Six UK-based startups among those chosen to participate in AWS Defence Accelerator

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has selected 10 startup participants for its first-ever defence-focused accelerator programme after sifting through more than 100 applications.

The cloud giant worked with UK government technology consultancy Public to select the accelerator’s participants, who are all now on course to embark on a four-week body of work beginning later in September to help ready their products and services for use by the defence market.

As such, they will benefit from access to technical, business and go-to-market mentorship opportunities from AWS, and will be issued with promotional credits that will allow them to make full use of Amazon’s portfolio of cloud technologies.

In addition to this, participants will have the opportunity to work with existing AWS customers in the defence space and members of the firm’s partner network to hone their creations and ensure they meet the “unmet needs of the defence landscape,” said Public CEO Daniel Korski.  

“The outstanding cohort we welcome today is an important milestone in giving fast-moving and disruptive innovators a more visible seat at the table,” he said.

“The diversity of startups joining the first AWS Defence Accelerator is even more promising, with startups at different growth stages joining from across the UK, Europe and the US. Not to mention several entirely new to the defence sector, with this programme serving as their introduction to the landscape and the opportunities therein.”  

Speaking to Computer Weekly in the wake of the accelerator’s announcement in late May 2022, Max Peterson, vice-president of worldwide public sector at AWS, said the aim of the endeavour was to uncover startups with “game-changing” technologies spanning cyber, data and sustainability that could be of use to the defence industry.

All of its participants must be revenue-generating, have existing customers and be able to demonstrate they can use AWS technologies to “solve big challenges” in the defence industry, the company added in its launch-day blog post.

Out of the 10 startups selected to participate in the programme, six are from the UK and they include London-based artificial intelligence (AI) analytics software maker Adarga; Caerphilly-based cyber-attack-preventing network visibility firm Awen Collective; and the Guildford-based firm Earth-i, which uses AI and machine learning tools combined with Earth observation data to help business decision-making.

The remaining three UK-based startups include Encord, which is a London-based firm that specialises in the provision of micro-model platforms for data-centric computer vision capabilities; Reading-based measurable.energy, whose technology can help consumers reduce the amount of energy their devices waste; and Orpheus Cyber, who is a cyber security-focused, London-based startup specialising in threat intelligence tools.