KOMPAS COO Maps Out a Future for AI and Us
by Startacus Admin
Last month, Olivia Higgs, COO of KOMPAS, gave a TEDx talk on Artificial Intelligence after being named as one of the UK’s most inspirational young individuals.
At the end of 2017, JCI UK recognised Olivia Higgs as one of the UK’s most inspirational young individuals for her accomplishments in business and economics, and in March 2018 Olivia was invited to Virginia, United States, to talk about the impact of artificial intelligence on the wider society.
At just 23, Olivia spoke about the benefits and limitations of artificial intelligence in Virginia, United States, and how we can expect to see the technology influence 
society in the next decade. Key takeaways included the need for the conversation to include all members of society, and how we train the developing technology to take ethics and human values into account. Watch it here. Olivia Higgs is the COO and co-founder of artificial intelligence company KOMPAS, a company leveraging machine learning and data, to personalise the city exploration space.
The team behind the product includes Olivia, Kurt Henderson, and fellow TEDx speaker Tom Charman, after they experienced first hand the problems associated with existing solutions in the space.
Olivia, Kurt, Tom and the KOMPAS team are more than familiar to Startacus as we have followed and reported on their journey over the last few years - from last year, pitching in the final at the Startacus hosted upSTART startup competition at Digital DNA, Belfast, to winning Visa’s Everywhere Initiative at Money 20/20.
Since then, KOMPAS has been recognised as one of the top 300 AI companies in the UK, with VC’s including 500 Startups, Index and Seedcamp all playing a large role in the UK landscape. Their focus on creating ‘handpicked’ recommendations, powered by large datasets and machine learning, is not only new, but is a demonstrable use of the emerging technology. Operating out of London, but available in 6 cities across the UK and Germany, KOMPAS are currently raising money, with the intention to expand into a further 11 cities, and focus on building out a revenue model that focuses on creating a tangible benefit for small independent businesses in cities such as London, that currently struggle to reach the right audience due to poor data insight.
The company continues to grow at over 40% month-on-month, and is currently part of a world-leading artificial intelligence accelerator, Creative Destruction Lab in Toronto.
With applications currently open for startups to pitch at upSTART 18 at Digital DNA Belfast, KOMPAS Co-Founder Tom Charman recently said of the experience: "We had the opportunity to explore Northern Irish landscape for technology and get a feel for the opportunities in the local market while pitching to other entrepreneurs and individuals working in the space, which was great for the business. We had a great time pitching in the short, but intense amount of time. We got some very valid feedback that has helped us to develop the business over the year!"
Congrats to Olivia on a great TEDx talk debut and best of luck as always to the KOMPAS team going forward!
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Published on: 28th April 2018
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