The best start-up firms in Wales revealed

The Wales StartUp Awards 2025 recognises the best start-up firms and entrepreneurs across Wales

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Sion BarryMedia Wales Business Editor

10:34, 24 JUN 2025

The winners of the Wales StartUp Awards 2025. (Image: © 2018 Morgan James Media Limited)

Swansea-based AI venture Dill has been named the best start-up firm in Wales.

It took the overall title at the Wales StartUp Awards 2025. Founded by Swansea University graduate and Romanian-born Alex Coldea, the expanding global business is a smart labelling platform that enables businesses to instantly create and print compliant labels without the usual manual effort.

Designed for use across multiple locations, it replaces time-consuming formatting tasks like barcodes, QR codes, ingredients, and expiry dates with automated label generation based on real-time data.

Mr Coldea, said: “Winning the 2025 Wales StartUp of the Year is a huge moment for the team and a reflection of the impact Dill is already making across the food and retail industries.

“We started this business because we were frustrated by how slow and unnecessarily complicated labelling had become, a process so many people just accepted as ‘normal’ when we knew it could be done better. What began as a small, focused solution quickly revealed a much bigger opportunity, and that meant letting go of the original idea and starting from scratch.

“That pivot was tough, but it changed everything. We rebuilt Dill from the ground up to be simple, fast, and user‑centric.

" Today, our AI‑powered platform is making labelling seamless for brands like BrewDog, Atis, Busaba, Nisa Local, The Secret Group and more, across hundreds of sites, from BP, Shell, Esso, and Jet service stations, to Saracens Stadium and Swansea Council. From food‑to‑go and traceability to stock rotation and barcodes, Dill handles it all.

“With our recent launch in the United States and growing deployments across the ��Ƶ, Europe, the Middle East and Africa with Brother, our hardware partner, we’re building Dill into an AI‑driven infrastructure layer that makes labelling invisible, a seamless service that operates across any site or device.

“ We started with food and beverage labelling, but the vision is much larger: to redefine how every industry approaches labelling. This is just the beginning, and we’re excited for where this journey takes us next.”

The 32 winners from Wales will now progress to the ��Ƶ StartUp Awards final, taking place at Ideas Fest on September 11th, along with the winners from nine other nations and regions.

Professor Dylan Jones-Evans, creator of the ��Ƶ StartUp Awards, with its nation and regions awards, said :“The Wales Start-Up Awards have demonstrated, once again, that Welsh entrepreneurs are reshaping the economic landscape, turning bold ideas into thriving ventures and ambition into meaningful impact.

"That’s why we created the ��Ƶ-wide StartUp Awards, to celebrate the individuals who are building something from nothing and making a real difference in their communities.

“Across the country, from rural towns to city centres, founders of new businesses are developing everything from cutting-edge digital solutions to sustainable food brands and green energy businesses that are all grounded in a deep sense of place, purpose, and national pride.”

The winners at the 2025 Wales StartUp Awards in full:

Wales StartUp of the Year - Dill.

AI StartUp of the Year - Dill.

Business to Business StartUp of the Year - Pilates Class ��Ƶ.

Business, Consulting & Management StartUp of the Year - Quest.

Cleantech StartUp of the Year - Nellie Technologies.

Construction & Building Services StartUp of the Year - Alyn Bowen .

Consumer Products StartUp of the Year - Môr Consumer Services Start Up of the Year - Norah Rose.

Creative StartUp of the Year - Creadigol Design.

Digital StartUp of the Year - Tool Archive.

Education & Training StartUp of the Year - Romodels.

Equity-Backed StartUp of the Year - Darogan.