Beyond Moore: The Future of Compute with Robot Pigeon
Part 1 of 2 - The industry that birthed AI, what it is and where it’s going.
Calling all Pigeon fanciers!
In this edition:
7 Things We Like (2 min read).
Portfolio News: Including the world’s first study of GenAI in mental health treatment (3 min read).
Deepdive Part One: Beyond Moore. We outline an explosive demand for computational power and what it means for the future. (7 min read). Full article here.
Frontierspeople: Podcasts, posts and more!
Live long and prosper,
AndrewJS, AndrewG, Harry, Rebecca, Wayne and Grant.
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7 Things We Like
The documentary Too Cheap to Meter discusses a future first described by Atomic Energy Chairman Lewis Strauss in 1954, where the cost of energy production is so low that it is abundant and endless.
DARPA’s Dr. Whitney Mason’s discussion with SCSP’s PJ Maykish, breaking down the future of high-performance computing and the radical innovations which might lead us beyond the digital cliff, including a shoutout for Reversible Computing.
Rutger Bregman’s article in the Guardian ahead of the launch of his upcoming book Moral Ambition, talks about the need for ambitious, idealistic people to “..devote their working life to the great challenges of our time, whether that’s the climate crisis or corruption, gross inequality or the next pandemic.” Hear hear.
This article in Science delves into the controversial topic of geoengineering and why, with climate mitigation technologies failing to reach necessary scale, we might need to adapt the planet’s composition to reverse the impact of climate change.
A suggestion in New Scientist that the ancient Greeks invented quantum theory.
This commentary on Energy Security in an Insecure World from Ember, outlining a new electrotech strategy focused on shifting energy supply to local renewables and directing energy use toward domestically generated electricity.
Congratulations to our very own Grant Shapps, Partner and Advisor, who was honoured last month with a Knighthood. Grant held seven cabinet positions - including both Defence Secretary and Home Secretary - over the past 14 years, and it is that experience, network and wisdom he brings to the team and to our founders. The Rt. Hon. Sir Grant Shapps, arise!
Portfolio News
From The Top Shelf
Neurolabs closed its $8m Series-A round led by Nauta Capital, as they continue to unlock the vast potential of computer vision for everyday applications. The company is harnessing synthetic data generation to produce a low-code platform, with a bridge head market of retail, allowing software engineers and citizen developers to integrate computer vision into all possible solutions - onboarding new assets in seconds, rather than days.
The Doctor Will See You Now
Limbic completed the first real-world study on the use of GenAI in mental health treatment within a live, multi-site clinical setting. It found that patients receiving care augmented by GenAI attended 42% more therapy sessions and achieved a 25% higher recovery rate compared to standard treatment. Dropout rates fell by 23% with the program generating an estimated £228 of additional value per patient, based on improved recovery rates alone. Amazing news for mental health.
Thought Into Existence
CircuitMind publicly unveiled its AI Power Design Automation platform, a breakthrough that takes electronics teams from architecture to design in just 60 seconds so that they can get to market faster, avoid respins and create smaller, cheaper, more-efficient circuit designs.
Into The Vast Expanse
Interstellar Labs, who create advanced biospheres, signed a Partner Payload Agreement with VAST. The team will integrate their payload within the world's first microgravity R&D and manufacturing platform on a commercial space station (Haven Lab 1) to provide plant research capabilities to customers, including cosmetics & food companies, space agencies and research centers. Interstellar Labs now have four flights scheduled starting June 2026.
Think Of The Optics
Fathom Radiant unveiled a new direction for its scalable machine intelligence, rebranding as Atomos Systems. Previously the company was focused on creating a revolutionary optical fabric that is low latency, high bandwidth, low power, and that can scale to millions of compute nodes.
Atomos Systems has now pivoted to engineering general-purpose super-humanoid robots designed to operate and transform the physical world. With intelligence and dexterity that rival human ability, the vision is to extend the limits of human potential in every field.
Catching Covid
Untap Health benefited from its own product when detecting Covid, then Norovirus, in their own office before anyone was showing symptoms. This allowed the team to prevent the spread of infection by taking precautionary measures. Untap also published a study demonstrating that near-source wastewater surveillance can detect disease outbreaks early, giving communities and healthcare systems a crucial head start. Conducted across five diverse sites in the UK, their findings reveal local outbreaks and trends not captured by national surveillance. With over 1,600 sites now wanting their technology, Untap are off to a great start to the year.
A Light To Guide Us
OSCP launched its first two products: the MK2E (an IMU using an optical gyroscope that is designed to deliver tactical-grade accuracy) and the MK2M (a version of the system without optical components but allowing access to OSCP’s proprietary software stack at a competitive cost). The company provides best in class technology for autonomous vehicles, with a photonic gyroscope that is 30x cheaper than fibre optic IMUs (used in aerospace) and up to 1,000x more accurate than MEMS (used in commercial electronics).
DEEPDIVE
Beyond Moore Part 1: The Future of Compute
Just four months after the release of ChatGPT, Gordon Moore passed away. Aper pro perhaps, as we approach the limits of existing semiconductor technology.
As one of the four pillars of our investment thesis, this month we look at what’s next for computer processing technology and AI.
Special thanks to Ben Fielding of Gensyn and Zehan Wang of Paddington Robotics for adding their insights.
Our Frontierspeople
Latest editions of the Upside Podcast with Andrew J Scott discussing:
Harry featured on a panel at DeeptechFest Ireland discussing how founders can ‘crack the deeptech capital code’
Harry helped launch Social Mobility Ventures’ inaugural Founder & Investor Speed Networking event, connecting ambitious founders from government-funded schools with investors who believe in backing talent from all backgrounds.
Where we’ll be in May
Running Dragon Chasers Morocco, 14-16th May
Attending Fortune Brainstorm AI Summit London, 6th-7th May
Attending Cooley drinks @ Sushicamba London, 7th May
Speaking at Accelerator BVCA Conference London, 8th May
Speaking at Sim Conf Porto Portugal, 9th May
Onwards and upwards!
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Do you seriously have Grant Shapps as a partner - advisor?