10 Startups Putting The Welsh Tech Scene On The Map
TechWeekEurope takes a look at the best tech startups and entrepreneurs developing new services and ideas in Wales
Codez Academy
Despite there being a growing need for people who are equipped to work in the tech workplace, it’s thought there are 12.6 million adults in the UK who lack basic digital skills. Clearly, that’s not good. Codez Academy, which is headquartered in Cardiff, is a start-up that wants to change this. It runs a number of bootcamp-style courses to get both children and adults coding and working with technology. The academy was formed in 2015 by Dean Jenkins, last year’s winner of the Caerphilly Business Forum Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Skippr
Elliot Thomas is among a growing breed of Welsh tech entrepreneurs. Having worked for Veeqo and launched pet photo sharing community Fuzmo, he’s working on his latest project, Skippr. It’s a marketing platform for social media site Instagram and offers analytics tools as well as the ability to schedule and collaborate on posts with team members. Although the company is only a few months old, it’s already attracted investment from top angel investors such as Launcha Capital’s Daniel McPherson and New Look’s Tom Singh. It recently closed a funding round with a valuation of £600,000 and signed up the first 50 paying customers.
Learnium
Spun out of Newport-based accelerator programme Alacrity, Learnium is a start-up looking to revolutionise the way students learn and collaborate together on work. Launched by Robert Dragan in 2015, it’s a cloud-based platform where students and connect with their peers from colleges and universities across the UK. They’re able to share knowledge and revise together. Learnium recently formed a partnership with American tech giant Microsoft, which will see its platform integrated into MS Office Online and become available to 4 million students.
Go2Gp
Virtual health check-up service Go2Gp is one of the newest tech start-ups in Wales. It’s just launched after reaching the final round of Welsh tech accelerator IdeasFund, where it benefited from the support and guidance of entrepreneurs like Just Eat founder David Buttress and Veeqo’s Matt Warren. Founded by business expert Shah Hoque and pharmacist Mahmuda Khatun, it’s currently in the process of raising investment and has signed up more than 500 customers in two weeks. Their aim is to create a service for teams and individuals where they can get health advice instantly – without having to see an actual doctor.
Senta
Senta wants to change the way accountancy firms are run by offering a cloud service that handles areas such as workflow, document management, CRM and marketing. The start-up’s founder, Phil Murphy, believes the platform lets accountants focus on what’s important – and that’s client accounts. Last year, it raised £139,000 out of a £75,000 crowdfunding site Seedrs, which it’s using to develop the product and get it out to customers around the globe.
