Ones to watch Who’s looking good in 2021
Hannah Baker looks at the West businesses whose futures are bright as we step into a brand new year
WITH 2020 now (thankfully) behind us, we take a look at some of the companies to keep an eye on in 2021.
In no particular order, here are some businesses to watch out for this year.
Dyson
Sir James Dyson’s company looks set for a big year in 2021 as it turns 30 years old.
The business – known for its vacuum cleaners and air purifiers – announced a number of major developments for growth in 2020.
In November, the company said it was planning to double its product range with a £2.75billion investment, vowing to grow research into robotics and artificial intelligence at its Hullavington Airfield Campus in Wiltshire.
The site has become home to Dyson’s large and growing robotics and machine learning hub. With its existing campus in nearby Malmesbury, Dyson employs some 4,000 people in Wiltshire working on new technologies and new products.
The company’s education institute – The Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology – is also being given the power to award its own degrees from September next year.
It will mean the technology company is able to deliver and award every aspect of its degree programme (it currently partners with
Warwick University) using its own teaching departments, professional services teams and governance structures.
Dyson is also progressing plans to open its new global head office complex in the historic St James Power Station in Singapore. This will be accompanied by an expansion of its advanced R&D facilities and research labs.
The business is planning to create a new dedicated software hub in Alabang, in the Philippines, to boot.
Ultraleap
Fast-growing touchless tech company Ultraleap is predicted to join Ovo Energy and Graphcore as one of Bristol’s next unicorns.
The business was formed when Bristol University spinout Ultrahaptics and San Francisco-based computer hardware device manufacturer Leap Motion merged in 2019 - and it secured some major deals in 2020 for its hand-tracking and mid-air haptic technology, including with a US cinema advertising business.
It also signed a five-year agreement with the Aquarium of the Pacific in California for its technology and was named one of the top 50 most innovative technology companies in the West of England.
In 2020, Ultraleap developed a way to make public touchscreens touchless in a bid to stop the spread of germs.
Its application - known as TouchFree - lets companies retrofit existing kiosks and touchscreens so people are able interact with the screen without touching it.
The company uses camera technology and hand-tracking software that means the screens can work with touchless gesture control.
In a world gripped by a global pandemic, a company using touchless tech will certainly be one to watch out for.
Graphcore
Bristol-based artificial intelligence chip maker Graphcore is now valued at $2.8billion after raising a whopping $222million (£162.5million) in its latest funding
round in December 2020.
The Series E funding round was led by Ontario Teachers’ Pensions Plan Board as well as new investors Fidelity International and Schroders. Existing Graphcore investors, including Baillie Gifford and Draper Esprit, also joined the round.
Graphcore’s latest investment brought the total funds raised by the company to more than $710million since it was cofounded by Nigel Toon and Simon Knowles in 2016.
The business has developed one of the most advanced intelligence processing units in the world. The technology is now used in machine learning globally to help power driverless cars and robots.
Graphcore achieved ‘unicorn’ status in 2018 - and has continued to grow rapidly in the last two years. In 2019, Mr Toon, Graphcore’s cofounder and chief executive, was named the UK’s entrepreneur of the year.
The company says it expects 2021 to be another “big year” with advances in artificial intelligence moving apace.
Graphcore’s next fundraising step could be an initial public offering, Mr Toon told the Guardian in December. However, he said this would be “unlikely” in 2021.
Inspecs
The Bath-based designer eyewear manufacturer and distributor floated on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in February 2020.
The company raised £23.5million in its initial public offering (IPO) and had a market capitalisation at the time of £138million.
In April, the business won a Queen’s Awards for Enterprise for international trade.
Although the company saw revenues hit by Covid-19 in 2020 – in the the six months to June 30, revenue decreased to $16.7million from $30.4million - the business has made progress back towards profitability.
In July, it bought up the manufacturing arm of collapsed Gloucester-based glasses company Norville Group for £2.4million. The deal included £1.2million of freehold property for Norville’s Gloucester site and the remainder for stock, plant, IP and contracts.
Then, in November, the company, which also owns the factory where John Lennon’s famous round glasses were made, agreed to buy a German rival for EUR95million (£84.7million).
Inspecs acquired all the equity interests in Nuremberg-based eyewear supplier Eschenbach Holding. The Bath firm said the acquisition was a “key strategic step” in the company’s growth internationally.
Virti
Bristol-based Virti uses extended reality (XR) and artificial intelligence (AI) to help organisations around the world to train workers remotely.
The business was included on TIME ‘s Best Inventions list for 2020 after being used to help hospitals, universities, schools and businesses during the pandemic.
Dr Alex Young, a former orthopaedic surgeon who founded Virti two years ago, said with face-toface training “near impossible” his company’s technology could be used instead.
Virti developed a special Covid19 module that teaches frontline workers skills such as how to ventilate a patient, safely use personal protective equipment (PPE), and navigate an intensive care ward.
It is also helping carry out training including preparing medics in the US to perform complex surgeries and tackling doctor shortages in Northern Ethiopia.
In December, the business announced it had developed a ‘virtual patient’ that was being used by the NHS to train medical staff.
The pioneering AI technology allows healthcare clinicians and medical students to hone their skills remotely, minimising the need for in-person training.
The tech allows medics and trainees to interact with AI-powered ‘patients’ through a tablet, desktop or VR or AR headset, and role-play life-like, interactive scenarios.
West Suffolk Hospital has been using Virti’s technology in its intensive care unit to help train staff who have been drafted in to deal with the Covid-19 demand. It is now considering applying Virti tech to other areas of hospital practice.
Hetty’s Kitchen
The Gloucester-based brownie maker had a stellar 2020, despite the restrictions caused by coronavirus.
Founder Henrietta Kitt (Hetty), who set up the business in 2018, was forced to adapt her award-winning bakery business to survive after the closure of local markets.
During the first national lockdown Hetty’s Kitchen launched a mail-order brownie service - and business boomed.
According to Hetty’s Instagram, the decision to pivot the business model led to significant growth, with orders from across the UK.
“It’s been manic for us, working longer hours with a smaller team,” she wrote. “I’ve gone from attempting to gently return from maternity leave, to working flat out.”
The business, which also has a ‘cake hatch’ at Morelands Trading Estate, outgrew its bakery and is now looking for new premises.
Hetty added: “We are in the process of moving and expanding! But it’s going to be a monumental task to do so.”