The rise of artificial intelligence has allowed many different opportunities as much as the challenges we see in tech. One major use of artificial intelligence outside of just ChatGPT is within startup businesses. The UK is filled with startups that make use of the tool, either integrated into their platforms or as the primary tool of the business operations. Below are 10 interesting startups that embody the use of AI.
IDVerse
IDVerse helps businesses quickly scale globally. Our fully-automated solution verifies new users in seconds with just their face and smartphone—in over 220 countries and territories with any ID document—without the burden of human intervention.
We empower true identity for people around the world. Through our Zero Bias AI™ tested technology, we are pioneering the use of generative AI to train deep neural network systems to protect against discrimination on the basis of race, age and gender. We are the first company to achieve 99.99% accuracy in independent lab testing.
Our advancements in Natural Vision Processing (NVP) are enabling machines to autonomously see and perceive as humans and excel in ways that humans cannot.
IDVerse is trusted by startups, governments, and global enterprises, including HSBC, Vodafone, BMW, Virgin Money, and ANZ, for borderless and inclusive identity verification. Founded in Australia in 2018, IDVerse is a Series B venture-backed company with headquarters in London and offices in North America, Asia and Europe.
Magic AI
The UK’s first AI Personal Trainer that helps people get personally trained by the world’s best athletes in their own home. The company, founded in 2021 and which is now valued at $8 million, uses cutting-edge holographic technology to offer an immersive fitness experience. Magic AI has raised impressive funding to launch their business, including early-stage support from Richard Branson’s own Virgin StartUp, Virgin’s home of entrepreneurship.
Celebrity athletes and sports stars appear as a hologram inside MAGIC’s AI wall mirror. MAGIC’s proprietary Reflect AI technology makes the experience truly unique with vision body tracking. An embedded camera in the system tracks your movements, offers instant feedback on your form, and tells you to adjust your position as needed. The trainer even counts your reps in real-time, pauses when you do, shares form correction and weights guidance – giving a fully hyper-personalised workout.
Venture Planner
Venture Planner, created by Alex Clansey and Nicola McKenzie, revolutionises business planning with its AI-driven platform. Tailored for start-ups, entrepreneurs and ‘dreamers’ – it streamlines business planning using advanced AI, increasing efficiency and success probability, distinguishing itself from traditional methods.
The software analyses extensive user data and AI knowledge to offer strategic insights and formulate comprehensive business plans, overcoming common entrepreneurial challenges like self-doubt and unfamiliarity with business terminology.
The platform empowers startups with market understanding, reducing failure fears and enhancing success chances. It automates financial forecasting, producing precise, industry-tailored financial statements and projections.
Venture Planner includes over 50 detailed surveys on various business aspects, combining traditional and AI-generated questions. It also offers a collaborative workspace for team-based plan development and refinement, ensuring collective vision and strategy alignment.
Permutable AI
Permutable AI offers pioneering cutting-edge business intelligence solutions specializing in real-time AI-driven analytics. At the forefront of innovation, Permutable AI’s flagship product signifies a transformative leap in financial market analysis.
This groundbreaking solution utilises the formidable capabilities of natural language processing and advanced data science, enabling real-time prediction and deciphering of market trends. Our commitment extends beyond financial analytics, as we are fervently dedicated to shaping a more sustainable global landscape.
Through our award-winning real-time ESG data analytics and supply chain monitoring tools, we actively contribute to the evolution of sustainability practices within global supply chains. By facilitating robust due diligence processes, we empower businesses to make informed decisions aligned with environmental, social, and governance considerations.
Permutable AI is currently actively involved in the development of a greenwashing detection tool, which is being developed in collaboration with international regulators. Permutable AI aspires to be catalysts for positive change, envisioning a future where businesses seamlessly integrate cutting-edge analytics into strategic decision-making processes while championing sustainability practices.
Yahaha Studios
YAHAHA Studios is transforming game development with its AI feature suite, Text2Game. The suite’s AI assistant, ‘Theo,’ can convert text prompts into dynamic 3D game scenes and narratives in seconds, streamlining the game creation process for creators of all skill levels
This revolutionary tool can generate immersive environments and fine-tune gameplay, simplifying the development process and reducing the need for advanced coding skills
The suite also includes the official AI game, AI-Asylum, which was released on Itch.io in July Backed by Alibaba and Temasek Holdings, YAHAHA Studios secured a $40 million Series A+ funding round in 2022, underscoring the success of its AI-generated content (AIGC) platform.
YAHAHA Studios is committed to democratising game development. COO Pengfei Zhang emphasises the company’s dedication to supporting game designers, building on creativity, and inspiring future developers. As the company continues to refine Theo, it envisions a future where its AI technology enables creators to produce high-quality games seamlessly and efficiently, potentially rivalling AAA releases from larger studios.
