Last Updated on: 22nd November 2023, 02:20 am
The ATI Boeing Accelerator revealed today its first cohort of companies building solutions to bolster the growth and competitiveness of the UK aerospace industry. The inaugural accelerator programme will be held in London starting on 14 January 2020 and running until early April 2020.
Created in partnership by the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) and Boeing, the programme selected 10 startups after receiving 268 applications in a six-week period. The accelerator is designed and delivered by European accelerator Ignite. GKN Aerospace has joined as an inaugural corporate sponsor.
The startups chosen are developing solutions in Blockchain for Supply Chain; Additive & Materials; Supply Chain; Workforce Productivity & Training; MRO; Design Tools; and Digital/Connected Factory.
The first ATI Boeing Accelerator cohort participants are:
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Anomalous – Edinburgh, Scotland (UK): Anomalous provides intelligent inspection software for aerospace, making inspection in aerospace faster and more accurate.
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Authentise – London & Philadelphia (UK & USA): Authentise delivers data-driven process automation software (workflow management engine, platform of manufacturing-related software modules) for additive manufacturing industries.
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Circulor – London, England (UK): Circulor provides traceability in supply chains, tracking the provenance of raw materials to demonstrate responsible sourcing, to track carbon production in the supply chain and identify fraud.
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Gravity Sketch – London, England (UK)]: Gravity Sketch empowers enterprise teams to collaborate and create in three dimensions by building intuitive multi-platform tools to radically improve the efficacy and efficiency of developing 3D products.
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Infinite Foundry – Porto, Portugal: Infinite Foundry is a full-stack 3D digital plant platform for engineering optimization of any industrial sector.
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Intellegens – Cambridge, England (UK): Intellegens has a unique deep learning toolset that can train deep neural networks from sparse or noisy data typical of experimental data.
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Kinsetsu – Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK): Kinsetsu has created an innovative portfolio of intelligent asset management software, using IoT sensors and a software platform to provide visibility and traceability of assets.
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Kraken IM – Middlesbrough, England (UK): Kraken IM helps companies develop strategies to collect and manage their engineering data and makes software that ensures that this information is delivered from their supply chains.
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Plyable – Oxford, England (UK): Plyable uses the latest in AI and machine learning technology to create proprietary software that automates the design and manufacture of composite tooling, allowing customers to go from CAD to component automatically.
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Septillion – Dunfermline, Scotland (UK): Septillion provides a secure blockchain-powered provenance platform for authenticating physical assets and verifying the genuine provenance and ownership of products throughout the supply chain and beyond.
The 10 selected startups emerged after a two-day interview session held in London to which 30 startups were invited to attend and present. Half of the cohort have raised £100K-£1M; while 20 per cent raised £1M-£3M, and 30 per cent were bootstrapped (£0-100K). 30 per cent of the startups on the inaugural programme are female founded.
The selected startups will have the option to receive a £100,000 equity investment from Boeing HorizonX Ventures, first-hand access to ATI, Boeing and GKN Aerospace strategists and technical experts. The programme also provides startups in the cohort with a list of perks and benefits to help them run and grow their companies. Companies in the cohort will also have the opportunity of paid proof of concepts (POCs) with Boeing and GKN Aerospace.
During the first week of the programme, the founders will meet investors, sponsors, aerospace experts and startup mentors. This will give them the opportunity to start building relationships and challenge any elements of the business that they need to work on during the programme. The second week will give them insight into Boeing, including its supply chain, and help prepare for the commercial opportunities ahead. The rest of the programme structure overall is tailored to the founder’s stage, needs and skill gaps with content and introductions to support their businesses and teams over the 12 weeks.
Gabi Matic, Programme Director at ATI Boeing Accelerator, commented: “We were overwhelmed with the interest from startups in this programme which is a strong indication of how much the aerospace sector is in need of a change. We’re also very happy with the final 10 companies and think we have a very strong cohort on our hands. Not only these are companies who will bring a fresh perspective to a traditional industry, but this group is also diverse, with 33% of founders being female.”
Brian Schettler, Senior Managing Director at Boeing HorizonX Ventures, said: “Boeing is thrilled to be involved in this programme, as we believe the 10 selected startups are bringing new ideas and technologies into our industry. We’re excited to see how the accelerator builds on their existing capabilities and enhances their ability to impact aerospace with their innovation.”
Gary Elliott, CEO at the Aerospace Technology Institute, added: “We created this programme because we are looking for great technology from startups who have a different approach to innovation and will introduce a new way of thinking into aerospace and aviation. We are excited about working with new entrepreneurs with a great level of energy and different ways of approaching innovation.”
Paul Perera, VP Technology at GKN Aerospace, said: “We are really excited about what the startup community – especially around sustainability and industry 4.0 – can bring into aerospace. I believe there’s a lot of innovation in this ecosystem and it will be incredibly rewarding to work with Boeing and ATI to help generate the future leaders of the aerospace industry.”
In April, the startups will celebrate the end of the programme with a demo day, where they will pitch their businesses to customers, key industry stakeholders and investors to achieve commercial and equity outcomes. The ATI Boeing Accelerator will run two cohorts a year, each of them made up of 8-15 startups.
