Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United Kingdom based CEO’ operating in the Augmented Reality space. If you think a CEO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Graeme Cox
CEO/CTO of Emteq
Graeme Cox has a degree in artificial intelligence, over 20 years experience in scaling product development teams, and has a track record of building profitable, high-growth technology businesses. He has founded and managed four technology businesses and has served as board member and advisor on several more across the range of software, hardware and services. A project and person manager with 20 years of continuous experience in the management of teams and individuals with project ownership, management and delivery of individual budgets up to $100 million.
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About Emteq: The world’s first emotion recognition and analysis platform in smart glasses
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Gary Bracey
Co-Founder & CEO of Terra Virtua
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About Terra Virtua: Terra Virtua is the first fully immersive, blockchain-driven VR entertainment Platform.
Sergei Nossoff
CEO & Co-founder of Teslasuit
An international hands-on senior executive, private equity and investment banking professional with over 20 years of experience. Creative, with clear strategic vision, excellent interpersonal, negotiation and problem-solving skills, with a proven ability to manage and build winning teams. Committed to the highest levels of professional and personal excellence and credibility. Currently focused on New Technologies (VR/AR/MR) and MedTech sectors.
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About Teslasuit: Teslasuit is a team of talented developers and designers, creating innovative products for XR and MedTech.
David Hayes
Chief Executive Officer of WaveOptics
David Hayes is the CEO at WaveOptics, a company that designs and manufactures waveguides for AR wearables.
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About WaveOptics: WaveOptics designs Augmented Reality (AR) wearables with enhanced features.
Janosch Amstutz
Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Beem
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About Beem: Beem is a software platform that enables live and on-demand communication using real humans in the Metaverse.
Victor Riparbelli
CEO and Co-Founder of Synthesia
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About Founders, Synthesia: Synthesia is an AI video avatar platform that creates professional videos from a text in different languages.
Thanos Kokkiniotis
CEO of SMARTIFY
Thanos Kokkiniotis has 7 years experience managing Royal Dutch Shell’s mobile strategy, including a portfolio of 3 apps used by over 4 million customers across 31 countries. Thanos will hold a workshop about “make meaningful connections with art” at the Communicating the Museum conference in Berlin.
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About Shell Oil Company, SMARTIFY: SMARTIFY provides instant access to inspiring art commentary, straight to your smartphone.
Ali Rezaei Haddad
CEO and Founder of NeuroNav
Ali is a neurosurgical resident in London and an NHS Clinical Entrepreneur. Prior to this, he completed his Academic Foundation Training in the Medical Sciences Division at the University of Oxford undertaking research in the field of neuroimaging. He graduated with first class honours in Neurosciences BSc at Imperial College London, and he holds honorary research positions at the University of Oxford and St George’s Medical School. Ali co-founded the internationally acclaimed GoodSAM app used by the NHS, in which clinically trained individuals sign up as volunteers to respond to life-threatening emergency calls. He also directed and curated the Imagining the Future of Medicine at the Royal Albert Hall in partnership with TEDMED, attended by a live audience of 5,000 people. Inspired by the lack of user friendly and affordable neuronavigation solutions worldwide, he founded NeuroNav to democratise access to neurosurgery navigation solutions.
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About Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, NeuroNav: An augmented reality neuronavigation platform powered by computer vision and machine learning.
Baran Korkmaz
Founder, CEO of ARWAY
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About ARWAY: ARWAY is a spatial mapping platform critical to building the Metaverse.
Ming Kong
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of TG0
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About TG0: TG0 is an R&D start-up creating novel 3D controls.
Mike Charalambous
Founder / CEO of Threedium
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About Frenzi Media, Threedium: We create memorable brand experiences, drive product considerations and deliver conversions through 3D/AR Technology.
Oluwaseyi Sosanya
Co Founder and CEO of Gravity Sketch
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About Gravity Sketch: Gravity Sketch is a VR-based design and collaboration platform that allows distributed teams to create, share, and build in 3D.
Gareth Edwards
CEO of Cubic Motion
Gareth Edwards is the CEO of Cubic Motion He is Winner of the 2015 IEEE Test of Time Award for “one of the most influential papers in the field; inspired many (if not all) subsequent works on deformable models for face analysis.” Also awarded Olympus Science for Life and Sullivan Prizes. Creating novel technologies for 20 years.
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About Cubic Motion: Cubic Motion is the world leader in real-time model-based computer vision and digital animation technology.
