London Demo Day Returns to King’s College London, Showcasing the City’s Entrepreneurial Talent
20 start-ups from all four universities were selected to take part, including five from the King’s20 Accelerator. 2023 marks the first year that LSE has joined the event, bringing together entrepreneurial talent from London’s leading universities.
London Demo Day is an annual collaboration that introduces investors to the best and brightest innovations at London universities with founder-owned IP. Ventures are currently in the early-growth stage and are looking to raise between £100,000 – £1.5 million. Since 2019, 45 innovative teams have pitched, collectively raising over £45m+ with a combined post-money valuation of £155m.
The event was opened by President & Principal of King’s College London, Professor Shitij Kapur who said:
Our commitment to knowledge with purpose – using our expertise as a force for good – lies at the heart of our core mission at King’s. Today we are joining with three other forces for good – Imperial, UCL and LSE. This outstanding collaboration between four of London’s top universities will showcase and celebrate the next generation of innovators bravely putting their skills, knowledge and ideas forward. Entrepreneurship has never been more popular than it is right now and has never been more vital. As economies and work patterns change across the world, and we face new and complicated challenges, entrepreneurship will play an essential role. Innovative and entrepreneurial mindsets will create positive change as entrepreneurial people imagine what could be.”
Professor Shitij Kapur, President & Principal of King’s College London
Each venture took to the stage for three minutes pitching to an audience of 400+, including 200+ investors, partners, students and alumni, who had gathered at King’s College London’s Bush House building.
50% of the start-ups were health-related and all aligned with social impact. Other sectors covered Social Networking, CleanTech, Green Transportation, LegalTech and Immersive Tech, representing the huge breadth of ideas and innovation coming from London’s top universities.
The five ventures representing King’s this year were:
Artfol
A social platform for artists.
Managing many platforms online can be time consuming, especially for freelancers or amateur artists. Currently, artists need to have accounts on multiple platforms to gain access to various features they need to be successful online. Artfol combines artists’ needs into one platform with exclusive features.
Founder: Stefan Chao (BSc Computer Science, Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences)
BIOstress
Revolutionising workplace stress using biometric data.
The World Health Organisation estimates that workplace stress costs the global economy $1 trillion in lost productivity. Despite this enormous cost there is currently no objective measure of stress and no way to quantify the impact of health programmes at improving stress management. BIOStress has created the world’s most accurate measure of stress using biometric, psychological and behavioural data. The product is currently live in five countries.
Founder: Tim Routledge (MSc Applied Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience)
Bloume Health
The word’s first digital health platform for genito-pelvic pain.
1 in 4 women globally live with chronic pelvic pain- CPP (e.g. Endometriosis). CPP has a ripple effect on a person’s life: pain, mental health, sex, work/money, and overall reduced quality of life. Yet, diagnoses are delayed, women are disbelieved in their pain, and there’s a stark absence of comprehensive support/solutions in this area. Bloume Health is the world’s first digital care platform for pelvic pain, driven by science.
Founder: Claudia Chisari (PhD, Health-Medical Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience)
Enhanced Fertility
At-home testing and data-driven diagnostics for female and male fertility.
Globally, 1 in 6 people are infertile. Lack of accessibility to care means it takes on average 3.2 years to get a diagnosis and 7 years to get a baby. Enhanced Fertility provides clinical-grade at-home testing (bloods, scans, swabs, sperm analysis) and interactive technologies for women and men who have been trying to conceive for at least 6 months.
Founder: Andreia Trigo (MSc Advanced Practice – Leadership, Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care)
Psyrin
Psyrin leverages AI to introduce a new standard of assessment for serious mental illness.
Serious mental illness affects more than 145 million individuals globally, yielding devastating consequences. Clinical care for serious mental illness is ineffective, severely constrained by an ambiguous, subjective assessment process that is reactive in nature. Psyrin is developing novel machine learning algorithms that analyse speech patterns to enable quick, objective, and accurate evaluation of psychosis risk.
Founder: Julianna Olah (BA Philosophy, Faculty of Arts & Humanities)
The pitch event was followed by a networking drinks reception where each venture exhibited their start-up and had the opportunity to connect with investors in attendance.
London Demo Day will return in 2024 and will be hosted by LSE in September.
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