January 8, 2024 AI Content Moderator Crowned Best UK Startup 2024

The Startups 100 business index reveals that the most disruptive company of 2024 is the AI content moderator, Unitary.

• Startups 100 names AI startup Unitary as most disruptive business of 2024
• Unitary can analyse three billion images a day, identifying and flagging harmful online content
• Almost 1-in-5 entries (19%) in this year’s Startups 100 use AI as part of their business model
• 61% of business leaders surveyed by Startups.co.uk believe AI will disrupt their industries

Startups 100 – the UK’s longest-running index of innovative new UK small businesses – reveals that the most disruptive company of 2024 is Unitary, an AI firm that’s able to conduct content moderation at a scale that’s impossible for humans to replicate.

With violent, offensive, or disturbing images and videos proliferating on social media at a staggering rate, protecting users has never been more challenging. Advertisers have also threatened to leave platforms – such as X – that have failed to prevent their brands appearing alongside harmful content.

Unitary’s patented machine-learning AI can understand if a photo or video contains explicit or offensive content. Currently, this technology can analyse around three billion images a day, or 25,000 frames of video per second.

Its intelligent verification tools can even understand particular contexts of surrounding content that may be damaging for a business. For example, it understands how nudity in a medical context carries very different significance to nudity in a sexual context.

The rapid rise of artificial intelligence has sparked significant AI anxiety over the past year. Yet Unitary is using its tech to bring welcome disruption. By automating the content moderation process, it’s tackling a vital job that has become unsuitable, unscalable, and often traumatising for human eyes.

In a survey for Startups.co.uk, half (51%) of business leaders stated that they’re likely to hire AI experts in 2024. Other AI-integrated companies that made it onto this year’s Startups 100 index include IRIS Audio, WeWALK, Magic AI, HACE, My Smash, YouMakr.ai, Route Konnect, Athena AI, MVPR, and FYLD.

Considering 61% of business leaders surveyed by Startups.co.uk believe that AI will disrupt their industry, Unitary’s ethical use of artificial intelligence will help businesses work towards a brighter and safer future in 2024.

Richard Parris, Editor of Startups.co.uk comments:

“We’ve all heard about the risks of AI taking our jobs, but there are some tasks that humans truly shouldn’t be doing – including moderating some of the vilest content on the internet.

“What Unitary is able to do is quite incredible – its AI tech can analyse three billion images per day, detecting harmful content and protecting both users and brands who advertise on social platforms. Unitary is truly a brand of the future, and we’re excited to crown the business as our top UK startup for 2024.”

• Startups.co.uk is the UK’s longest serving online small business advice platform that aims to be the most trusted and comprehensive resource for founders and would-be entrepreneurs.
• Startups 100 Index ranking methodology. The index comprises businesses that are UK-based, privately-owned, and launched after 1 January 2018. A weighted score is given to every business entrant based on five key areas of analysis: finance, external validation, size of opportunity, innovation, and strength of concept.
• Interviews with listees and Startups.co.uk editor available.
• Startups.co.uk survey methodology. The Startups.co.uk small business survey was conducted at the end of November 2023, in order to achieve a deep understanding of the mindsets, expectations, and central concerns of UK businesses established between 2013 and 2023. Survey questions were put to 546 business owners, CEOs, and C-suite executives.
• Please contact jessica.repetti@startups.co.uk for any questions.

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