Cambridge Independent have announced the finalists in the Science and Technology Awards 2020 and we are delighted to be supporting the #SciTechAwards for the third year running.

With a track record in highlighting the next big thing, the cofinitive sponsored The One to Watch category seeks to identify individuals, companies or technologies that are setting the standards in innovation and entrepreneurship. The judges are looking for the trailblazers who are pushing the boundaries of possibility and shaping the future.

It has been great to see just how many of #21toWatch 2021 long list have made the #SciTechAwards finalists list in this latest announcement. Congratulations to Alchemie Technology, Spotta Smart Pest Systems, OKRA Technologies, VividQ, C2-AI, Qkine (CEO Catherine Elton is on our People list) and Flusso. A special well done goes to #SciTechAwards finalist techspert.io who made it all the way to being in our award winning Top21.2020.

Let’s celebrate the finalists of the cofinitive sponsored The One To Watch category for 2020/21:

BIOS Health

Chronic diseases account for almost 90 per cent of all deaths and nearly $2 trillion in healthcare spend per year in Europe and the US alone. With the cost of developing new drugs doubling every nine years, a new approach is needed.

BIOS is pioneering a method to automatically extract neural signals regulating physiological biomarkers using an AI-enabled neural interface. Combining neuroscience and AI, software engineering and medicine, BIOS is on a mission to understand the “language” of nerves as a basis for third parties to deliver treatments. The aim is to enable conditions to be managed via the nervous system directly by AI, giving personalised treatment.

Flusso

A unique combination of hardware and software enables Flusso to provide flow sensing solutions to help make systems intelligent or autonomous. It makes the world’s smallest flow sensor – one that could address a need in 57 million devices in 2021. For example, the technology enables air purifiers to send an alert when the air filter gets clogged. And it could be used to enable continuous medical diagnostics of COPD, asthma or Covid from the hospital to the patient’s home.

Flusso raised £4.5m Series A funding this year and will aim to launch its product next year, while widening its portfolio with gas sensors.

Glyconics

In vitro testing influences 70 per cent of clinical decisions, but in vitro devices account for just 0.8 per cent of total healthcare expenditure. Improved point of care (PoC) diagnostics for early diagnosis and precision medicine are needed to replace existing slow, complex and invasive approaches. Glyconics’ proprietary series of products uses infrared (IR) spectroscopy to create molecular ‘fingerprints’ that enable the monitoring of disease progression.

With support from the likes of Innovate UK, its initial focus is on diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD).

Spotta Pest Systems

Spotta’s internet-connected pods can be placed wherever pests are a threat, while its machine learning algorithms are able to identify detected species accurately, presenting the information to users through a bespoke console. It solves the need for manual inspections or semi-automated solutions at hotels, which can face bills of up to £55,000 a year for bed bug damage.

With $1.8m of seed funding, the company has its eye on farming, forestry and other sectors.

techspert.io

Cambridge-based techspert.io closed a £3.76m Series A funding deal in February led by pan-European venture capital firm, Nauta Capital, and including participation from existing investors, Cambridge Angels. This will support expansion into the US and pursue growth in finance and management consulting sectors for its AI-powered deep search technology.

It uses this to connect clients to experts on any topic, disrupting the primary research market by overcoming the limitations of manual databases.

VividQ

Deep tech company VividQ has world-leading expertise in 3D holography. Its patented software powers holographic display for the next generation of augmented reality smart-glasses, automotive head-up displays and consumer electronics. VividQ’s algorithms vastly improve the computation required to generate 3D holograms in real-time.

Good luck to all the finalists and we look forward to the winner being announced Thursday 15th April 2021.