Innovation can be found far beyond just companies in software and hardware, but in a wide range of sectors including advanced manufacturing, life sciences and financial services.
And here we highlight great tech-focused firms in Wales, from established companies going through new exciting technology-driven growth phases to high-growth-potential start-ups.
This is not an exhaustive list, but very much a snapshot highlighting that Wales has much to be proud of in terms of innovative firms.
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Our list is in alphabetical order.
1. Amplyfi
Set up in Cardiff in 2015, Amplyfi is being tipped to become a Welsh unicorn (with a valuation of $1bn).
Exploring fathoms of the web undisturbed by the standard indexing of household search engines, its innovative software is helping companies to unearth potential future fallout from global issues and current affairs that could present challenges to business.
2. Big Lemon
Based in Caerphilly and Cardiff, Big Lemon designs and builds bespoke software, apps and bots. The business is unique in that rather than selling products or services, it solves problems with the creative use of technology. They have worked on some interesting projects from developing digital products for Admiral and UWTSD, to designing native apps for the NHS.
The business is growing both in revenue and staff and the company has more than doubled its turnover in the last three years. With several large-scale projects lined up the business also expects to create two further full-time jobs in the next six months.
3. BioPaxium Technologies
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BioPaxium is a Wrexham-based company that focuses on eco-packaging solutions and aims to provide an alternative to the non-recyclable black plastic trays often used in ready meal packaging.
Its founder Peter Davies has worked in the industry for more than a decade, and in that time has travelled across Europe and Asia learning about the materials and the limits of the technology surrounding plastics.
Peter founded BioPaxium in 2017 and has developed a technology that creates eco-friendly materials at a cost roughly 30 to 40% cheaper than market leaders such as China. Using pulp fibres and biopolymer formulations the company offers environmentally friendly solutions for ready meal packaging and modified atmosphere packaging.
The business is in discussion with interested investment parties and believes a deal will be brokered by the end of 2019 allowing for manufacturing to start mid-2020.
4. Chetwood Financial
Fintech firm Wrexham-based Chetwood Financial is pioneering technology to offer better deals to customers, having secured a banking licence last year.
It operates on a new cloud-based technology platform, Yobata, which can house a wide range of financial products from lending to savings. The business is now ready to take the market by storm having secured up to a £150m investment (debt and equity) from private investment firm Elliot, for what is effectively a new bank in Wales.
5. Cimteq
Wrexham-based Cimteq specialises in the development, supply and support of modular software solutions for the wire & cable manufacturing industry.
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Founded in 1998 it is managed by Ali and Amanda Shehab, who both have extensive prior experience within the wire and cable industry, having worked at BICC Cables.
Last year it secured more than £2m in growth finance.
6. Clayton Power 海角视频
Clayton’s technology is helping the transport industry cut hundreds of thousands of tonnes of C02 emissions from their fleets.
The Cardiff-based company produces power systems that are easily retrofitted into commercial vehicles (from vans to lorries to ambulances), which charge as a vehicle is driven.
When the vehicle stops, the charged battery then powers onboard equipment, which means engineers/workers don’t have to leave an engine running, saving fuel and money in the process.
7. Concentric Health
Concentric Health has developed a platform allowing patients to share decisions with their clinicians for best outcomes.
The technology from the Cardiff-based firm, as well as empowering patients to make decisions that are right for them – and digitising the paper process – is predicted to save health boards money through reduced medical negligence costs and avoiding unnecessary operations.
Founders of the business, based at Tramshed Tech, are Carmarthen-born surgeon Dafydd Loughran and NHS and academic surgeon Edward St John.
They have received a £350,000 investment from the 海角视频’s leading innovation agency, Innovate 海角视频.
8. Concrete Canvas
Based in Treforest, Concrete Canvas has developed “building in a bag” technology that only requires water and air for construction.
Used in applications such as lining ditches, it can be installed 10 times faster than conventional concrete.
Its products are exported to more than 80 countries, through a network of over 40 international sales partners. This year, turnover is set to exceed £11m, with more than 80% derived from export sales, with another year of strong growth forecast for 2019.
The firm now employs over 50 people in six offices across the globe, the most recent of which to be opened being Milan and the UAE.
9. Cufflink
Anglesey tech firm Cufflink is developing new cutting-edge software which could revolutionise the way we manage and share our personal information.
From its M-SParc Science Park base, it is seeking to tackle one of the biggest issues of our time – data protection.
It has also secured funding from Innovate 海角视频, the 海角视频 Government’s Innovation Agency.
Maintaining the security of people’s personal information is at the heart of Cufflink’s efforts.
10. Econotherm
Bridgend-based Econotherm is a leading player in the global waste heat recovery market.
