Aerial Icon Limited

Aerial Icon is exploring the production of ultra-high-quality aerial 360 videos to deliver innovative VR therapeutic health interventions for mental health disorders. These videos will serve as the foundation for constructing virtual reality (VR) therapies that are designed to address prevalent mental disorders such as Anxiety, Acrophobia (fear of heights) and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) amongst other conditions.

C-Prio Ltd

C-Prio Ltd is leveraging the capabilities of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to tackle the substantial and increasing demand on NHS histopathology services. They used the Arise ABOVE ISG funds in the clinical validation phase of their AI models, specifically, for the acquisition of real digital images of colorectal biopsies, enabling rigorous testing and refining of AI models.

Elixir AI

Elixir AI are an Essex-based company developing innovative research projects in child health. They plan to run a pilot clinical trial in collaboration with Colchester & Ipswich hospitals to see if allowing doctors to listen to a child’s cough at the time of GP referral can lead to an early diagnosis. ABOVE funding enabled Elixir AI to fund upgrades to their existing software which will make this larger study with Colchester & Ipswich hospitals, viable. The project will support this existing work funded by their successful NIHR Grant (£30,000). The company is actively seeking substantial further R&D funding to scale this solution. The business expects to create 2 additional jobs in the near future once future funding is secured.

eScent (Sensory Design & Technology Ltd):

Sensory Design & Technology (trading as “eScent”) mission is to address the increasing levels of anxiety and stress people face, developing a wearable, context-driven scent intervention for the treatment of mental distress. The Arise ABOVE grant will primarily be used to secure the company’s IP in the US and commission the design for PPIE work with patients. eScent have joined as member of the Arise innovation Hubs they have been supported through the Ambitious Essex Accelerator Programme.

Guardpack Ltd

Guardpack manufacture sachets, sachet wipes and wet wipes, and in recent years the company have increased their focus on developing greener options for their customers including a recyclable laminate and a biodegradable and compostable option for the wipes themselves. The Arise ABOVE funding enables the company to undertake a gap analysis and regulatory assessment against the ISO13485 standard. Contributing to future investment and the development of a cleanroom at the premises of this Essex-based business. It will unlock further funding for this project.

Japeto (Fintek Ltd)

Japeto is a software agency based in Harlow, creating a chatbot platform for the healthcare and wellbeing sectors. Their project was to establish the viability of different large language models in healthcare chatbot applications and to establish whether any particular language models would provide better results to service users. Open-Source LLMs are memory intensive and cannot be run on a normal computer. The ABOVE funding solved this problem by allowing Japeto to purchase and build a dedicated computer rig with a GPU capable of running Large Language Models at sufficient speed – ‘The Blue Fairy’ Japeto has a grant application in progress based on the research from their ABOVE funded project. The project has helped cement Japeto’s position and already enabled them to increase employment. The business expects to recruit one more team member in the next few months.

Surgical Holdings

Surgical Holdings manufactures and repairs surgical instruments, rigid endoscopes and orthopaedic power tools. They employ 60 people and are based in Southend. They have around 25 skilled technicians in house. They’re accredited to iso 13485 and have CE marking for their core products. Their products are sold around the UK, to NHS and private hospitals and also exported Worldwide to a variety of markets including Europe, Malaysia and New Zealand. The Arise ABOVE grant will be used to complete ecodesign work, leading to patent protection of new products. This will lead to further business growth within Essex, in addition to achieving further Environmental and Sustainability targets for the business.

Tech Balance Ltd

Tech Balance Limited utilise behavioural science to guide UK HE students on a journey toward better wellbeing. Their next big step is creating a UI to create a wellbeing app that students enjoy using. Incorporating gamification with applied psychology. Arise ABOVE has enabled the business to create one new job and the business expects to create 1-3 new jobs in the near future as commercial income increases.