10 companies to watch at this year's EIE conference

The Engage Invest Exploit (EIE) investor readiness programme is now in its 15th year, having supported more than 500 high growth tech start-ups, which have collectively raised in the region of £1.1bn, during that time.

This year's EIE Showcase Conference is taking place this year on 6 October, with 36 companies set to pitch for seed to Series A investment to both domestic and international investors.

EIE alumni companies that have gone onto significant growth include FanDuel, mLED, Intelligent Growth Solutions, Celtic Renewables and Current Health.

So to get you up to speed on some of the hopefuls looking to follow in those footsteps, we've highlighted 10 of the companies to watch this year.

Little chihuahua feeling sorry for herself under duvet covers. — The company specialises in diagnostics technology for pets (Image: Getty)

MI:RNA Diagnostics

MI:RNA’s vision is to create a unique and internationally-recognised veterinary diagnostics company, with chief executive Dr Eve Hanks’ saying it is set to revolutionise early disease detection with its suite of tests combined with an artificial intelligence (AI) system.

MI:RNA is seeking £2m to £3m of investment at the conference.

Indigo.ai

Indigo.ai is a full-service platform to design and build chatbots, scale AI applications and analyse conversations.

Set to relocate from Italy to Edinburgh, the firm's virtual assistant is already being used by consumer brands like Santander, Bayer, Whirlpool, Pernod Ricard and JustEat.

Chief executive and co-founder Gianluca Maruzella stated: “We empower the world’s fastest-growing brands to scale their brand interactions and put their relationship with customers first.

“More and more companies are realising the power of conversational AI to improve the relationship with their users, but building a virtual assistant capable of understanding language has proved to be more challenging than expected.”

Indigo.ai is seeking investment of £1m to £2m.

FCLabs

FCLabs’ product uses non-invasive sensors to measure blood flow and oxygenation levels in the pre-frontal cortex - the area of the brain responsible for decision-making and overall function.

The company's primary target sectors are high-risk work environments, including construction, engineering, oil and gas, mining and utilities.

Matthew Norbury-founded FCLabs is seeking investment of up tot £2m.

Beringar

Beringar, co-founded by Mark Sorsa-Leslie and Paul Byrne, was founded to address the fact that property is the single biggest polluter on the planet, accounting for around 40% of all greenhouse gas emissions.

As Sorsa-Leslie puts it: “Understanding how we use buildings is critical to helping owners and tenants reduce their carbon footprint, reduce their wasted operating costs, and provide a safe and productive working environment.”

To address this, Beringar has developed a sensor that uses machine vision, along with an array of environmental sensors, to monitor the use and performance of buildings.

Beringar is seeking between £1m and £2m.

Roslin Technologies

Roslin Technologies is a biotech company focused on food and agriculture.

Backed by the University of Edinburgh, with preferential rights to intellectual property from the Roslin Institute, the company’s mission is to advance disruptive technologies to improve how proteins are produced.

It is one of the first to commercialise animal cells for the emerging cultivated meat sector, by developing pluripotent stems that self-renew and can differentiate into the muscle and fat tissue.

Led by chief executive Ernst van Orsouw, previously global director for strategy and marketing at Genus, Roslin is already shipping sales across Europe, the Americas and Asia.

It is seeking investment of more than £3m.

Stamp Free

Stamp Free’s products allow both consumers and businesses to send letters, parcels and online returns via a mobile app. Users get a unique code which links to the relevant postcode or online return location, then scan the mail item using the camera function of their phone.

Its AI engine confirms the code has been written correctly, and informs the postal company that the mail item has been paid for and is on its way.

Stamp Free is seeking investment of up to £1m.

Chief executive at Microplate, Dr Stuart Hannah (Image: Uniersity of Strathclyde)

Microplate Dx

Microplate Dx is an agile diagnostics company based in Glasgow, specialising in a platform technology for rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing of bacterial and fungal infections.

The company offers a cost-effective, rapid, point-of-care solution to tackle antibiotic resistance, and its first product is set to tackle difficult-to-treat urinary tract infections.

Chief executive Dr Stuart Hannah said: “We aim to become a world leading medical diagnostics company, specialising in rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing, with products designed and developed in the UK targets at global markets.”

Microplate Dx is seeking £2m to £3m of investment.

SMASH

SMASH connects film and TV creators with producers, directors, commissioning editors, financiers, and other industry decision-makers.

The platform provides creators with tools to build pitches, and already has more than 600 users.

Chief executive Fiona Gillies commented: “Our innovation right now offers a targeted and refined user experience, with pitch registration and tokenisation helping to protect the creator’s IP.”

SMASH is seeking £1m to £2m worth of investment.

Bioliberty

Bioliberty’s aim is to empower every human to live a longer independent life by providing assistive robotics and rehabilitative technologies.

The company’s first product is LifeGlov, a robotic exoskeleton glove which helps sufferers of hand weakness take control of their rehabilitation from their own homes, while enabling medical professionals to visualise therapy progress using data collected from the hardware.

Bioliberty is seeking up to £1m investment.

Lenz Labs

Lenz Labs is a start-up developing essential condition monitoring components and AI-enabled technologies that increase reliability, reduce damage and optimise the efficiency of rail operations.

The company is aiming to tackle the 'black ice of rail' with software, Pilotor, fighting the dangers of low adhesion before they begin, using predictive analytics to identify sections of the track afflicted by low adhesion.

Lenz Labs is seeking investment of £2m to £3m.