It designs and manufactures heat pipes and exchangers for use in diverse areas of industrial waste and heat.
Since being established in 2007 it has supplied almost every industry sector to 22 export locations.
On the back of impressive growth its plans to open a second factory in Bridgend next year.
11. Elma Technologies
Based in Flintshire, Elmac Technologies manufactures flame and explosion protection devices that are used in some of the world’s most challenging environments, including oil refineries and offshore drilling rigs, petrochemical plants and the bulk storage of hazardous liquids.
The business has been in existence for more than 70 years, however it wasn’t until 2007 that the company decided to pursue a more aggressive international expansion plan and started exporting its products overseas.
Exports now account for more than 50% of Elmac’s annual turnover.
12. GPC Systems
Swansea-based GPC Systems has signed an international distribution contract that will see its 3D modelling solution deployed on the famous Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a venue for NASCAR.
A five-year distribution agreement with American concrete and asphalt maintenance company, ART Concrete Solutions, will see the software-house’s 3D pothole technology utilised to identify and repair damage at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Its technology is also designed to be used across highway and road maintenance markets to identify and measure the depth of potholes, providing the potential to save local authorities and motorists tens of thousands in repairing needless damages to vehicles.
13. HateLab
HateLab (hatelab.net) based in Cardiff, is providing groundbreaking insight into online hate speech.
It has been awarded in excess of £1.7m from 海角视频 Research and Innovation and the US Department of Justice. HateLab employs a team of six data scientists to innovate with emerging technology, including ethical machine learning (a form of AI), to measure and counter the growing problem of “cyberhate”.
The HateLab Dashboard, a real-time web-interface that deploys their bespoke AI on all available social media APIs, is being piloted within the National Online Hate Crime Hub.
Working with Silver Circle law firm, Mischon de Reya, it is also developing an online hate speech “tracker” for the general public.
14. Hut Six
Newport-based Hut Six has developed a series of software-based cyber security products that raise awareness and indicate appropriate corrective behaviour amongst IT users to combat the techniques and ruses used to breach an organisation’s security procedures.
The business, which came out of the Alacrity Foundation’s entrepreneurship programme in Newport, recently secured £450,000 in a funding round that included the Development Bank of Wales, as well as existing and angel investors.
It is now looking to scale-up in a market that is worth £1bn and growing.
15. Intelligent Ultrasound
Cardiff-based Intelligent Ultrasound Group recently secured its first long-term licence and co-development agreement for its AI software with one of the world’s leading ultrasound equipment manufacturers.
The long-term agreement will enable the integration of Intelligent Ultrasound’s real-time image analysis software onto a range o specific ultrasound systems marketed in the global healthcare market.
The business, formerly known as Medaphor, is listed on the Alternative Investment Market.
16. Kaydiar
Technology developed in a Welsh university by an undergraduate student has the potential to help thousands of diabetics patients suffering diabetic foot ulcerations.
Its founder David Barton, who lives in Swansea, was studying podiatry medicine at Cardiff Metropolitan University when he came up with his device, which has now won the backing of a multinational firm.
It is hoped the device, which fits into a patient’s shoe, will aid healing for tens of thousands of people with diabetic foot ulcerations by offloading pressure.
It has recently secured investment and orders, subject to regulatory approvals, from an undisclosed multinational firm.
17. Lower My Charges
Lower My Charges is a financial technology platform that allows users to access low-cost, high-quality financial advice remotely on any internet-enabled device, talking with a real human financial adviser.
The platform helps people save charges on their investment and pensions through a free switch service, essentially bridging the gap between automated comparison technology and qualified financial advisors.
After two years in development, the platform launched in June and is already showing remarkable signs of growth with three companies (totalling 4,000 employees) pledged to join its innovative salary exchange scheme.
The Welsh ICE-based business has seven full-time staff members, has raised a significant amount of seed funding and was featured on BBC’s Moneybox.
In the next three years, the business plans to create more than 120 jobs as well as aggressively expand its employer’s services offering.
18. Nightingale HQ
Nightingale HQ is an online platform designed to help businesses become early adopters of artificial intelligence (AI). From chatbots, data management, customer insight and deep learning, AI will become more prevalent as big data and IoT technology further integrate itself into day-to-day life.
After several months of beta testing the business launched in June and is now continuing its product development with the aim to offer services beyond its competitors, including technology giants Microsoft.
Despite the business being pre-revenue, it is growing and is currently recruiting for three new positions, one of which is a data scientist apprenticeship in collaboration with Cardiff MET University.
Nightingale HQ is also a finalist at the Pitch It Valleys event where they will compete for a potential £75k investment.
