Lincoln entrepreneurs to exhibit at world’s largest tech event

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Entrepreneurs from two Lincoln startups have been invited to exhibit at Web Summit 2018; the world’s largest tech event taking place in Lisbon, Portugal, this November.

The founders of Lincoln-based Accommodation.co.uk and Tended will be showcasing their startups to thousands of entrepreneurs, policy makers and investors.

Aaron Short and Matt Meekins, founders of Accommodation.co.uk will be pitching their platform in front of some of the world’s biggest tech investors ahead of its official launch in January 2019.

Leo Scott Smith, founder of Tended, will also be exhibiting his product, the Tended watch, which is a wrist-worn wearable safety device which monitors the movements of the user through artificial intelligence and has the ability to learn and detect ‘abnormalities’, such as a fall or strong impact.

The Tended Protect device. Photo: CityX

This year’s headline speakers for the Web Summit 2018 include the inventor of the world wide web, Tim Berners Lee, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the co-founders of Twitter, Pinterest, Skype and Tinder and the CEOs of dozens of the world’s largest companies, from Samsung to Tripadvisor.

Accommodation.co.uk

(L-R) Matt Meekins and Aaron Short

When it launches in January, Accommodation.co.uk will automate property management for property managers, making the majority of all landlord and lettings tasks manageable in three clicks or less.

This will make renting more convenient for Generation Rent by making all their rental needs accessible from their mobile phone, including booking their home, paying rent, reporting maintenance issues and communicating with their landlord.

It will also reduce large tenant fees and bring transparency to the market. For property managers, this will reduce overheads by automating their tasks and removes the need for expensive letting agency fees, saving landlords over £1,000 per year per property.

The web platform will automate credit referencing, deposit collection, maintenance management, tenant onboarding and communications in one, fully digital online letting experience for a smaller fee than traditional high street letting agents.

Aaron Short, co-founder of Accommodation.co.uk said: “It’s a huge honour to be invited to showcase our work at Web Summit.

“We were up against thousands of other great startups so to be chosen to exhibit is a real testament to the hard work of our team. It’s a sign of great things to come when we launch in early 2019.”

Tended

Leo Scott Smith

Tended Protect is the brainchild of Leo Scott Smith, who began developing the idea at just 22-years-old.

During his time as a volunteer for a charity working in Nepal, Leo often found himself alone in remote areas facing a multitude of dangers, from landslides to ambushes. Leo realised that in the event of the unthinkable, he may not be found or receive help for hours – or even days – at a time.

Leo told CityX: “This will be our second time exhibiting at Web Summit and we’re excited to see what will come of this year.

“When we attended last year we were unsure what to expect but it turned out to be one of the most valuable experiences for us, giving us full exposure to the European-wide tech ecosystem, something which is quite hard when you’re based in Lincolnshire!

“Having only founded Tended 3 months before we attended last year, we went with a very rough-around-the-edges prototype, but we still managed to get talking to some very large names, including a couple of the UK’s largest retailers, insurance companies and investors.

“We were slightly too early stage last year but now we’re ready to really show them the capabilities of our technology!”


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