The UK’s first chat-based virtual assistant that can organise the busiest of modern families has won the ‘best elevator pitch’ at incubator SETsquared’s annual Tech-Xpo.
The annual event pitches start-ups and scale-ups based at SETsquared’s Bristol hub against each other in a fast-paced battle.
Kairo was one of 11 ventures given just 60 seconds to grab the interest of guests at the event, who then digitally voted for the best entrant.
Lisa Matthews, CEO at HellyHolly, which has developed Kairo, got the audience’s attention by explaining that it was for the type of busy, stressed parent who takes their child to a friend’s birthday party only to find it was the previous day.
Kairo, she explained, was like having a virtual Mary Poppins that takes on all the juggling that goes on in modern families – allowing them to spend more time enjoying life and less time organising it.
Lisa said: “I am thrilled with this win especially in the company of so many fantastic ventures – it was a great competition! The SETsquared community and the wider Bristol startup ecosystem is a constant source of motivation and inspiration for us, and Tech-Xpo is a great demonstration of the thriving and supportive scene we’ve got here in Bristol. We’re excited for Kairo’s future as part of it.”
SETsquared Bristol Director Monika Radclyffe added: “To win the people’s choice award at the Tech-Xpo is no small feat. It is surprisingly hard to explain what you do in exactly a minute, and all our ventures worked hard on mastering their pitch.
“Lisa, Kairo’s CEO, won the audience using humour and real-life parenting disaster scenarios which can be prevented with her technology.”
Four other SETsquared member start-ups exhibited at 2017 Tech-Xpo, which was supported by Bristol headquartered law firm VWV, Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator and Barclays.
VWV has sponsored the event for the past seven years. VWV partner Nathan Guest, who is also head of its technology sector, said: “We are extremely proud of our association with SETsquared and it has been a great year for SETsquared companies with many of them attracting significant investment and we were delighted to have been involved in several of those deals.
“SETsquared and its ventures form the bedrock of our rapidly growing technology sector business, which grew 63% last year. The Tech-Xpo was, once again, a brilliant showcase for Bristol’s tech talent and I was delighted to present Lisa, a very deserving winner, with the VWV Best Elevator Pitch trophy.”
Barclays head of mid corporate, South West, David Goodall said: “Barclays is once again proud to be a sponsor of the Tech-Xpo and we would like to congratulate this year’s outstanding winner. We share SETsquared Bristol’s ambition to support innovative entrepreneurs, and we’ve been impressed with the impact SETsquared has had over recent years.
“Running any fast-moving, high-growth company takes a substantial investment, from both an emotional and financial perspective, and it’s an investment we want to be fully behind. High growth businesses are a priority for us, they have a hugely positive impact; they create new jobs, new opportunities for investors and they help to galvanise economic growth as a whole.”
Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator Bristol programme manager Marina Traversari said: “The technical and product innovation coming out of this region is tremendous and we are thrilled to partner with SETsquared and Tech-Xpo 2017 to help shine a spotlight on these exciting companies.
“These partnerships are invaluable as Oracle expands its engagements with start-ups in not only the Bristol/Bath area but across the globe.”
Pictured: Lisa Matthews, of Kairo, centre, flanked by 2017 Tech-Xpo sponsors Nathan Guest of VWV, David Goodall of Barclays and Marina Traversari and Hazel Fleming of Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator
