PHONT’s Post

We think we have one of the most interesting co-founder stories, here it is: The story begins in Barcelona, in December 2023. Neev Efrat was traveling to film documentaries on wave reactors, while Rahul Dhiman was crossing off an item from his bucket list—taking a solo trip across Spain, staying in hostels, and meeting amazing people from all around the world (and I guess Neev). Destiny had it that Neev and Rahul were staying in the same hostel in Barcelona and quickly connected on various levels of conversation. At the time, Neev was ideating the conception of Spiral, a company that would help deep-tech founders showcase their technologies with content, with the vision of empowering technical founders to build their online brand and raise capital quicker. A pretty unique and niche idea, right? Wrong. Rahul told Neev about his background as an engineer and filmmaker and that, once he returned to Chicago from his Spain trip, he was going to officially start CineTech Productions. Which… was pretty much the same idea. As you might guess, Neev and Rahul spent the next few days in Spain fully ideating the business together and joining forces. Wrong again. With both Neev and Rahul’s Spain trips coming to an end, coupled with the fact that they had literally just met less than 24 hours ago, they eventually went their separate ways. Neev started Spiral Stories and Rahul started CineTech Productions. Neev and Rahul kept in touch on social media, and fast forward a few months, a few conversations, and a few clients later, they addressed the elephant in the room. Why not join forces on this weirdly niche vision? As Neev cheesily said to Rahul, making him cringe: “You can go fast alone, but further together.” Pictured: Barcelona 2023 to SF Deep Tech Week 2024

It’s not often that you get to talk to someone who has seen every press release and been part of innovation discussions for the last 35 years, not to mention who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the opportunities and challenges for our tech and science businesses. In this episode we caught up with Tony Quested and Jamie Quested to talk about not just their #BusinessWeeklyAwards, but the much broader impact and reach of Business Weekly newspaper since 1990. Here are some highlights • Current trends include a rise in genomics, synthetic biology, and quantum computing • The US will continue to buy up our companies, to access the brain power and innovation across Cambridge and the East of England cluster… • …but they will now keep the business here - like Featurespace (Visa), IQGeo (KKR), and Darktrace (Thoma Bravo) – rather than lifting and shifting to the US • The demand for 100,000 engineers by leading tech companies will require different thinking • The importance of ‘Brain Gain’ and how 70% (£1.65bn) of fundraising in the last year came out of the University of Cambridge… • … and how overall funding in the last year topped £2.3bn of which £1bn was for tech (remainder life sciences), and 50% of all funding went to Cambridge Science Park tenant companies • Whether our entrepreneurs are thinking strategically enough, especially when VCs and funders may have different priorities • And then we finally talk about the Awards, and the ability to spot the successes based on a level of due diligence that is incomparable. Tune in on your chosen podcast platform to subscribe and listen. Apple podcast: https://apple.co/3P9RegV Spotify: https://lnkd.in/enP_4QVr Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/3VHqGGs YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eAg5Wv42 #CamTechPod

Hey friends! It was a truly fruitful and exciting week on #ViennaUp! Phenomenon was represented by Kseniia Shalia, our Head Of Business Management. She shared some insights after the festival👇 We had loads of business opportunities, great networking, and interesting conversations about sustainability and AI's potential. Here's our suggestion: take some time to explore new ideas with trusted vendors and wise investors. With all the information we gathered, we can start outlining future directions for our company roadmap and new services coming up🙂 Here are three key takeaways to consider: - Validate your idea first. Make sure it aligns with the market needs. - Don't be afraid of AI. It won't replace you; it will be a powerful tool to optimize processes. - Prioritize environmental responsibility. Never miss a chance to make a positive impact. We're here to support you🧡

SFF Lab Crawl is coming soon! You know what this means… its time for YOU to focus on innovation and discovery 🔬👩🔬 Revealing Tenity’s selected topic for our panel this year… (drumroll, please 🥁): Practical Uses of AI, A Global Perspective 🌍🤖 What used to be a futuristic dream, is now already here shaking industries left and right. 🚀 The spotlight’s shifted from “what if” to “how now”—it’s all about implementation. How can AI boost corporate processes, and how can startups step up to meet that demand? It’s no longer about if AI can make a difference—it’s about how fast you can put it to work. 💡 With that, let’s welcome our first two speakers for the discussion—Hamish Macalister, PhD from Transparently.AI and Margaret King from Franklin Templeton. With both corporate and startup insights in the mix, this panel is one you won’t want to miss. 🚀 Ready to join? Lock in your spot at the link below 👇 https://lu.ma/4yk6v3zx Definitely stay tune for more updates on the panel of speakers 👀 Turn your LinkedIn notifications ON and make sure you are always notified 😉 Jonas Thürig, Finnley Hui Yu, Lee, Martin Pasquier, Charleen Phor, Julie Youngju Choi, Min Joo Kim, Jorden Tan, Royce Lee, Jun Ho Bae, Katrina Bernardo, Zhen Zhen Ong, Davita Natasha O., Janice Augustine

