This Squawka Match Center image compares the shots of Brazil and Mexico in their opening FIFA World Cup games. The company is tipped as a start-up to watch.

Editor’s Note: Technology journalist Stuart Miles is CEO and founder of gadget review website Pocket-lint. He can be found tweeting at @stuartmiles.

Story highlights

Technology journalist Stuart Miles has picked his UK companies to watch

Big data, 3D, predictive messages and augmented reality companies are in focus

The companies are being promoted as part of London Technology Week

Its aim is to show the world the city can compete with the likes of Silicon Valley

London CNN  — 

London’s inaugural Technology Week is underway, as the United Kingdom’s capital promotes its tech stars and shows it can compete with Silicon Valley. Here are five companies to watch, as they pitch to make it big.

Squawka

Big data is a huge topic at London Technology Week, with focus on how we can use it to empower us. One company taking that big data memo and maximizing it is Squawka. It’s a real-time football data company that is already delivering tons of data on football matches every week, allowing its users to become champions in their Fantasy Football leagues. But the bigger picture is all about empowering clubs, coaches, and pundits to understand what is happening with the real game.

Swiftkey

The number one third-party keyboard app for Android phones, Swiftkey is a must-have for the OS. Starting in London, and then setting up offices in San Francisco, the app has just gone free on the Google platform. If that wasn’t enough to encourage growth, the company also announced it will launch an iOS version for iOS 8 now that Apple has said they will allow it. That’s another potential 500 million customers overnight. Nice.

Seene

Chances are you might not have heard about Seene, but earlier this year the company won the Smart UK award for UK’s Most Innovative Mobile Company. It creates 3D imaging on the iPhone by just using the phone processing. Imagine women being able to take a picture of a dress they like and send it to others to look at in 3D – or 360 degree images to share. With the 3D imaging space heating up, this is certainly one to watch.

Damson Audio

Audio companies are getting forgotten these days, as more of us turn to music on the go via our phones. Damson Audio is trying to change that, with speaker systems that use the environment around you to boost the sound. It’s an adventurous project and one that is already getting traction. In 2012 it won best start-up from the UK Trade & Investment department.

Blippar

The company deals with augmented reality and, in particular, augmented reality advertising. It now has offices in London, New York and beyond. It describes itself as a lens through which the real world can be spontaneously “unlocked” and converted into content-rich, interactive experiences and it’s already having huge success with that vision. Clients include Budweiser, Heinz, and Nissan.

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