Darran Milne
Co-Founder & CEO of VividQ
Dr Darran Milne – Chief Executive Officer, PhD (University of St Andrews & Max Plank Institute) Mathematician and Theoretical Physicist by training, with a PhD in quantum information theory from the University of St Andrews and the Max Plank Institute in Erlangen. Having started his career as a quantitative analyst at a large financial software house, he soon began to direct product development initiatives, and manage client implementation projects as a Scrum Master. As one of the co-founders of VividQ and its CTO, he directed the original research and development efforts of the team that evolved into the currently offered products. In his role as a CEO, he has been responsible for leading and execution of the company’s technology and commercial strategies.
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About VividQ: VividQ powers the revolution in digital display with Computer-Generated Holography.
Adetunji Adegbesan
Founder/CEO of Gidi Mobile
Dr Adetunji Adegbesan is the Founder & CEO of Gidi Mobile, creators of gidimo, Africa’s leading curriculum mastery & learning-as-a-service platform. Tunji has a First Class Honours degree in Electronic Engineering, and a PhD in Strategic Management from the IESE Business School. He is globally respected as one of Africa’s top scholars of competitive strategy, as well as one of her leading experts on the mobile telecommunications industry. A recipient of multiple awards, he has been invited to speak at knowledge events in more than 20 countries across four continents. Immediately prior to founding Gidi Mobile, he was Director of the Centre for Competitiveness & Strategy at the Lagos Business School (LBS), where he led sessions on Competitive Strategy, as well as on issues arising out of the intersection of Strategy, Technology, and Innovation. During his 14 years at LBS, his consulting experience spanned the software, telecommunications, banking, oil and gas, publishing, logistics, identity management and electronic payments sectors; while prior to LBS, his work experience spanned software development, consulting, information systems management, and electrical engineering, in both manufacturing and service sectors. Tunji is a member of the Editorial Review Board of the Academy of Management Review, the world’s leading conceptual journal in the field of strategic management. He is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Businessday Newspapers (West Africa’s premier business periodical), and a peer reviewer for several of the world’s top strategy research journals. He is a past member of the Executive Committee of the Strategy Division of the global Academy of Management, as well as a past Global Representative for Africa of the Division. He has also been a Representative-at-Large for the Competitive Strategy Interest Group of the Strategic Management Society, and a member of the Research and Strategic Planning Committee of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria. He is a past Visiting Scholar & Associate Researcher at the Center for Globalisation and Strategy at the IESE Business School in Barcelona. An amateur historian, philosopher, and student of culture and geo-political affairs, Tunji has native fluency in English and Spanish, and basic literacy in French, Yoruba and Catalan.
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About Gidi Mobile: Gidi Mobile is the creator of gidimo, the developing world’s leading personal mastery & learning-for-opportunity platform
David Mitchell
Founder & CEO of XYZ Reality
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About XYZ Reality: XYZ Reality is disrupting the Construction Industry with a unique Augmented Reality solution able to reduce project costs by up to 20%
Solomon Rogers
Co-Founder & CEO of REWIND
Founder and CEO of REWIND, the VR content studio behind international award winning work such as the BBC’s Home: A VR Spacewalk, Björk’s NotGet VR, Red Bull Air Race VR and the acclaimed launch title Project Falcon for the FOVE eye-tracking VR headset. Sol is a BAFTA VR Advisory Group Executive, advisor and board member to globally recognised conferences including Autodesk University, FMX.de, Develop:VR, MIPCOM and MIPTV. He is co-founder of the nonprofit VR Together platform, creating VR for Good, and founder and organiser of the UK’s most popular VR meetup, VRLO. Sol was awarded the first “VR Technology & Innovation” award from UK Government Trade & Investment in 2015 and recognised as one of the digital industry’s brightest stars in the BIMA HOT 100 in 2016. Sol was a University Hertfordshire Senior Lecturer for 15 years in Digital Animation, VFX & Emerging Technology, writing four Degrees, two Masters and supervising PHDs. He is a VR evangelist and prominent international keynote speaker, often quoted in press and appearing on TV. www.REWIND.co
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About REWIND: REWIND is an award winning content production agency, working with bleeding edge technology to create unforgettable brand experiences.
Jamieson Christmas
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Envisics
Founder and CEO of Envisics, Jamieson Christmas has over 300 patents and was awarded the prestigious SID Ben Sturgeon Award in 2013 for his significant contribution to the field of displays. An inspirational and passionate leader with a wealth of experience managing and developing teams. His unique multidisciplinary background in science, engineering and design has enabled this world-leading expert in the field of holographic technologies to push forward the commercial realisation of cutting edge technology. In 2009, Dr. Christmas founded Two Trees Photonics where he further developed holographic technology for the automotive industry. In 2018, Dr. Christmas founded Envisics with the intent to completely transform the in-car experience with its holographic technology.
