Sure Ventures
PLC:
UK Government AI Plan and Enterprise Capital Fund (ECF)
Update
Sure Ventures is
a London listed venture capital fund which invests in
early-stage software companies in the rapidly growing technology
areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality ('AR'),
Virtual Reality ('VR') and the Internet of Things
('IoT').
The UK Government has now released
its AI Opportunities Action Plan. This was presented to Parliament
by the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology on
the 13th of January 2025.
The action plan was clear and sets
out to secure the UK's future with homegrown AI. It also
highlighted how quickly AI has advanced, in such a short
space of time. A small number of companies at the frontier
of AI are set to have a
disproportionate amount of global influence. The statement went on
to say that the UK has a window of opportunity to secure and
strengthen the Countries global leadership in AI. This will
help protect economic security and help us be a part of the
exponential growth of global AI.
The government is committed
to building a cutting-edge, secure, and
sustainable AI infrastructure. It wants to take
forward the recommendations to expand its sovereign compute
capacity. Computing needs could grow by at least 20x by 2030. This
expansion is critical if the UK is to keep pace.
To seize this opportunity, the
government will launch a new function with the mandate to
strengthen the UK's sovereign AI capabilities by
supporting national champions at the frontier of AI. The
function will operate with agility and draw on wider government
functions to partner with AI companies.
Methods will include-:
· Leveraging AI Growth Zones to support partnered
companies and ensuring that new compute capacity is utilised
strategically.
· Exploring making available high-potential data sets for
partnered companies, in coordination with the National Data
Library.
· Supporting top AI talent to relocate to the UK to
work with UK-based partnered companies.
· Helping to build relationships between
partnered AI companies and the UK's national security
community.
As the Action Plan sets out, the UK
must maximise opportunities to crowd in private sector investment
and facilitate close government-industry collaboration. The
government will create AI Growth Zones (AIGZs), areas
with enhanced access to power and support for planning approvals,
to accelerate the build out of AI infrastructure on UK
soil.
We believe that our Investment in
the Sure Valley Ventures Enterprise Fund (ECF), founded by Barry
Downes and Brian Kinane, which is a British Business Bank backed
fund, sits right in the "sweet spot" of the Governments plan
and we would like to
highlight several portfolio companies that can assist the adoption
and transformation of the UK's technological AI
infrastructure:
Stylus (Learncycle Ltd)
Stylus delivers an AI-powered
marking solution aimed at reducing teacher workload and addressing
the recruitment and retention crisis in education. By automating
the marking of paper-based assessments, Stylus significantly cuts
down the time teachers spend on grading. The platform provides
detailed, personalized feedback for students, enhancing their
learning experience. Teachers can easily scan completed
assessments, which are then processed by Stylus's AI to provide
immediate feedback and follow-up questions, streamlining the
evaluation process and helping to alleviate teacher burnout. This
will provide much needed assistance and efficiency in a major UK
Government spending area.
Purple Transform Limited
Purple Transform provides a
cutting-edge SaaS platform, SiYtE™, designed to address data
overload and enhance safety and security in large infrastructures
like rail networks. By leveraging advanced AI and machine vision,
the platform transforms existing cameras into smart sensors,
delivering real-time alerts and predictive analytics. It seamlessly
integrates with current IoT sensors and camera systems, optimizing
operational efficiency and reducing costs for organizations
managing extensive sensor networks. This technology has the
potential to use AI to help revolutionise maintenance and drive
efficiency across the UK's ageing infrastructure.
Phinixt Robotics Ltd
Phinxt provides a decentralized edge
computing software solution to automate warehouses by enabling
real-time synchronization between robots from various OEMs,
significantly enhancing automation efficiency. With 90% of
warehouses still manual due to the high costs and complexity of
current robotic options, Phinxt addresses this by offering a cloud
platform that allows 10x simpler robotic deployments with zero
upfront costs. Their robot-agnostic system ensures seamless
integration and operation of diverse robots without on-premise IT
infrastructure, making it adaptable and affordable. Amidst labour
shortages and rising e-commerce demand, Phinxt enables autonomous
robot operation with high flexibility, allowing easy swapping of
different robot makes without software changes. For the UK
Governments plan to work, its technology like Phinixt Robotics that
use advanced AI technologies, to allow robots to communicate with
each other, to revolutionise and drive efficiency throughout both
public and private sectors.
Director Gareth Burchell
commented:
" The UK Governments AI
Opportunities Action plan is a very positive development for a
number of the Investments made by Barry Downes and Brian Kinane as
founders of Sure Valley Ventures. AI technology is set to
revolutionise most Industries throughout the world and the UK is
one of the world's leaders in this space. The foundations laid and
the support shown by the UK Government today, will resonate and
assist innovators and founders across the nation for decades to
come.
Stylus has the AI technology to
assist with administration/marking and allow teachers to focus on
personalised teaching for their pupils, whilst also driving the
cost savings and efficiencies the UK education system desperately
needs. Purple transform can assist the rail, ports and general
transport infrastructure across the UK to enhance safety, drive
down costs and improve its services. AI technology will be vital in
the evolution of industries such as robotics and Phinixt is a great
example of that. The Uk Governments action plan is welcomed and
provides support at a critical time in this new industry which is
growing at a ferocious pace. The help can make a significance
difference to the economic relevance of the country for years to
come.
For further information, please
visit www.sureventuresplc.com or contact:
Gareth Burchell
Sure Ventures plc
+44 (0) 20 7186 9918
