Leap Automation has been named the Scottish winner of KPMG’s annual UK Tech Innovator competition.
The Aberdeen-based business won for its use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in end of line automation and machine vision systems for food producers.
The company’s co-chief executives Ben Stuart and Ben Bamford will now go on to pitch at the competition’s UK final in July.
A total of 10 fast-growing businesses based in Scotland went head-to-head on 20 June at KPMG’s Edinburgh office. Each pitched to a panel of five judges, which included endurance athlete and investor Mark Beaumont of EOS Advisory, Tata Consultancy Services Scotland head Gopalan Rajagopalan and experienced business consultant Julie Grieve.
Stuart said: “It's a real privilege to be representing Scotland at the UK finals.
“The standard of applicants at the pitch event was incredible and spoke volumes to the breadth, depth and ingenuity of the entrepreneurial community in Scotland.
“Innovation is at the core of everything we do at Leap Automation, as we strive to deliver robotics at a level of simplicity and price point that make robotic automation accessible to all,“ he continued, adding: “Being recognised for this is great validation for all the clever things our brilliant team do on a daily basis."
Amy Burnett, head of KPMG Private Enterprise Access, said: “It was always going to be difficult to choose one winner from ten fantastic entries this year, but we were really impressed by Leap Automation’s use of AI and machine learning which increases efficiencies in fresh product supply chains.
“We’re very excited to support the continued growth of our tech innovators who are either hidden gems in our huge tech ecosystem or leading the way in disruption and innovative thinking.”
The UK final will take place on 24 July at KPMG’s new Ignition Centre in Manchester.
Both Leap Automation and Scottish runner up MI:RNA - a diagnostics testing laboratory based in Edinburgh which uses AI to detect early-stage disease in animals - will be provided with entry to a bespoke version of KPMG’s Access programme for fast growth businesses, plus exclusive networking opportunities.
The overall UK winner, and the winner in each of the other participating countries, will progress to the Global Tech Innovator final at Web Summit 2023.
The nationwide competition, which is celebrating its 10th year, has uncovered British tech innovators including What3Words, SafetoNet, FIDOTech and 2022 winner HiiROC, which went on to win the global final during Web Summit.
The Scottish businesses that were selected from nearly 400 UK applications to the competition were:
- Dyneval
- Forrit
- Gigged.AI
- Invizius
- Kenoteq
- Leap Automation
- MI:RNA
- Pawprint
- Recast
- ZIPZERO Global
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