Deep Blue has won the coveted Start-Up of the Year Award 2025.

The AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards 2025 were held on January 24, 2025 at the exceptional Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, London. The Awards brought together leading lights from the global business education community to celebrate excellence and commend achievement among business schools, MBA students and graduates, suppliers and employers.

The ceremony was attended by more than 200 business school leaders, as well as category finalists, judges and members of the media.

The Start-Up of the Year Award celebrates the achievements of successful students and alumni that have launched their own businesses. It aims to encourage and promote the value of new business innovation and potential in the current competitive climate.

It also highlights business schools that are nurturing a spirit of enterprise and ambition in their cohorts.

Deep Blue’s AI Drown Detection System represents a groundbreaking leap in water safety technology. It provides real-time monitoring and rapid response capabilities for drowning incidents in various aquatic environments. The system detects potential drownings but also pre-empts this by understanding the risk rating of situations – for example by understanding the ratio of adults to children to lifeguards – and detecting patterns of weak swimming.

It also includes other features such as victim location tracking, unauthorised person alerts, and crowd analytics. It is currently in trial on one public beach and one public school – both operated by Dubai Municipality, and one private residential lagoon.

Deep Blue Cofounder Karl said of his win, “I am honored to receive the Start-Up of the Year Award from AMBA & BGA. This recognition is a testament to the hard work of our team at Deep Blue. We are committed to driving innovation in water safety technology, and this award inspires us to push even further in our mission to save lives and make aquatic environments safer for everyone. I would also like to thank the University of Bradford School of Management for nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit of its students.”

Andrew Main Wilson, Chief Executive of the Association of MBAs and Business Graduates Association (AMBA & BGA) said: “On behalf of the AMBA and BGA team, I would like to congratulate the finalists and winners of this year’s Excellence Awards.

“This year, the competition was stronger than ever. The entries who have made the final shortlist in each category should feel proud of their achievements.

“Additionally, the students and graduates who have been shortlisted as finalists today have all used their qualifications to achieve a spectrum of impressive results, in terms of the positive impact they have made to business, education and society as a whole.

“It was thrilling to be able to celebrate the AMBA network’s achievements at this glamorous Gala Dinner – in particular its been amazing to celebrate exceptional innovations and successes in the higher management education industry.

“I also want to take the opportunity to thank our partners, Kortext, Canvas by Instructure, Cesim Business Simulations, Perlego and BlueSky Education. Their support for our awards – and the business education sector – is greatly appreciated.”