At the beginning of this year, we countered that these five tech firms would be ones to watch over 2019. All based in Wales, and making the most of the country’s tech hubs, these five were poised for big things in the final year of the decade. Now, one year on, we look back to see how our predictions held up.
Amplyfi
Based in Cardiff, Amplyfi’s AI powered platform, DataVoyant, helps businesses to make smarter and more reasoned decisions. At the beginning of the year we predicted that Amplyfi might be Wales’ first unicorn and – while they haven’t quite gotten there yet – we certainly still think they are a business to watch over the next few years.
2019 saw Amplyfi raise more than £3 million in funding, proving there is a huge appetite for its technology which “harnesses the wisdom of the internet” in order to enable actionable intelligence, analysis and understanding.
Artimus
Another AI solutions business making waves in Cardiff, Artimus are a hugely innovative business. Often seen as costly, Artimus’ AI actually saves customers money by automating time-inefficient tasks. 2019 has seen them venture deeper into their markets, reaching new customers with their cutting-edge services and solutions.
Artimus’ technology is custom built for the organisation and their industry, enabling them to bring artificial intelligence to all businesses, from start-up to multi-national.
Hut Six
Newport-based Hut Six provide information security awareness training – something which is only becoming more essential as we become more dependent on technology. Take the rate at which IoT devices are proliferating, for example; a predicted 75.44 billion devices will be in use by 2025, more than double the current number. Yet, although human error is the most prevalent cause of security breaches, just 20 per cent of businesses have trained their staff in cybersecurity.
Hut Six’ aim is to bring organisations up to speed, training individuals at the same pace that technology demands. We predict big things for the business over the next decade.
MyPinPad
Back to Cardiff, and at the beginning of 2019 we wrote about MyPinPad, and their innovative fintech solutions. This year, the business was recognised by the industry and was nominated in two categories at the 2019 Payments Awards. Also a business with security in mind, MyPinPad’s development of multi-factor authentication software aims to increase the security of banking on traditionally unsecured devices, such as tablets and mobile phones. As the desire for fintech products increases, MyPinPad are sure to have another brilliant year.
The Academy of Robotics
After three years of planning and prototypes, this year The Academy of Robotics officially launched the Kar-Go. The Kar-Go drove around Goodwood’s iconic racetrack, demonstrating its potential as an autonomous delivery vehicle. Since then, the Kar-Go has been on tour, drawing crowds in London and Glasgow. If you’re hoping to hear more from them in 2020, you can catch them up at the AI and Big Data Expo in March.