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About Envisics: Envisics develops a dynamic holography platform for cars, providing enhanced dashboards of information to drivers.
Andrew Hart
Co-Founder and CEO of Dent Reality
Working on AR for indoor spaces at Dent Reality. Creator of ARKit + CoreLocation, and some other things.
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About Dent Reality: Dent Reality develops an augmented reality platform that helps users find their favorite products on the market.
James B Gambrell
CEO of Supponor
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About Supponor: Supponor transforms real world mass-audience TV visible signage into highly targeted virtual brand messaging in sports broadcasting.
David Ripert
CEO of Poplar Studio
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About Poplar Studio: Poplar is a creative platform that enables brands and retailers to produce 3D and AR experiences on-demand, powered by a talent cloud.
Andrew Hawken
Co-Founder and CEO of Mesmerise
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About Mesmerise: Virtual Reality content, gaming and technology
Caspar Thykier
Co-Founder, CEO of Zappar
Caspar Thykier is Co-Founder & CEO at Zappar.
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About Veemee, Zappar: Zappar is a clever little app that can see and recognise images and objects in the world around us.
Darren Jobling
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer & Board Member of ZeroLight
With over 25 years as a leader in the technology industry, Darren has built two pioneering organisations directly from the North East of England, establishing ZeroLight in 2014. The company has secured landmark deals with Audi, Pagani, JLR and Toyota, providing premium visualisation solutions both in dealership and online. Rated as one of the region’s Most Influential People for 5 years running, Darren is a committed entrepreneur, innovator and curator of technological talent.
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About ZeroLight: ZeroLight is a creator of the world’s most advanced car configurator solution.
Alfredo Belfiori
Founder & CEO of Flicktek Ltd
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About BetterSpace, Flicktek Ltd: Gesture control for smartwatches, IoT and VR
Bilal Itani
CEO of Modular Customer Engagement Technologies
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About Modular Customer Engagement Technologies: Modular Customer Engagement Technologies is a 3D Customer Experience Platform, Create your 3D Online Shop & 3D Product Configurator
Tarun Sainani
CEO & Founder of World Around Me
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About World Around Me, WT InfoTech: World Around Me is a local discovery app to help searching local places & services – on the phone camera with augmented reality – anywhere.
Mark Knowles Lee
CEO of Fracture Reality
Mark Knowles Lee the co-founder of Fracture, a digital creative company focused on Mixed Reality. Our goal is to push the boundaries of what is possible on the new Mixed AR platforms. Previously I have setup and run commercially successful games teams and studios, run digital incubation teams and going back further had a successful career in Technical Art and Creative direction. My interests are wide – I’m passionate about Technology, Computer Vision, Real time CGI, AR, VR, Mixed Reality, UX and how they all come together to change our world. I get a kick out of using data to improve design, experience and revenue, from qualitative data, (user experience and testing), through to analysing quantitative data of millions of player interactions. Coordinating between Tech – Creative – Acquisition – Marketing teams has been recent step up for me which I have relished. Solving creative problems, optimising pipelines for both collaborative design and efficient 3d content creation and working in tight sync with the best creatives and engineers is how I like to spend my time when I’m hands on. When its hands off time I love to present, attend talks (on as wide a topic range as I can manage) and meet interesting folk from as many different spheres as possible. London & Brighton are amazing places to do all this right now.
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About Fracture Reality, Origami Blue: Mixed Reality specialists, offering design, production and installation of high quality, innovative experiences on Microsoft Hololens.
Jon Meggitt
CEO of Arcade Ltd
I founded and ran a leading digital agency for many years, growing from a three-person business into an international team of 50 full time staff in London and San Francisco (FUSE). We designed and built multi-million pound digital platforms and sites for some of the world’s largest organisations – including Unilever, Tesco and BUPA. Prior to this, I trained and practiced as an architect, including a stint as a tutor of second year architecture students at Nottingham University. This helped me develop a rigorous and user-centric approach to design which I carried through to my work at FUSE. We sold FUSE to Interpublic Group at the end of 2011 and, over the proceeding 4 years, conducted one of the group’s most successful earn-outs to date by integrating into a global PR firm (Golin) and helping to grow the business by over 300%. I am now combining my technological and architectural expertise into a business focused on the next big thing – augmented reality. It’s called Arcade, and it’s a huge new venture which I’m extremely excited and proud to be part of.
