As we head into the festive season, it feels like a good time to catch up with a selection of the 200+ startups we’ve profiled at PreSeed Now so far.

What have they achieved? Have they pivoted? Should you still have your eye on their progress?

Let’s find out… (and there are some bonus pieces of information for premium subscribers, too!)

– Martin

How startups we’ve featured have progressed since we featured them

(Part 1)

Yes, this is a two-part article, with the second following on Thursday. I felt the full thing would mean some startups doing interesting things would be buried at the bottom and not get much attention as a result.

That didn’t seem fair…

So, here are the first six startups to update you on.

(Premium subscribers: look out for the 💰 emoji for bonus information just for you)

Everlink

Website: everlink.co

First profiled: 5 September 2023

We said at the time: Ultrasonic communication between devices for identity authentication and more.

Progress since we covered them: I recently got a demo of the latest version of Everlink’s ultrasound communication tech from CEO Isaac Harmer, and it certainly appeared to work incredibly quickly.

The startup is now focused on low-cost and low-friction verification in a number of forms. In a statement to PreSeed Now, the company explained its strategy:

“We are employing a new strategy to activate specific markets, whereby we build a simple app for each use cases. This can be tested, validated, and sold directly to our target market’s end-user clients (i.e., a simple event app for event managers and attendees). This allows us to quickly optimise the technology, prove product market fit and generate compelling ROI metrics.

“Once done, we have a proven solution with all relevant data and marketing materials. This allows us to create a compelling, low risk value-proposition to the main market service providers, our target client.”

Commercial use cases the startup are actively pursuing include passenger check-in for the shuttle buses businesses use to get their staff to work. “Our technology allows passengers to check-in without even unlocking their phone,” the company says.

When I saw him recently, Harmer was looking forward to deploying the technology with a well-known company he couldn’t publicly name.

Another use case is helping conferences let attendees connect with each other on LinkedIn faster than they could using LinkedIn’s own app, while helping organisers understand more about things like demographics attending particular talks.

“We will be releasing our own internal event networking app for Manchester event managers to test out and re-capture their critical networking data in Q1,” the company says.

In the future, Everlink sees fraud detection as be a big potential market for the technology.

Ethicronics

Website: ethicronics.com

First profiled: 23 January 2024

We said at the time: Security checks for electronics to identify any counterfeit or compromised components.

Progress since we covered them: Founder Franck Courbon tells us Ethicronics has continued its ‘software for hardware assurance’ development roadmap this year, having developed its MVP and obtained a grant to develop its full product, which will be designed to offer assurance down to nanometer level.

This year the startup has been a finalist in competitions such as NATO’s Innovation Challenge, and Infosecurity Europe’s ‘Most Innovative Cyber SME’, and has won a couple of awards too.

Myriad Wind Energy Systems

Website: myriadwind.com

First profiled: 5 July 2022

We said at the time: A flexible, modular re-think of wind turbine design, with the aim of scaling with demand and saving money versus traditional, ever larger, designs.

Progress since we covered them: CEO Adam Harris bullet-pointed the company’s progress for us after I saw him at Conception X’s recent demo day.

• Raised a pre-seed round led by SFC capital

• Multiple successful grants from Innovate UK, Scottish Enterprise and the Net Zero Technology Centre 

• Installed a proof-of-concept four-rotor Myriad Turbine, which has been operating since April 2024

• Designed a full-scale Myriad Turbine

• Working with three customers in the next phase of R&D

• Formed a strong advisory board of industry experts

Addie

Website: addieapp.com

First profiled: 28 March 2024

We said at the time: ADHD-focused task management app.

Progress since we covered them: Addie sent us a an update of the progress for the task-management app for people with ADHD. They claim:

• 60,000+ total downloads across 100 countries

• 3,000+ total subscribers

• Generated £100,000+ in revenue in first year

• They have launched monthly and annual pricing after testing user price tolerance earlier the year.

Jarvis

Website: getjarvis.app

First profiled: 28 May 2024

We said at the time: A combined personal and workplace pension, and accompanying app designed to help customers understand what their retirement is likely to look like, and make changes to achieve their goals.

Progress since we covered them: Jarvis announced a £1.8 million seed round in July, co-led by Ascension VC and Cornerstone VC with participation from Tokio Marine Future Fund.

Aside from that, this year was Jarvis’ big launch year for its pension and app. They also announced a partnership with JA, a provider of payroll services for umbrella companies.

“Our biggest challenge has been making pensions accessible and engaging for UK workers,” the company told us in a statement.

“Pensions are often considered a ‘faraway thing’ but we want to change this narrative. We've tackled this by building a Lifetime Pension with both Personal and Workplace jars and by creating a user experience that feels like a challenger bank.”

H’alt

Website: h-alt.io

First profiled: 30 May 2024

We said at the time: Software to help spread tacit knowledge within workforces, to make renewable energy businesses more efficient, safer, and more robust

Progress since we covered them: Founder Rakesh Maharaj says that since we profiled them in May they have build a new frontend reporting system to allow users to track their progress, and managers to make improvements from actionable insights.

“We have adopted AI technology to accelerate content development, slashing production time by nearly 60%. This allows us to develop and release more sector-specific content - faster,” Maharaj says.

“We have been testing LLMs to support analytics. They allow us to interrogate data more deeply, examine performance using time series metrics, compare performance across operating renewable projects, and identify common performance levers for renewable companies across asset portfolios.”

Meanwhile they’re developing their backend to reduce reliance on third-party tech providers.

“We have gained additional traction with our existing client, who has adopted h’alt to support a new use case. They are onboarding and training many offshore technicians and using h’alt to improve the quality of training and prepare authorised technicians for their competency interviews and assessments,” Maharaj adds.

“Our technology reach is also expanding. We are in the advanced stages of agreeing on implementation across several technologies. We started with offshore wind, but onshore wind, solar, and BESS [battery energy storage system] companies have expressed a keen interest.”

“Our segment reach is expanding. Although gaining traction initially with an APAC-based OEM, we have caught the attention of Europe based developers, investment platforms and asset management businesses with geographically distributed generation assets.”

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Note: This article was updated for accuracy regarding Jarvis’ partnerships shortly after publication.

Back with part 2 on Thursday

Look out for the next edition, with more updates from startups we’ve featured, on Thursday at 9am UK time, in your inbox.

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