Meet this year’s Tech Rocketship Awards winners

As investors and business people begin travelling again, meeting commercial partners and colleagues face to face and experiencing the richness of an investment destination has never been more important. This year, innovative companies looking to break through into the global marketplace were rewarded at the first edition of the European Tech Rocketship Awards, which received an impressive 630 entries from 30 countries across Europe and Israel. The competition – which offers technology scale-up businesses a launchpad for global expansion – saw eight category winners battle it out in a Grand Finale showdown in front of a panel, headed by the UK’s Department for International Trade (DIT) Minister for Investment Lord Grimstone and VIP judges including chief information and digital officer at British Airways, Anthony Allcock. As Travel Partner for the TRAs, British Airways supported the awards by rewarding each finalist with 50,000 Avios and a Club Europe ticket to fly them over to London for a fully-tailored market visit during London Tech Week.

Some of the winners speak to High Life about their remarkable innovations and how they plan to spend their Avios...

Breeze Technologies
Grand Finale Gold winner (Clean Growth category winner)

Founded in 2015, the technology firm is a leader in air quality sensors, data and analytics software and has been recently recognised as one of the most promising European startup by the European Parliament and Commission.

What did your entry focus on?
CEO Robert Heinecke: “Air pollution is the greatest environmental health threat of our time, but so far we have lacked the means to effectively measure it at scale. The great thing about our technology is that it will not only help us design more efficient clean air action plans, but also generate data that is universally applicable. From sports apps that can tell you about the greenest and healthiest running routes, to property portals that inform you about the average air quality in your neighbourhood, to enabling cities to manage and reroute traffic in real time to adhere to legislative limits on air pollution, the possibilities are limitless. The technology is already being used in cities across eleven countries, with many more to come.”

How will you spend your Avios winnings?
“The fight for better air quality is an international one: air pollution does not stop at borders. Because of that, it’s important to build an international network of actors for sustainable development. The Avios will help us to meet new partners that share our vision for healthier cities and a cleaner tomorrow.”

R8 Technologies
Grand Finale Bronze winner (Great Tech for Change category winner)

The Estonia-based tech company aims to improve air quality and energy efficiency for commercial, retail and hospitality buildings using autonomous AI technology with easy installation.

What did your entry focus on?
Co-founders Siim Täkker and Ahmet Köse (PhD): “We developed the R8 Digital Operator, not to win but to support any technical team! It’s a cloud-based AI-driven software that increases the performance of heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and their technical servicing. It can be integrated remotely with almost any existing building automation system without additional hardware nor investment. Using intelligent and autonomous control, it operates the HVAC systems 24/7 and cuts total energy costs and CO2 emissions by up to 30 per cent.”

How will you spend your Avios winnings?
“R8 Technologies has no geographical limitations. At the same time, the UK is one of our priority markets because of the high concentration of property companies in Europe. We strongly believe that we will visit the UK more frequently – not only to support commercial real estate (CRE) sustainability and efficiency goals with our unique solution, but to make Estonia an attractive and profitable destination for British Airways.”

Alsad Medical
Tech for Health and Wellbeing category winner

Based in Hungary, the digital health startup is the creator of an artificial intelligence (AI)-supported web platform that provides daily health management for patients with kidney disease, diabetes and other chronic conditions. Their mission is to focus on patient education as well as the lifestyle-related causes of long-term illnesses.

What did your entry focus on?
Director international business development Eva Lajko: “The pandemic not only highlighted how important it is to manage your diet properly and monitor your health regularly, but it also demonstrated the need for digital transformation in healthcare. The TRAs recognised that our innovation could help millions of people to control their conditions safer and better for a healthier future. Our innovative system supplies a specific combination of services for some underserved groups, such as kidney patients. The level of automatisation and personalisation is also unique: the application learns the preferences of the user (with the help of machine learning), and adjusts any menu offerings to them, while also keeping an eye on any limits set by dietary goals.”

How will you spend your Avios winnings?
“With the help of the Avios, I would love to meet the team at the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre in Sheffield, as well as our academic and business mentors who have helped us work remotely during the last eight to ten months.”

Surfly
Connected Consumers and Creativity category winner

The Amsterdam-based startup builds interaction middleware that can share, secure and transform web experiences.  

What did your entry focus on?
Vice president of sales Tariq Valente: “What makes Surfly’s technology unique, and deserving of this incredible award, is that it can help you transform your digital customer journeys by enabling real-time collaboration features such as co-browsing, video chat, e-signing, and more within the technology or platforms you have already invested in and are currently utilising.”

How will you spend your Avios winnings?
“We will use the Avios to help us stay in personal contact with our prospective and current customers by enabling us to visit them personally. As we expand our business throughout the globe, and travel returns to normal, being able to quickly arrange reliable travel will be key to our success.”

Connecting Food
Feeding Nations category winner

Connecting Food is the first food transparency blockchain platform in Europe and aims to bring end-to-end traceability to the whole food chain, from farm to store, by leveraging transparency and digital auditing.

What did your entry focus on?
Co-founder Maxine Roper: “The Connecting Food blockchain allows our clients to address both the need for internal traceability and external transparency. What makes us unique is that our platform is the first food blockchain designed by agri-food actors for agri-food actors, meaning it is truly adapted to the industry.”  

What are you planning to do with your Avios winnings?
“As a global trade leader – and in today’s post-EU-exit context – the UK is a priority market for Connecting Food, as our platform can help facilitate imports, ensure food safety and improve cross-border traceability. We plan on using our Avios to help cover our travel expenses between France and the UK to aid in business development.”

 

eCollect
Digital Economy and Security category winner

Based in Zug, Switzerland, the European Fintech startup disrupts traditional account receivable processes. Their goal is to help companies automate assets as part of their business-client relationship management.

What did your entry focus on?
CEO Marc Schillinger: “Making use of the best-in-class AI and machine learning technology, our in-house developed platform covers the full receivables management process for businesses by processing their invoicing, dunning, pre-legal and legal collection – all under one platform, with multiple currencies, payment options and languages. We digitalise and modernise the customer journey throughout the whole receivables management process including debt collection. Currently, we have 47 FTEs and around 2,500 corporate clients who use it.”

How will you spend your Avios winnings?
“Being an entrepreneur requires a lot of travelling and meetings with clients and stakeholders. When the regulations allow it, I would definitely make great use of the Avios for this purpose.” 

Kando
AI & Data Revolution category winner

Kando is an environmental technology and data firm that develops and deploys innovative digital solutions to improve environmental health and promote sustainable ways of living.

What did your entry focus on?
Director of sales Niv Morag: “Our smart monitoring and data analytics systems allow water utilities to detect, track and anticipate events in their networks in real time to optimise operations and increase wastewater quality. Using our insights, operators can protect treatment systems, maximise water reuse potential and prevent harmful pollutants reaching valuable ecosystems.” 

How will you spend your Avios winnings?
“When you’re breaking new ground, bringing new concepts to old sectors and disrupting established ways of working, personal connections are essential. We found this in our domestic market and, now that we’re branching out to work in new countries, it’s more important than ever. With the Avios support, we can take that vital step – go to our clients and build those relationships no matter where in the world they might be. As we grow, so will our global network, helping to bring our technology and its benefits to those who need it most, bringing us one step closer to a cleaner future with every connection we make.”

British Airways is Travel Partner for the Tech Rocketship Awards. To find out more about the partnership, click here.