Cognisess - people analytics

Bath-based Cognisess set out on a mission to eradicate the subjective biases that unconsciously yet inevitably take place during the job application process. Driven by a unique combination of data science, neuro-science, artificial intelligence and machine learning, Cognisess supports companies in making more informed, data-led human resource decisions. In order to tackle this huge issue, Cognisess aims to be the leading software platform for predictive people analytics via a single, easy-to use platform.

Founded by Chris Butt, Cognisess initially started out with a focus on sport, looking at the players’ cognitive performance under pressure. The success of early projects with the likes of England Rugby highlighted that the market for understanding people was changing, and Cognisess had the opportunity to challenge the traditional approaches to psychometrics personality profiling in place in the market.

In 2014, the lengthy process of building the software and validations process started and three years later Cognisess were selected as part of 15 global companies to represent the UK at the Microsoft Global Start-Up Roadshow, this provided recognition that Cognisess were building an innovative and transformative tool, aiming to change how talent is measured thus helping companies and their people make better decisions. This pivotal moment would help with the growth of the business, meeting investors and potential customers to help scale the business rapidly.

By 2018 the platform was ready and sales were underway and the investment being raised continued to support team and product development.

Cognisess has seen 100% growth year on year since 2017 with repeat business and the global roll out of programmes for large enterprise customers. The software works for employees and candidates as well as providing opportunities for job seekers. The platform and products continue to be developed with the recent launch of Yondur - a career & job matching service for school leavers, students and early career movers looking to up-skill and re-skill.

Chris was previously a member here at SETsquared Bath and got in touch with Garry Pratt the Entrepreneur in Residence for the Digital Innovation Business Acceleration Hub (DBAH) - a business support programme funded through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The DBAH provides bespoke support for SMEs and startups located in the West of England, either through mentoring and coaching or through research collaborations at the University.

Chris was specifically looking for grant strategy and new collaborations with the research base to develop the new platform Yondur, and was assigned to work with Oscar De Mello, Innovation & Commercial Manager from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Bath and independent grant writing consultant. The support was targeted by the submission of a collaboration research and development project proposal to the Innovate UK SMART competition and Oscar worked with the team at Cognisess as well as academic staff from the University of Bath to prepare bid documents and advice on bid strategy. The bid writing advice resulted in providing Cognisess with a stronger understanding of the application process and strategy for this grant and future funding opportunities. Following the support through the DBAH it was recommended that Cognisess would benefit from additional support through the Scale-Up Programme - another business support programme run by SETsquared.

Oscar De Mello talks further about the support provided to Cognisess,

“Cognisess CEO, Chris Butt, and Chief Science officer, Dr Boris Altemeyer, approached the team at CAMERA at the University of Bath to discuss how their computer vision research could be applied in Research & Development (R&D) activity that the Cognisess research team were planning.

Cognisess were founded and remain based in Bath, so a collaboration with the University of Bath was a natural choice, especially given the University’s world class research strength in computer vision and human-computer interaction. To make the collaboration feasible, external grant funding was required to enable both parties to resource a project team.

The bid application process required a significant allocation of time from both the academic and industrial teams, and this is often challenging for smaller SME businesses as usual activities are fast paced and ongoing. The collaborators were supported by the DBAH to access funded bid writing support to advise on the preparation of a proposal to Innovate UK’s SMART grant funding scheme - a two year collaborative R&D project investigating innovative solutions to driver monitoring in long distance haulage environments. The team submitted their proposal in early 2019.

The process of scoping and preparing the bid application helped to create new research links between Cognisess and the University of Bath, which in turn has led to new undergraduate students placements at Cognisess for Computer Science students from the University, as well as a co-funded PhD project starting Sept 2020.”

Chris Butt, Founder of Cognisess says,

“Cognisess is an early stage company which is now focused on scaling up the business - we are continuing to look for strategic partners globally and gain momentum with a large number of UK recruiters - with the aim for double-digit growth year on year and to raise investment between £2-2.5m. The continuation of product development will enable Cognisess to give scale in different markets. Yondur is in the early stages, but following the support we received through the DBAH programme we are now in a stronger position to move forward with this platform. We’re recognised as an innovator in the rapidly evolving science of AI and predictive HR analytics and are regarded as an expert and thought-leader in human capital management. It’s exciting times for Cognisess and as a business we will continue to be very focused helping people and to shake the market up. With Yondur there is a real social drive to help people to rediscover who they are.”

Chris, goes onto say,

“My advice to any business owner is to keep on finding out what support is available - for us the DBAH programme has been invaluable and there are a larger number of business support programmes available to support companies with impartial advice. There are many challenges - but be resilient and keep going!”

For further information on Cognisess visit the website, Cognisess website.

To find out about the Digital Business Business Acceleration Hub https://www.dbah.org/

Case Study | Digital Innovation Business Acceleration Hub - Cognisses