Go Ignite announced winner teams of startup competition

• Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Singtel, Telefonica pick innovative tech start-ups
• Winners of second global call offer market-ready solutions in Consumer Experience AI, Connected Homes and IoT Cyber Security

Go Ignite, an alliance of the world’s leading telcos including Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Singtel and Telefonica today announced the winners of the second global search for start-ups that offer the most innovative solutions for three key technologies including Consumer Experience Artificial Intelligence, Connected Homes and Internet of Things Cyber Security.

This year’s winners are Sparkcognition and NanoLock Security IoT Cyber Security; Cujo and Vayyar Imaging for Connected Homes and SafeToNet for Consumer Experience AI. These start-ups will have the opportunity to form business partnerships with the four telcos and tap into the alliance partners’ collective mobile subscriber base of over 1.2 billion mobile phone subscribers across five continents.

“Also in this second edition we received numerous applications from strong teams,’’ says Mr Axel Menneking, managing director of Deutsche Telekom’s hub:raum. “The five winners were able to convince us with their ideas on artificial intelligence and security issues. The topics range from helping to protect children from bullying, protect critical infrastructure, and secure management platforms. I'm sure these teams will be doing good pilots with us and the other three telecom companies.”

The winners are attending a two-day workshop that kicks off today in Madrid to help them refine their solutions and sharpen their business strategies. In addition, each start-up will receive support including access to mentoring and expertise, co-working space and invitations to community events and networking opportunities.

“For us and our partners we have a firm belief that working collectively and in an open manner with the start-up community is critical to accelerate our innovation in these three key areas,” says Mr Bertrand Rojat, Deputy Director of Orange’s Technocentre. “These are exciting times and we are delighted to be working with these ‘scale-ups’ to jointly deliver something truly remarkable to our customers.”

Consumer Experience AI refers to the use of new technology to provide personalised or new forms of customer support. Connected Homes are solutions that use software and/or hardware to automate and remotely control home appliances with ease, while IoT Security leverages new technologies to keep smart vehicles, homes and cities safe.

“The alliance partners are pleased to select five deserving winners from a pool of high quality submissions worldwide,’’ says Mr Edgar Hardless, Chief Executive Officer of Singtel Innov8. “The second global call focused on these three key areas which are becoming increasingly relevant and critical to the digital world we live in. We look forward to accelerating the adoption of the innovative solutions and bringing them to the customers of the Singtel Group.”

Go Ignite is an alliance aimed at connecting the start-up ecosystems across Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. The Go Ignite global call for start-ups encourages teams world-wide to enter their projects into any one of the categories identified by the alliance to be of strategic interest. The alliance will help the start-ups pitch to venture capital firms to secure fresh funding needed to grow their business.

“This marks the continuation of our strong support in working with startups and other telcos to find and grow the next disruptive idea,” says Mrs. Ana Segurado, Global General Director, Telefonica Open Future. “It´s open innovation initiatives built with partners such as Go Ignite that truly creates the right framework to develop the business of the startups. We very much look forward to working with the winners and hope this will be the beginning of a relationship which provides value to all parties involved.”

About the winners

Vayyar Imaging - Vayyar Smart Home sensors create a 3D image of everything happening in your home in real-time. Vayyar’s technology makes it possible to see through objects and materials to precisely detect and monitor multiple individuals motions, falls and vital signs and deliver unparalleled 3D imaging. Vayyar's 3D sensors also ensure greater privacy through camera-free monitoring, that don’t require wearables, making them ideal for home healthcare, security and home automation. 3D Imaging sensors are also transforming retail by analyzing in real-time how in-store purchasers are browsing merchandise, what products they are looking at and reaching for, and key indicators for purchase intent.

SparkCognition - Ranked #20 in the 2017 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, SparkCognition has established itself as an AI leader with business-critical solutions in place for customers in energy, oil and gas, manufacturing, finance, aerospace, defense, and security, with Boeing and Verizon Ventures as strategic investors. SparkCognition develops AI-Powered cyber-physical software for the safety, security, and reliability of IT, OT, and the IoT. The company’s technology is capable of harnessing real-time sensor data and learning from it continuously, allowing for more accurate risk mitigation and prevention policies to intervene and avert disasters. SparkCognition is led by Founder and CEO Amir Husain, Austin’s 2016 Top Technology Entrepreneur. For more information on the company, its technology and team, please visit http://www.sparkcognition.com.

NanoLock Security's mission is to become the de-facto standard and world leading provider of a powerful and highly secured platform, protecting firmware and sensitive data stored in connected and IoT devices. The Company provides disruptive security solution to the Connected & Autonomous Cars and the Industrial Controllers market segments. NanoLock’s platform prevents attacks attempts ranging from ransomware, malicious manipulation and tampering with the stored data / firmware images. Nanolock’s management platform provides real-time actionable intelligence on attempted attacks and current status, as well as unique information on operational and security events, from the production floor through the lifetime of the device. The company is currently conducting POCs with WW customers.

CUJO LLC https://www.getcujo.com/ provides ISPs and gateway manufacturers a software platform to secure home users against latest cyber threats. Using AI and cloud computing, CUJO analyzes LAN traffic to block known and zero-day attacks against. Unlike traditional antivirus, CUJO proactively secures all devices - from smartphones to IoT. The CUJO app also shows all devices connected to the network and allows parents to control what their kids can access online. CUJO is a team of researchers and engineers with decades of collective security and software experience. CUJO is based in California, with additional offices in London, Lithuania and Brazil.

SafeToNet safeguards children from cyberbullying, abuse, aggression, sextortion and other predatory risks on the social web. We are solving a global social problem with over 500 million children worldwide active every day on social media.  Parents are worried about the amount of time their children spend online and who they interact with.  Existing parental controls are not good enough and don't operate at the social messaging layer. SafeToNet does. It has built an AI app and cloud-based solution to block harmful messages in real time before they are seen and before the damage is done. No other Company does this.

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