Rns Guident22 May 2020 08:14
22 May 2020
Tekcapital Plc
("Tekcapital", the "Company" or "the Group")
Portfolio Company Update: Guident Ltd.
Tekcapital Plc (AIM: TEK), the UK intellectual property investment group focused on creating marketplace value from investing in university technology, is very pleased to announce that Guident Ltd, ("Guident") has won the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Tech Runway® Annual tech Launch competition as one of the most promising startups in South Florida.
The competition provides the most promising startups and talented entrepreneurs in South Florida with an opportunity to join a year-long program that offers competition winners "best-in-class" instruction, mentoring, networking, marketing, and capital-raising assistance, co-working space, events, intern support, and other vital programs.
A panel of judges, including successful entrepreneurs, technology investors, entrepreneurship professors, economic development professionals, philanthropists, and commercial bankers selected Guident as the winner of the competition. The judges were convinced that the company seeking to create a Remote Monitoring and Control Center, ("RMCC") in Florida for autonomous vehicles applying artificial intelligence, and their first use-case for 'zero-touch' ground-based delivery of groceries and medicines would be the right choice to create significant value in South Florida and Nationwide.
"The 2020 Florida Atlantic University Tech Runway Launch Competition was a huge success on all levels," said Rhys L. Williams, managing director of FAU Tech Runway®. "Entrepreneurs submitted a record number of applications and out of more than 200 contestants, Guident, a company that develops software solutions for the autonomous vehicle market with their first use-case of an advanced artificial intelligent-assisted, remote tele-monitoring and control center came out on top of the competition. We can't wait to work with this new group of entrepreneurs over the next year."
Guident's immediate objective is to use its proprietary IP to build and operate the first RMCC in the state of Florida for ground-based delivery drones and autonomous vehicles. Guident plans to use the FAU incubator to accommodate its near-term growth plans and testing of its pilot RMCC on commercial delivery drones.
The Market
According to Allied Market Research "the autonomous vehicle ("AV") market is expected to reach $556 billion by 2026 with a CAGR of 39%.1 Contactless or "touch-free" delivery is in high demand due to the COVID 19 pandemic.2,3 Guident believes this increased demand will accelerate the roll-out of land-based delivery drones for food and medicines to improve their availability and reduce the costs of these deliveries.
Harald Braun, Guident's Chairman and CEO said, "The selection process was extremely challenging, given the very large number of strong entries with compelling business solutions and we are very pleased that Gu