Howz was today announced as the winner of EDF Energy’s 2016 Blue Lab accelerator.
The Manchester-based startup won the award for its connected home solution that tracks energy usage and alerts family members if the user’s normal routine is broken.
The Howz connected home system measures a household’s usage of electricity and combines this with information from a series of sensors that detect door movement, temperature and light levels in a person’s home, to build up a pattern of daily behaviour.
Predominantly aimed at elderly people, typically living alone, it can identify unusual activity and notify a person’s care network if necessary.
Howz was one of five finalists from Blue Lab to pitch live today in central London at the EDF Energy Innovators’ Day.
The other finalists were:
- Momit: A Madrid-based start-up that has developed a range of easy to install smart thermostats that allow customers to adapt their energy consumption to fit their budget.
- Ipsum: Ipsum works with your smart meter to identify energy usage in a building down to the appliance that is being used. Its algorithm is one of the fastest in the market.
- Upside Energy: Upside Energy delivers a greener, cheaper way for the electricity grid to meet demand during peak times by operating a Virtual Energy Store™.
- Futurehome: Futurehome is a Norwegian tech startup that provides a one-stop-shop for sourcing smart home technology and related services.
These startups all took part in the 10-week accelerator programme within EDF Energy’s Blue Lab. Based in Hove, the lab seeks to find and grow Europe’s best startups innovating in the energy space.
Four other awards were presented, at the Innovators’ Day.
Detective Dot received an award for inspiring young people into STEM subjects, Viridian Consultants won an award for its sampling tool ViridiScope, Ultra Electronics won an award for its offshore wind farm inspection tool and Slalom won an award for its health and safety data solutions service.