TechBlast reveals Bristol Startups 2.0

Bristol’s most promising early-stage technology startups have been celebrated in the first Bristol Startups 2.0 list.

The list, which recognises 18 of Bristol’s under-the-radar early-stage startups, has been published by nationwide startup community publication TechBlast.co.uk.

These founder-led startups are all bootstrapped, grant-funded, pre-seed or angel-backed and either building or harnessing a unique technology. They are all less than four years old.

TechBlast invited nominations from its readers, key figures in the city's tech scene and an array of incubators, accelerators and co-working spaces. Many of the startups featured are already making waves in the market.

“From medical devices for clearing airways and rehabilitation; vaccine transportation solutions and BioTechs; no-code tools and remote communication platforms; and photonic products and EnviroTechs, the city is rich with startup talent,” said Jonathan Symcox, editor, TechBlast.

“However, it’s no secret that most startups fail to survive. Even those with the greatest potential need help to truly take off, especially in a difficult funding market when VCs have battened down the hatches.

“By shining a light on these under-the-radar companies, perhaps we can help to give them a leg-up.”

Airway Medical

Airway Medical has developed a novel device for clearing airways. Its portable Airway Medical Suction Unit looks like a sports bottle and has the potential to make current electric/battery technology obsolete. It can be used in hospitals; by paramedics and other emergency services; to enhance the survival rates of tracheostomy patients; give respite from cystic fibrosis; and by battlefield medics.

Behind Login

Behind Login equips its FinTech clients to maintain and grow their competitive advantage. It runs regular research sessions and has open lines of communication with a global network of over one million users of financial products. Its in-house ReleaseTrack technology tracks when a client’s competitors are making updates to their apps and websites and feeds these back.

Dittofi

Dittofi empowers companies to build full-stack, enterprise-grade web apps via a visual no-code studio. With the view that existing solutions enforce 100% lock-in and limitations around design, performance and security, it delivers React.js & Google Go code that a user can export and own. It also provides the option for users to either host with the platform or deploy their code into their own Amazon Web Services account.

Ensilitech

More than 50% of vaccines worldwide are wasted, largely due to failures in cold chain transport and storage. Ensilitech’s technology exploits the growth of protective silica nanoshells on the surface of biological components to prevent degradation. Removing the need for cold chain infrastructure, it prevents wastage, improves shelf-life and increases the accessibility of biological therapeutics and diagnostics globally.

HealthHubble

HealthHubble’s core search engine & directory breaks down the typical barriers to self-funded healthcare, making it easier for people to find and contact health and wellness providers throughout the UK. It also improves the visibility and reach of clinics including private GPs, specialist doctors, physiotherapy and osteopathic, acupuncture and hypnotherapy.

Impulsonics

Impulsonics is leveraging the power of acoustic waves to streamline BioTech automation and create new capabilities in tissue engineering. Cell culture automation remains a highly manual field and the University of Bristol spinout aims to change that and make it accessible to every lab. Its technology is used all over the world, from wind turbines to virtual reality gaming and now life sciences.

Light Trace Photonics

Photonic integrated circuits are much like microelectronic circuits, but they guide and manipulate light rather than electrical signals. Light Trace Photonics aims to cut the time and costs associated with the development cycles required to bring photonic products to market. It claims its innovation can aid the UK in tackling strategic challenges such as the ageing society and future mobility.

Microsol

Microsol accelerates the development of formulations for respiratory drug delivery. It offers digital solutions to measurements traditionally confined to the laboratory, enabling the optimisation of the formulations that carry drugs into the lung. Such an approach allows the regional deposition of drugs to be controlled, delivering therapeutics to where they need to be in the correct form.

Molydyn

Computational tools have shown extreme benefit for biological sciences and drug development. However, material science as a sector has low uptake of chemical modelling approaches due to a skills gap. Molydyn is supporting material scientists, democratising access to powerful tools with the potential to significantly reduce wasted time and resources by reducing the number of experiments required.

Moropo

Moropo’s app-testing platform claims to be 10x more efficient than existing options. Allowing users to build, run and scale open-source test scripts across dozens of iOS and Android devices without writing code, it uses open-source Maestro format to enable import and export from the community-built tools which sprung up due to frustrations with limited Apple and Google app ecosystem tools.

Mykor

Mykor is a biotechnology and advanced materials company working on developing sustainable materials for the construction industry as well as providing consultancy services. It works across design, engineering and life sciences to provide building materials with excellent physical properties, functional design and radical sustainability.

Orbital

Most remote communication options are overwhelming, hard to learn - or just plain boring. Orbital aims to banish video call burnout, boost creativity and build a thriving culture through custom spaces called ‘galaxies’ where users move their avatar to connect with others and create instant breakaway areas. They can also broadcast screens simultaneously, share files and use interactive collaboration features.

POPcomms

A no-code ‘experience builder’, POPcomms’ platform aims to help clients across a variety of industries - including advanced manufacturing, healthcare and the built environment - wow customers via personalised, interactive visuals such as 3D product models and configurators. It then tracks interactions for data-driven decision-making and personalised outreach strategies.

Propflo

A property transparency platform powered by AI, Propflo supports homeowners, sellers and buyers with property scores, insights and services. It aims to speed up transactions; gives owners the ability to upload documents safely and securely; calculates which lenders will lend against a property; and includes a green home investment calculator.

RouteZero

RouteZero's digital tools help corporations to accelerate decarbonisation action by addressing the No.1 source of emissions: travel. Its carbon-forecasting and intervention-planning tools increase the confidence in hitting emission goals, while its employee-facing tools get the whole organisation on board.

Senmag Robotics

Senmag Robotics is developing affordable, high-fidelity force feedback devices to bring haptics to 3D models. By making them feel solid, it gives these virtual models a ‘presence’ in real space - allowing users to understand whether the real product would be hard or soft, heavy or light - and aims to replace motion controllers for more realistic interaction with VR and AR programs.

Solesense

Developed to enable patients to do more independent rehabilitation, SoleSense’s wireless pressure sensing insoles deliver auditory and visual biofeedback via an app. With a focus on neurological conditions that affect balance and walking, it allows patients to track their own progress and set collaborative goals with their therapists.

Zedible

Helping to map and track carbon from the supply chain to the food & hospitality sectors - which it says contribute to more than half of emissions - Zedible aims to ‘make CO₂ a KPI’. It then allows users to move the dial through ‘one-click’ partial or full offsetting options, delivered through an array of recognised projects.