19. Snow-Forecast.com
Back in 1998, Cardiff-based Snow-Forecast.com changed the way people access weather information for snow sports.
The business is now one of Wales’ most active websites serving forecasts and conditions reports to over 45 million worldwide users each year.
It also has sister apps and websites that cater for surfers, mountaineers, sailors, fishermen and city dwellers.
Co-founded by Cardiff University graduates Nick Russill, Robert Davies and Rob McDonald, the team now has nine specialists across Wales, Russia and New Zealand.
Commercial partnership with lastminute.com has grown revenue by over 50% in the past year.
20. Sure Chill
Cardiff-based Sure Chill has pioneered an innovative cooling technology to protect life-saving vaccines in developing countries.
Their medical refrigerators can last without power for up to 12 days and have since protected 20 million vaccinations around the world.
Its technology is improving healthcare and living conditions in countries across Africa and Asia – especially those without reliable power.
Sure Chill recently raised £4m to support its next growth phase.
21. Talent Ticker
Talent Ticker is a SaaS (Software as a service) platform that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide market insights to help firms identify staffing trends, improve workflow efficiencies and increase outreach and sales.
Talent Ticker, which was founded in 2018, services their financial services and recruitment clients across North America and Europe by having offices in Cardiff, London and New York. With their innovative data analytics where they are predicting when firms are hiring and down-
sizing where they are setting a new standard for recruitment efficiency and revolutionising the way staffing works.
With more than 1,000 users having already signed up to Talent Ticker, they launched their enterprise solutions package in June and are on to surpass over $200,000 in ARR (annually recurring revenue) within their first quarter of monetisation.
22. TenderTec
TenderTec is an AI start-up that aims to set a new standard for the healthcare of elderly and vulnerable people. In a market trapped in
“blanket” and reactive care models, Tendertec’s first product is a safety and monitoring system that automatically and in-real time detects emergencies such as falls, incidents and activities to keep vulnerable people living alone safe and independent. Unlike wearable tech, it sits in the home and doesn’t require its users to engage with the technology.
TenderTec also connects with family and caregivers, alerting them to any situations and providing data to add context to incidents for further prevention. It has secured two pilots in England where it will be deploying its technology into the real world this autumn, paving the way for its first commercial product to hit the market in the next 12 months.
Since being founded in 2017 the business has already added two new members of staff and is expecting to create another two jobs by the end of the summer. To accommodate this growth, the business has moved to larger offices in Cardiff.
The business has already secured more than £560k in pre-seed investment and R&D grants.TenderTec won GE Healthcare’s and EIT Health’s “Disruptive Product” 2018 Award, as well as featuring in Vodafone’s 5G Dig Top 20 start-ups with the most potential to take advantage of 5G internationally.
23. Veeqo
Swansea-based Veeqo has a growing global client base for its e-commerce tech platform that helps retailers sync their inventory across multiple sales channels and fulfil customer orders.
Earlier this year it secured £3.3m in equity backing from Octopus Investments. The latest investment round will allow Veeqo, which was founded by Llanelli-born Matt
Warren in 2015, to increase its dominant position in the 海角视频 market, and to expand into the USA – while building on what will continue to be its headquarters in Swansea.
24. Vortex IOT
Swansea-based IOT builds sensors and networks for harsh environments where conditions are hostile, power supply is limited, AI is needed and data security is critical.
In the past year it has invested heavily in developing air quality monitoring (AQM) sensors. It has pilots covering Neath & Port Talbot Council, Qatar, Tata Steel and are in process of getting its device adopted by the United Nations Air
Programme for deployment globally in developing nations. It has
also secured nearly £1m from
Innovate 海角视频 to accelerate product development.
25. Weekly10
Weekly10 is a software company based in the Wrexham Enterprise Hub that has developed a platform designed to increase employee engagement in organisations around the world.
Focussed around a 10-minute check-in it engages employees and empowers managers to support their staff. Users take 10 minutes to answer some simple questions about their work, achievements and issues, which is then fed to the managers who can comment and provide feedback on these responses.
The platform is available on the web, mobile app and workplace platforms such as Slack and Microsoft Teams, allowing employees to check-in from anywhere.
The SaaS (Software as a Service) aims to instil a culture of feedback at an organisation, leading to a more transparent and inclusive feel amongst a business’s staff and management.
Using Machine Learning, Weekly10 is also able to provide department and organisational insights into employee sentiment and well-being to help inform strategic decision making.
Weekly10 launched in late 2017 and now has a growing customer base across the world. In February 2019 the company won The StartUp Series, the 海角视频’s largest seed funding competition.
Following a six-figure equity investment, the company is hiring psychology and engineering roles to further develop its machine learning-powered analytics platform.