More from Artificial Intelligence
Nory
Founded by serial entrepreneur Conor Sheridan in 2020, Nory centralises the core operational functions needed to run a successful hospitality venue in a single, intelligent platform. Nory’s AI analyses restaurant data across different business functions, including daily revenue, staffing and supply chain needs. This data is used to suggest simple operational actions for teams on the ground, enabling them to run venues more efficiently, control costs, perform more consistently, and ultimately increase profitability.
Previously, Conor co-founded Mad Egg and made it into one of the fastest growing restaurant groups in Ireland. Being new to the restaurant game, he felt the acute pain of hacking together existing restaurant management systems, spreadsheets, and paper printouts firsthand which inspired Conor to build the operating system he wished he’d had from day one.
Nory’s technology can also help businesses to monitor and actively reduce their carbon footprint and has saved approximately £1 million in food waste to date through its AI enabled food ordering and preparation system. Variables like seasonality, sourcing and availability of produce have a significant influence on the environmental impact of the hospitality industry. By analysing historical data and suggesting ingredients that are more economically viable, Nory can assist with inventory management and demand prediction, helping make the industry more sustainable.
Choco
Choco, the London-based digital platform connecting restaurants and food suppliers, has announced the launch of Choco AI, its new tool that looks to transform the hospitality supply chain through automated order management by translating voicemails and email left by restaurants into orders that are automatically entered into the supplier’s system.
The UK currently leads AI investment in Europe, however, the food manufacturing and supply sector is lagging behind when it comes to AI implementation. The technology from Choco bridges the gap between restaurants and suppliers, translating voicemails and emails from restaurants into automatically inputted orders on the supplier’s end.
This means that 100 times more orders can be processed per hour – without the need for additional staff. Choco AI solves a central problem in the industry.
ai.io
ai.io is the world’s first fully automated talent analysis and development platform and has been evolved by industry leading experts in data, talent ID and artificial intelligence. It is the only digital scouting product invited into the FIFA Innovation Programme. Their flagship product aiScout offers players from all around the world the opportunity to be scouted remotely by taking part in virtual drills and trials, simply by filming themselves on a mobile phone. Meanwhile, renowned club partners, such as Premier League clubs, Chelsea FC and Burnley FC have access to their aiLabs product, a mobile testing facility which puts prospective and signed academy players through a series of physical, technical and cognitive assessments.
The aiScout app which is available at no-cost, provides an accessible way for footballers to perform specific football and athletic drills in their own location, filmed using only a mobile phone. The data ai.io measures and produces enables scouts to find, analyse, score, rate and benchmark players’ technical, athletic, cognitive and psychometric ability. With over 265 million people playing football worldwide, scouting teams approximately see around 2,000 players a year – a drop in the ocean compared with the number of players out there, however the technology is developed to help club scouts see more players, reducing the risk of of talented footballers going unnoticed and providing an equal opportunity.
Visible
Master your digital body language
Visible is a UK startup on a mission to put users back in control of their own data.
It uses AI to analyse an individual’s digital footprint and show how they are likely to be being perceived by algorithms, people and businesses. With this personal intelligence, individuals can view themselves from a range of different perspectives and biases and reshape their online activity to match the version of themselves they want to be seen.
Founded in 2021 by Ben Graville (ex-GOV) and Kerem Kocaer (ex-JP Morgan), Visible is a graduate of Plexal’s National Cyber Security Centre startup programme for start-ups.
Visible offers a free AI-powered report for LinkedIn for professionals looking to build their personal brand or identify privacy risks that could result from their personal posting.
Abound
Abound is a financial service that uses Open Banking and AI to provide borrowers with more affordable loans compared to traditional lenders. It was founded in 2020 by an experienced team of credit experts with first-hand experience of poor lending practices.
This includes Gerald Chappell, previously Global Head of Digital Lending at McKinsey, and Dr Michelle He, who was a director at EY working with banks and financial institutions on lending and credit analytics. The team has raised £570 million from global investors since its launch. Abound is currently able to offer loans between £1,000 and £10,000 repayable for up 5 years with a 25.8% APR (representative).
Abound uses a proprietary technology called ‘Render’ which can x-ray the incomings and outgoings of borrowers. This is then combined with AI which looks at several factors, such as individual spending behaviours, to calculate how much an applicant could borrow and pay back affordably.
Unlike credit rating agencies which look at a small set of financial data, Render can (with consent) review a person’s income, spending patterns, subscriptions, savings, rent or mortgage payments and across multiple bank accounts – enabling companies to make smarter decisions and offer customers lower interest rates.