Innovation in communication
About Braided Communications
We are a Scottish company that originally developed a new tool for astronauts on deep space missions to communicate with Earth. That tool, Space Braiding, is now in extensive trials funded by three major space agencies: NASA, the European Space Agency and the UK Space Agency. Realising that Space Braiding could be evolved to help teams on Earth communicate more effectively, Braided Meetings was born. Our company and its innovation is built on neurodiversity; with one neurodivergent and one neurotypical co-founder. We place the highest value on being able to see things from each other’s point of view and know that neuroinclusive communication is enabled by doing meetings differently.
Meet the founders
Drew Smithsimmons
Director & Co-founder
Drew has worked in mental health services for several decades, as a social worker and cognitive-behavioural psychotherapist, with a specialism in attachment and emotion regulation. Through a career focused on innovation, technology and increasing access to psychological support, Drew has successfully pioneered a wide range of local, national and international projects. Proud to be autistic, having spent years masking in a neuronormative world, Drew is delighted to be contributing to making workplaces more neuroinclusive.
Rob Brougham
Director & Co-founder
Rob completed a degree in astrophysics then worked in commercial leadership positions across the telecoms and technology sector nationally and internationally. Moving into digital health he gained expertise in physical and mental health care. With the creation of Braided Communications, Rob has been able to blend his experience in technology and communications with his passion for healthcare and astrophysics. Rob has long been a passionate advocate for workplace inclusivity and feels extremely fortunate to be part of a neurodiverse founding team.
Advisory Board
Steve Gandy
Collaboration Services Entrepreneur. Co-Founder of MeetingZone Ltd. Experienced CEO and Board Director.
Dr David Alexander OBE
Professor of astrophysics at Rice University in Houston, Texas, where he also serves as Director of the Rice Space Institute.
Dr Barbara Ghinelli
Director of Clusters and Harwell Campus, UK Research & Innovation, Science and Technology Facilities Council.
Partners
We are proud to have secured investment from Techstart Ventures
We are actively working with many partners including:
The vision for braiding
We began by solving a seemingly unsolvable problem: How can astronauts in deep space have live, flowing, conversations with people on Earth? When astronauts first head beyond the Moon towards Mars they will be so far away that any signals they send will take many minutes to reach Earth. Live conversation as we are used to on Earth will be impossible. But using Space Braiding it feels to both people as if they are in a normal, real time, discussion.
Returning to Earth
We realised that Braiding is helpful on Earth too, as a new way of having virtual meetings. We’ve all been in meetings where some people dominate – perhaps because they are more senior, more opinionated, more extroverted or more nervous – whilst others don’t speak as much – perhaps they are more junior, less opinionated, more introverted or just calmer. The meeting output reflects the thinking of those who dominated but it’s almost certain that everyone has equally valuable thoughts. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to get all views shared? That is exactly what a Braided Meeting delivers.