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About Arcade Ltd: Immersive Technology Company
Justin Anderson
Chief Executive Officer of Xpert AI
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About Xpert AI: Xpert AI is an international R&D lab that combines Computer Vision and Augmented Reality technology
Nat Martin
CEO of Litho – Makers of Diorama
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About Litho – Makers of Diorama: LITHO is the input device for the real world.
Scott Marshall
Founder & CEO of Bamsound VR
Scott Marshall is CEO / Founder and Sound Lead at Bamsound, an immersive audio agency specialising in sound for virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and 360 productions. With over 12 years experience, their clients include Universal, Nikon, NME, BBC, Channel 4, Sky, UKTV, Saatchi & Saatchi and many others. Having worked for various facilities and freelanced in many post houses and production companies, Scott spent his career working across many genres including broadcast, factual, comedy, drama, and commercials, but has now found himself pushing audio boundaries in these new and exciting mediums. To quote Scott “With the rise in ‘new’ immersive formats, such as VR and AR, we are seeing (and hearing) how much more important it is to create a truly ‘3D’ audio landscape for productions and how critical this is in making these experiences feel real and believable.
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About Bamsound VR: Bamsound VR Immersive Audio Agency for Virtual Reality Audio 360 ExP.
Benjamin Woolf
Chief Executive Officer of Gameway
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About Gameway: Gameway is the mobile gaming experience of the future.
Ben Vaughan
CEO of ARToolworks
Ben Vaughan has spent the last 20 years involved in the real time 3D visualization industry, prior to which he spent five years as an investment banker and seven years working in the City of London as a strategic marketing and investor relations consultant. His technology career started in the early 1990s with one of the UK’s pioneering virtual reality companies (Virtuality PLC) where he was the head of External Affairs. He then co-founded a VC-backed start-up in California before moving to the East Coast to run a business unit for InterSense Inc. Since 2000, Ben has worked for his own company and become involved in several software start-ups in a variety of senior executive positions. In addition to his role at ARToolworks, Ben is on the board of Simulation Synthesis Ltd, a developer of real time 3D authoring software.
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About ARToolworks: ARToolworks offers access to the computer vision algorithm which allows its users to modify the source code to fit their applications.
Vin Sumner
CEO of Clicks and Links
Vin founded and is the CEO of Clicks and Links Ltd. Vin is responsible for the company’s development into socially-aware virtual world/serious games business that it is today. Vin recently led work with many European Cities, through Eurocities and the European Commission, on how the innovative use of ICT can help reduce a City’s carbon footprint. This has resulted in more than 40 European Cities adopting the Green Digital Charter. Vin’s other areas of interest include Green ICT, innovation and social technologies. In the context of the current Future Cities agenda, he is exploring how games technology might be applied to help solve city challenges and how to bring SME talent together through new means of networking across national boundaries.
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About Clicks and Links: Clicks and Links specialises in immersive technology.
Nizar Romdan
CEO & Co-founder of Virtual Arts Ltd.
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About Virtual Arts Ltd.: We are building a leading state of the art Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality Technology and interactive content company.
Ryan Genz
CEO of CuteCircuit
Ryan Genz is a CEO at CuteCircuit.
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About CuteCircuit: A pioneer in the field of wearable technology, design and manufacture of 3D audio products, sensor enhanced apparel, illumination, haptics.
Si Brown
Founder & CEO of skignz
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About skignz: skignz: A Precise Location AR platform providing an Enterprise API/SDK that is capable of placing digital content anywhere on the planet
Adam Vahed
Owner / CEO of Apache
Adam Vahed is a Founder at Apache.
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About Apache: We craft compelling interactive experiences. You get meaningful brand engagement.
Darrel Butlin
Founder & CEO of #hexology
Creative, innovative and strategic from concept to launch, Darrel combines Art and Technology to originate and produce cutting-edge entrepreneurial ventures. Founded on an international track record of working at the highest level within the commercial film industry, his independent work as a screenwriter and film director has led him to evolve award-winning programs of research and development, and a dynamic portfolio of intellectual property.
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About #hexology: Bring your digital media into the #physicalworld to create and share a peak experience wherever you go.
Anique Hassan
Chief Executive Officer of Imperium Media
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About Imperium Media: Helping companies to maximize their potential on new and existing technologies.
