Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park has announced the winners in the latest round of its Future Industries Demonstrator (FID) programme – an initiative designed to help London-based businesses accelerate and scale innovative technologies that address some of the city’s most pressing urban challenges.
This year’s theme, ‘Building Better – Innovating Healthier Solutions’ invited applicants to tackle the negative impacts of poor indoor air quality, overheating, damp and energy inefficiency in buildings. Submissions were expected to demonstrate cultural and environmental sensitivity, prioritising sustainable and inclusive solutions for healthier living and working environments.
Following a competitive application process, 22 shortlisted SMEs took part in a hackathon on 6 October at Plexal, the innovation and growth centre at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, where they refined their proposals and presented them to programme delivery partners. The event brought together a distinguished panel of industry leaders, including developers Lendlease; representatives from the London Boroughs of Newham, Waltham Forest and Hackney; housing association Poplar HARCA; as well as London Stadium, Copper Box Arena and Here East. Community engagement groups also contributed through the Park’s Community Anchors Network (CAN), Elevate Youth Board and Newham Data Ambassadors, with additional industry expertise provided by CBRE, Lunos, BT and Rider Levett Bucknall.
Following the presentations, the panellists selected five winners from the 22 participating teams. The winners are:
airifi – Smart Windows: An intelligent, retrofittable window control system designed to improve and optimise the internal environment. For homeowners, housing providers and estate and commercial managers, Smart Windows autonomously controls ventilation using real-time, granular environmental data to enhance occupant health and wellbeing, while reducing mould risk and noise pollution.
Ekkist – Healthy Homes Checklist: A science-backed digital tool for design, assessment and reporting of health-related aspects of housing. For use by developers, landlords and housing associations, it provides assessments 75% faster and 50% cheaper than traditional certifications and aims to create a National Registry of Health in Housing.
Kestrix – A digital platform for housing associations, contractors and local councils that uses drone-mounted thermal imaging and AI to map energy loss across buildings and generate retrofit plans. It enables highly visual, empirical data for more efficient planning and verification for retrofit projects.
Klimatise – Klimatise Cloud Thermostat: A software that dynamically adjusts temperatures in commercial buildings to reduce emissions, reduce bills and increase staff comfort.
Project Alix – An AI-powered damp and mould triage platform for tenants and housing association. It allows tenants to report issues via WhatsApp, enabling automated preliminary diagnosis and faster response times from maintenance teams.
As well as receiving £16,000 each in funding, the chosen businesses will take part in a series of four in-person workshops to design and validate innovation trials at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. These will be followed by a three-month live trial period, culminating in a showcase at the 2026 Innovation Forum.
Francesca Colloca, Head of Innovation at London Legacy Development Corporation, said: “The hackathon at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park brought together entrepreneurs, industry experts and community voices, showcasing the creativity and collaboration driving London’s most innovative solutions. We’re proud to celebrate the five winning teams whose projects tackle critical housing and health challenges, from air quality and damp to energy efficiency, with inclusivity, sustainability and practical impact at their core. We believe these solutions have real potential to be scaled, and we look forward to seeing them tested and refined here on the Park as part of a living testbed for healthier, more energy-efficient and resilient homes and workplaces for Londoners.”
Russell Gundry, Senior Director at Plexal, added: “This challenge showcases the best of London’s innovation community: creative, purposeful and collaborative. We were delighted at the quality of the submissions we received, and it’s been a pleasure to work alongside such a talented cohort. The hackathon gave every team a chance to test and strengthen their ideas and the five we’ve selected are those best placed to prove their solutions in a real-world setting here on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Each solution brings something distinctive to the challenge of making buildings healthier and more sustainable and together they reflect the kind of innovation that can deliver real impact for people and places.”
The Future Industries Demonstrator (FID) programme, spearheaded by Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Innovation District, forms part of the Park’s ongoing commitment to supporting London’s Just Transition. The initiative drives inclusive innovation that addresses the climate emergency while promoting health, wellbeing, and a more sustainable and equitable future for everyone living and working in the capital. FID is funded by the Mayor of London and the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), which supports delivery of the government’s five national missions.