This podcast summary is entirely generated and voiced by AI. We're at #InnovationWeekYYC, so we figured we try an experiment to summarize the key takeaways from the top 10 startups pitching at this year's event. What we did: This is an AI-generated podcast using Google NotebookLM. The voices you hear are 100% synthetic, and the facts are taken from Digital Journal's editorial coverage. This is an experiment to generate audio summaries of written coverage by Digital Journal, and while not perfect, it's pretty impressive. Learn more about day 1 of #InnovationWeekYYC at Platform Calgary and takeaways from Nate Glubish, Simon Bullard (moovez (move easy)), Tracey Nyholt (TechJutsu), Brett Jones (BigGeo), Nathan Nasseri (ResVR), Olumuyiwa Igbalajobi (Ph.D) (Scholarships Cafe), Yuri Vol (JobAutopilot.com AI job auto-apply 🌟), Prabh Paul (TraceRent), Paul Newman (SitePhotos Canada), Purvaja S. (Binoloop), Brian DeLuca (Reporting Hub). If you're voting for the People's Choice Award at Launch Party, this is a quick summary for you. ➡️ Read the article this is based on: https://lnkd.in/gMpke4UC ➡️ Subscribe for updates: https://lnkd.in/gT-y69vE ➡️ See all Innovation Week YYC coverage: https://lnkd.in/gz85Wg9A

Exhausted by repetitive LinkedIn outreach or data organization tasks? Let AI automation handle these low-level activities so you can focus on high-impact work. Join us at our New York event next Thursday to learn how! #newyork #nycevent #uglytalk

LA Friends! We are hosting a panel next week on Building AI in LA! Event and waitlist have filled up, see the post to learn how you could still win a ticket! Looking forward to hearing from these amazing founders. #LAtechweek #verticalai

In an episode of two halves, we talk to Amy Weatherup about two decades leading i-Teams Cambridge and her personal journey before and since. iTeams bridges the gap between students who are experts in their own sector, and entrepreneurs and innovators who are looking to drive commercialisation and turn their ideas to reality. Amy tells us more including three lessons she’s learnt along the way: • Technology is far earlier than you think it is • It’s going to cost you a lot more money • IP and patents are only part of what you have We then talk about Amy’s own career at the start of the commercial internet, and supporting schools to startups. We cover: • Being a young entrepreneur • Building a company, quickly, and keeping cash flowing • Contracts with some of the largest electronics companies • How securing funding has changed over the last decades • Being open with corporates • Angel investing • Paying it forward Tune in on your chosen podcast platform to subscribe and listen. Apple podcast: https://apple.co/3P9RegV Google podcast: https://bit.ly/CTPgoogle Spotify: https://lnkd.in/enP_4QVr Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/3VHqGGs YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eAg5Wv42 Acast: https://lnkd.in/esg7xgq2 CamTechPod: https://lnkd.in/eB5Aznm6 #CamTechPod, John Bull, Cambridge Science Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Enterprise, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, Raspberry Pi, Peter Cowley (he/him), Ruizhi Wang, Global Volcano Risk Alliance, Founders at the University of Cambridge, Institute for Manufacturing (IfM), University of Cambridge, Lara Allen, Centre for Global Equality, Alexander Patto, WaterScope, William Oak Diagnostics, Simon Pulman-Jones, Xampla, Tuomas Knowles, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tom Collings, Kalium Health, Tanya Hutter, PhD, Intelligent Fingerprinting, Acorn Computers, Symbian, Brother International GmbH, Microsoft, Arm, 3i, Deeptech Labs, Cambridge Angels, Sherry Coutu CBE, Martlet Capital

🚀 Exciting News! 🚀 Hey everyone, I'm rolling out "Next Service," my brand-new podcast where we dive deep into the nexus of digital governance and the impactful world of AI and data. This is where tech meets real-world governance, reshaping everything from policy to our everyday lives across the globe. 🎙️ In our first episode, "Ctrl+Alt+AI: Rebooting the Future of Digital Governance": Chesterfield Segment🍁 : Kicking things off in Canada, we dissect the Online Streaming Act, Bill C-11, and the ambitious Securing Canada’s AI Advantage initiative, exploring their global impact. Justice Jib ⛵ : Sailing through international waters, we discuss the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, diving into the global efforts to regulate AI. Hot Seat 💺 : Gear up for a surprise tech guru who’s dropping by to share some serious insights on AI in governance. Rainbow 🌈 : Bringing you the weird, the wonderful, and the absolutely intriguing questions about global public administration. 🌐 Each episode is a one-hour adventure, starting with a journey through AI's fascinating history, inviting you to join in this rich knowledge garden I’m cultivating. And trust me, we're just scratching the surface 🏔 . 📢 From the latest news to expert opinions and those quirky questions you didn’t even know you had, I’ve got you covered. 🍁 🎧 And for our bilingual friends: I’m jazzing things up with French translations, making sure everyone can join in the fun. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts, so hit play, dive in, and let's make some waves together. Link to the first episode: Ctrl+Alt+AI: Rebooting the Future of Digital Governance https://lnkd.in/exQeE4Fu #NextService #DigitalGovernance #ArtificialIntelligence #CanadianTech #PublicAdministration #AIethics #Innovation P.S. By next week, "Next Service" will be available on all major podcast platforms.