Pictured from left to right are Moderator Tom Mellows, Director + Head of UK Science (Savills); Neil Alford, Central Faculty, Office of the Provost (Imperial College London); H&F Leader Cllr Stephen Cowan; Charles Walford, Senior Development Director + Head of Life Sciences (Stanhope); Claire Dawe Director, Asset Management (Stanhope); Dr. Andrea Chai, Principal Scientist + Lab Manager (Vivan Therapeutics). Source: Bisnow
A local artificial intelligence start-up has recently raised £34m to deliver new jobs in the borough.
The firm – causaLens – is a trailblazing local deep tech pioneer, putting the borough on track to join the likes of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on the global technology stage.
The sector of artificial intelligence (AI) ranks as the borough's highest performing, in which we've helped produce more than 2,600 local jobs since the launch of our pioneering Industrial Strategy in 2017.
Based in Lyric House in Hammersmith Road, the 60-strong team of scientists and engineers are pioneers in the exciting new developments in AI:
"Our technology enables enterprises to build AI applications they can easily interact with, and which drive radically improved decision-making", said Dr. Darko Matovski, CEO and co-founder of causaLens.
"It's great to be based in such close proximity to the White City Innovation District. It gives us access to world class institutions like Imperial College and the local fast growing start-up and tech scene.
"We're grateful that we've been so well supported by Hammersmith & Fulham. We feel right at home."
Read about causaLens's recent work to help businesses economically recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, and to improve communication around sexual and reproductive education here.
Since January 2021, causaLens's annual revenue has grown by more than 500 per cent. Now, thanks to the new funding grant, their team is bound to double in 2022, helping put H&F on the map as a global hotspot for AI.
See their current job openings for engineers, data scientists, marketeers and more.
White City Innovation District
At the recent UK Life Sciences Real Estate Annual Conference at White City Place, H&F Leader Cllr Stephen Cowan explained the idea behind the borough's disruptive innovation district, which is already a melting pot for world-class talent in STEM, medicine and the creative industries.
"If you get the garden right, the flowers will bloom," Cllr Cowan said. "Entrepreneurs need affordable flexible office space where they can move in, do their thing, and go from being a start-up to a scale-up, to then hopefully being the next 'Apple'. Our ambition is that the next Steve Jobs comes from H&F because of the ecosystem we created."
Cllr Cowan continued: "We see local government as a facilitator of economic growth by bringing together academia, industry, infrastructure and skills", as laid out in the council's pioneering Industrial Strategy.
"If you do that in the right way, you'll end up with a powerhouse. So, we developed the idea of our innovation district. We want to attract entrepreneurs in the STEM, medicine and media industries to create the next economic global hotspot in H&F, like the MIT in Massachusetts."
Other major firms such as Blenheim Chalcot, based at Scale Space in the heart of H&F's innovation district, and cosmetics giant L'Oréal, who are set to move to their office to White City Place in autumn 2023, two local anchors in the borough in attracting other start-ups to the area.
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