substantial, but the prospect of having spotted the next Jeff Bezos or Mark Zuckerberg is immense.
With each passing day, our world is rapidly changing, whether it be in the tech space, or how we consume food. So it should come as no surprise that now is a great time for startups wanting to do things differently to make their mark. There are hundreds of new startups launching every day, but the real question is which startups are the ones to keep an eye out for?
Check out our list of promising startups to watch out for.
Deci AI
Founder: Yonatan Geifman, Jonathan Elial and Ran El-Yaniv i
Segment: Deep learning
Machine learning deployments have been constrained by the size and speed of algorithms and the need for costly hardware. But this Tel Aviv-based startup says its deep learning platform enables data scientists to transform their artificial intelligence models into production-grade solutions on any hardware, crafting the next generation of AI for enterprises. It provides acceleration of deep learning models, substantially reducing latency and cost-to-serve. According to the startup, its proprietary AutoNAC (Automated Neural Architecture Construction) technology autonomously redesigns an enterprise’s deep learning models to squeeze the maximum utilisation out of its hardware.
The general idea is to make it easier and faster for businesses to take AI workloads into production and optimise those production models for improved accuracy and performance.
The startup raised $9.1 million in a seed round in October 2020 led by Emerge and Square Peg, and announced a collaboration with Intel earlier this year to optimise deep learning inference on Intel Architecture (IA) CPUs.
When the rapidly increasing complexity of neural network models is making it hard for companies to achieve top performance, Deci AI helps to optimise strategy to harness the AI itself to tackle this challenge and unlock new opportunities for businesses across different industries.
Intelmatix
Founders: Anas Alfaris and Ahmad Alabdulkareem
Segment: Location Intelligence
This Saudi Arabia-based deep-tech AI startup focuses on location intelligence which maps the relationships between spatial, social, economic, and demographic data and makes predictions using AI and advanced analytics to solve problems of “where, what, when?” Intelmatix gives insight for high-stakes business decisions, such as choosing the most profitable location for a new branch, the best land to invest in, or where to optimally place storage and operations centres for logistics companies.
Location intelligence has been playing a major role in the management of city emergency services during COVID-19, for overcoming healthcare challenges, including hospitals at peak capacity and the shortage of ventilators and masks, by providing insightful information for better planning and optimisation of efforts and resources.
It helps epidemiologists map disease occurrence against multiple parameters, including demographics, environment, geographies, and past occurrences, to understand the origin of outbreaks, spread patterns, and intensity to implement control, preventive, and surveillance measures.
Location Intelligence is also becoming an essential technology for the development of smart cities, and Intelmatix supports governments in addressing critical planning and management challenges such as streamlining emergency services, efficiently operating utilities, or setting up a new hospital.
Google spent more than 15 years mapping the world and exploring the ways it can help businesses of all kinds do more, from tailoring customer experiences to optimising processes across the enterprise.
Could Intelmatix be the Google of the MENA region? It may very well be that. After all, it’s made of the brightest minds — MIT graduates with an extensive experience in delivering advanced technologies and solutions — in the MENA region, having the ability and vision to make the company a major global AI player.
As demand grows for more tailored customer experiences, alongside increased pressure for operational efficiency, leaders in more and more industries are tapping into the power of location intelligence to keep up. Recently, Intelmatix raised an undisclosed investment round, led by STV and Sultan Holdings.
Also Read: How Location Analysis Helps Data-driven Marketers
Two Hands
Founder: Greg McLardie
Segment: Reengineered supply chain
Do consumers place a higher value on items that are produced in an ethical and sustainable way? Yes. For many, where food comes from and how it’s treated are just as important as how it’s enjoyed. Australian startup Two Hands is driving ethical supply chains that bring safe food to all by combining blockchain, smart tagging and track and trace technologies.
Unlike other blockchain projects that bolt into existing processes, Two Hands has re-engineered the supply chain from the ground up to put people at the centre.
It establishes a direct connection between fishermen and restaurants and their patrons, where speed, trust and transparency are key.
This is needed to stop food fraud and inefficient supply chains. To unlock blockchain’s efficiencies and integrity benefits, Two Hands requires all participants in the supply chain to act with integrity. It sits at the application and smart contract layer of the blockchain stack. It uses Hyperledger Fabric, an enterprise blockchain solution designed to facilitate transactions between groups of semi trusted parties. In a public network, every transaction is visible to everyone. Two Hands creates a private ledger per supply chain.
There is an end-to-end integrity with each participant focusing on maximising their own revenue and minimising their costs.
Globally, there have been few monetised blockchain applications like Two Hands, where all participants share the same values and aligned vision of an ethical, transparent and sustainable supply chain.
Also Read: Adding AI to Supply ChAIn
Diligent Robotics
Founders: Andrea Thomaz
Segment: Robotics
At robotics companies, blending of engineering and science is producing some truly innovative products — things that do what humans have typically done, maybe better. Whether it’s welding, teaching, assembling cars or performing surgery, these inventions are changing the way we live and work.
Diligent’s AI-enabled robots are designed to work with people in everyday environments. The company’s autonomous “Moxi” robot can be left alone to perform time-consuming logistical tasks in hospitals like setting up patient rooms and restocking supply rooms. It’s imbued with “social intelligence” that’s conveyed through its head movements and LED eyes. Moxi continuously adapts to changing hospital workflows by learning from human teachers along the way. As COVID-19 continues to change hospital environments, nurses are asked to do a lot of busy work — running test samples to the lab, taking prescriptions to the pharmacy, time-consuming tasks that don’t make use of their clinical skill sets. That’s where Moxi comes in. Using machine learning technology, sensors, and cameras, Moxi can quickly map out the layout of a hospital and use its mechanised arm to perform tasks like moving supplies around and completing small deliveries. An AI-driven robot adapted to supporting frontline workers will revolutionise healthcare and aiding hospitals during the crisis.
Krafthelm
Founder: John Diklev
Segment: Clean Tech
Energy is at the heart of the climate change emergency. How to design pathways towards sustainable energy transition has attracted worldwide concerns, and understanding the possible transition pathways of the energy system requires the integration of new energy technologies and environmental sciences. This Stockholm-based startup is all about smart electricity contracts, with a mission to drive the sustainable energy transition offering smart electricity contracts, specialised for climate advocates and electric vehicle owners.
It created a carbon accounting technique, compensating for its customers’ electricity-related CO2 emissions. The startup’s technology requires no external hardware and is based on proprietary, AI-based algorithms. The startup aims to help users with everyday applications, like electricity-dependent transport and heating. For instance, with Krafthem, electric car owners are offered an easy way to reduce the cost of the electricity they use, while simultaneously relieving the electricity grid at critical moments.
Krafthem challenges the market by offering unique technology that creates large financial and sustainability savings for both the individual and the system. Despite launching during the corona pandemic in 2020, the startup recently landed $588,000 to take its actions even further.
