Global companies have joined the university's 2023 "Artificial Intelligence for Humanity" accelerator program

An African agribusiness dedicated to helping farmers across the continent improve crop yields has been named one of the 13 selected companies for this year’s University of Edinburgh’s Artificial Intelligence Accelerator (AIA) programme. The initiative selects a group of emerging companies from Scotland, the UK, and around the world that are committed to “AI for good.”

This year’s participants include Agritech Analytics, a Kenya-based company led by CEO and co-founder Maryanne Gichanga. The company uses artificial intelligence to tackle crop losses in Africa caused annually by pests, diseases, and climate change. Other international participants in the 2023/24 programme include Happitech, a Netherlands-based company that uses smartphone technology to deliver transformative solutions for heart disease treatment.

Also selected this year are Edinburgh-based, female-founded Black Goblin, which has created a comprehensive collaboration platform to help independent content creators with sound design; and Dunfermline-based FC Labs, whose CoreTech product is a health- and safety-focused technology that helps individuals, teams, and businesses measure and manage mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.

The full list of all 13 companies in the new AI Accelerator cohort can be found here.

To be eligible for the programme, companies must apply AI for broader societal benefit, providing solutions in core areas such as health and wellbeing, social care, and environmental sustainability. Participants receive a wide range of connection-focused support, as well as leadership coaching and product development assistance, to help transform their AI ventures into world-leading companies.

The AIA is delivered on behalf of the Data-Driven Innovation initiative by the Bayes Centre and is supported by Edinburgh Innovations, the University of Edinburgh’s commercialisation service.

Previous participants include Inicio.ai, which aims to help businesses and consumers improve the efficiency of debt management processes. Inicio.ai successfully completed the AIA programme in April last year and secured a £1 million funding round.

Meanwhile, another former AIA participant, Glasgow-based diagnostics spin-out Microplate Dx, announced last week that it had raised £2.5 million in seed funding to further develop its technology. Space Intelligence, an Edinburgh-based mapping service company that participated in the 2020 programme, also raised over £2 million by the end of last year.

The announcement of this year’s cohort comes as the University of Edinburgh was ranked the UK’s top university for AI research power by Times Higher Education. The latest QS World University Rankings also named the University of Edinburgh the UK’s leading university in sustainability, ranking fourth globally among 700 higher education institutions in this category.

Professor Ruth King, Director of the Bayes Centre at the University of Edinburgh, said:
“We warmly congratulate the 13 companies selected for this year’s highly competitive AI Accelerator programme. These businesses span a wide range of sectors and are using innovative AI applications to address major societal challenges in critical areas such as healthcare and climate change.”

The programme has a clear focus on helping AI-driven businesses further commercialise and grow into world-leading companies. As demonstrated by the progress of many past participants, the accelerator has an impressive track record in helping AI innovators scale, attract investment, and maximise their potential.

John Brodie, appointed last year as the AI Accelerator's Entrepreneur in Residence, said:
“As an entrepreneur passionate about driving actionable data science projects and helping early-stage companies scale, I am delighted to once again work with this year’s AI Accelerator participants. The involvement of globally leading innovators from Scotland, the UK, and beyond highlights the impact of this prestigious programme in developing AI solutions that benefit humanity.”

Scottish Innovation Minister Richard Lochhead MSP said:
“Most experts agree that AI will have a profound impact on our lives. If used correctly, AI can deliver many benefits, from developing new medicines to addressing climate emergencies. However, it also raises global debate and concern.”

“We are committed to making Scotland a world leader in AI development and application in a way that is trustworthy, ethical, and inclusive. To do so, we must proactively address the challenges and opportunities AI brings to our economy and society as a whole.”

The Scottish Government’s new Programme for Government identifies data and AI as key growth areas, and initiatives such as the University of Edinburgh’s AI Accelerator demonstrate Scotland’s significant role in this important and exciting sector. The accelerator’s themes—climate, health, and AI for good—align with our aim of maximising AI’s potential economic and societal benefits for Scotland.