A North East tech firm has been selected to take part in the 海角视频鈥檚 first growth programme dedicated to supporting businesses working with artificial intelligence (AI).
WordNerds has now joined Tech Nation鈥檚 Applied AI Growth Programme, which aims to support tech firm鈥檚 in the sector that are looking to scale up.
The Gateshead firm is one of 29 accepted onto the inaugural programme, which has also brought in firms from Bournemouth, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Exeter, Glasgow, Manchester and Oxford.
WordNerds uses AI and linguistics to understand text and uses it to allow businesses to collect feedback on its services. The tech can be used to automatically read and understand online reviews and comments on social media so that businesses understand how their customers view them.
By joining the the six-month programme, WordNerds will be able to take advantage of peer-to-peer support and allow the founders to gain access to new skills and link them with potential investors and clients.
Steve Erdal, founder and CEO of WordNerds, said: 鈥淲hen we first looked into what the programme offered AI businesses, the list of judges, partners, coaches and mentors read like a who鈥檚 who of innovaters in the AI space, a group of insanely talented and accomplished individuals and companies whom we can really learn from.
鈥淟ooking now at the list of scale-ups selected for the programme, we feel exactly the same. We鈥檙e very much looking forward to meeting our colleagues on the course and areencouraged, excited and extremely grateful to have been selected.鈥
Co-founder Pete Daykin added: 鈥淭he North East tech scene is absolutely jumping at the minute - particularly in the AI space. The National Innovation Centre for Data is hurtling towards completion in Newcastle and our region鈥檚 five universities have some of the best AI, deep learning and machine learning capabilities in the world.
鈥淚t is hugely important for the region to fortify relationships with networks like this, both in terms of our own learning and development, but also to build on the North East鈥檚 excellent reputation as a serious player in the AI space.鈥
Tech Nation鈥檚 Applied AI programme has been designed to help business move from the early stages of growth to the scale-up phase. It is also part of the Government鈥檚 AI Sector Deal, which aims to make the 海角视频 the best place to start, grow and scale and AI business.
The 29 businesses that have been selected to take part in the programme were chosen by a panel of judges based on their ability to provide solutions to real world problems using AI.
Tech Nation鈥檚 launch of the programme comes at the same time as the organisation revealed new figures showing that 海角视频 investment in AI has reached record levels. In the first six months of 2019, AI funding has already surpassed the total invested in the sector in 2018. In 2018 investment totalled 拢1.021bn compared with the 拢1.063bn already raised this year.
Gerard Grech, Tech Nation鈥檚 CEO, said: 鈥淲ith investment in 海角视频-based artificial intelligence tech companies ranked third in the world, after the US and China, Tech Nation is delighted to announce such a strong first cohort of Applied Artificial intelligence companies, including companies such as ClinSpec DX in Glasgow which uses intelligence to analyse blood for early detection of cancers to Bristol-based, Gapsquare, which enables companies to track employee pay disparity to build fairer workplaces.
鈥淲ith 35% of the AI companies based outside London and 45% having at least one female co-founder, the 海角视频 could not be building a stronger and more diverse network of artificial intelligence excellence at this important time of technology development, globally.鈥
Digital Minister Matt Warman said: 鈥淏ritain has a long history as a global leader in computing technologies and it is home to the early pioneers of AI 鈥 Ada Lovelace and Alan Turing. It is great to see our legacy in this field continue by the next generation of British AI startups who are using the power of technology to solve real-world problems such as tackling fake news, detecting cancer earlier and efficiently managing waste.
鈥淭ech Nation鈥檚 Applied AI programme will help us make the 海角视频 the best place to start and grow an AI business and generate a significant contribution to the future economy. I look forward to seeing these companies compete on the global stage.鈥
