Yesterday evening, the London Business Awards 2020 celebrated the most deserving startups of 2020 from the London business ecosystem. Beautifully organised by London & Partners (who promote diversity and knowledge and help founders through their entrepreneurial journeys), the ceremony took place at East Wintergarden in the heart of Canary Wharf. Across the evening, the 400 attendees (including Maddyness) had the chance to network with leading startups, scaleups, investors and corporates, as well as to experience some of London\u2019s latest AR and VR technologies.<\/p>\n
\"London is open\". This is the kickoff video message Mayor Sadiq Khan (who couldn't attend yesterday) diffused to the assembly. London will always welcome talents and businesses.<\/p>\n
\"London is the most entrepreneurial city in the world. Brexit will NOT change that. London is proud of its history and has great diversity. As an entrepreneur myself, I understand the challenges of startup founders. The Business Growth Program helps companies from finance, product launch and gives entrepreneurs access to many key markets.\" - The Deputy Mayor of London, Rajesh Agrawal<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Founded in 2011 and headed by Laura Citron, London & Partners honour diversity, creativity, knowledge and work closely with entrepreneurs in the different stages of their startup adventures.\u00a0The awards, won by 10 startups and founders who marked the year, are an opportunity to shine a light on the successes of London businesses, from international companies who have set up here to homegrown companies achieving their ambitions on London & Partners business programmes: the Business Growth Programme and the Mayor's International Business Programme.<\/p>\n
This year, the London Business Awards categories and winners are...<\/h2>\n
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- One to watch: Spyras<\/a><\/li>\n
- Paying it forward: Anne-Marie Imafidon, Co-Founder and CEO at Stemettes<\/a><\/li>\n
- Best London newcomer: Sitetracker<\/a><\/li>\n
- Disruptor of the year: Mitt Wearables<\/a><\/li>\n
- Impact award for education: VotesForSchools<\/a><\/li>\n
- Impact award for the environment: Ocean Bottle<\/a> and<\/span> OLIO<\/a><\/li>\n
- Impact award for health: MedShr<\/a><\/li>\n
- Startup of the year: FilmChain<\/a><\/li>\n
- Scaleup of the year: checkout.com<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Presentation of the winning companies and talents<\/h2>\n
Spyras<\/a> is developing innovative technologies to better analyse breathing and provide game-changing analytics in respiratory health. Its signature technology is an innovative paper-based sensor that can monitor breathing patterns, volumes and gases on breath. Spyras intends to utilise its technology and expertise in markets ranging from sports through to medicine.<\/p>\n
Anne-Marie Imafidon is a keynote speaker, presenter and co-founder of award-winning Stemettes<\/a> to inspire the next generation of females into Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) fields by showing them the amazing women already in STEM via a series of panel events, hackathons, exhibitions, and mentoring schemes.<\/p>\n
Sitetracker<\/a> powers the successful development of critical infrastructure. Market leaders in telecommunications, utility, smart cities, and energy industries such as Verizon, Ericsson, Fortis, Alphabet, British Telecom, and Vodafone - rely on Sitetracker to manage millions of sites and projects representing more than $19B of portfolio holdings globally.<\/p>\n
Mitt Wearables<\/a> thought that there still remains, in 2020, a need for comfortable, easy-to-fit, user-friendly prosthetic limbs that can be made at an affordable price. Mitt wants to connect people to the world by creating a community of users who can do anything.<\/p>\n
VotesForSchools<\/a> provides weekly current affairs lessons across the primary, secondary and college sectors. It meets schools' obligations to deliver British Values (SMSC) and Prevent requirements. Students then vote on the issue, their voice is shared with the wider world, giving an insight into what they think about a range of issues.<\/p>\n
Ocean Bottle<\/a>\u00a0makes reusable bottles that save our oceans. Smart chip activated, each bottle funds collection of ocean-bound plastic and sets up recycling infrastructure in coastal communities worldwide. Plastic collectors can exchange plastic waste for money or credit to spend on tuition, tech goods, healthcare or access to micro-finance.<\/p>\n
OLIO<\/a> is an app tackling the problem of food waste in the home and local community. It does this by connecting people who have food they don't want or need, with neighbours living nearby who would like it. More than 1.5 million people have joined OLIO and shared 3 million portions of food.<\/p>\n
MedShr<\/a> enables doctors to share and discuss clinical cases in a private professional network. MedShr now has more than 1 million members in 180 countries with cases in every medical area. The MedShr app and web platform provide doctors with a unique system for peer-to-peer learning and medical education that allows them to share knowledge and skills to improve patient care and, ultimately, save lives.<\/p>\n