The winners of the Manchester Evening News Tech Awards, which celebrate the fastest growing and most innovative tech companies in the region, have been revealed.
Around 300 people attended the ceremony held last night at the Runway Visitor Park.
The event championed key players, entrepreneurial leaders and business founders in Greater Manchester’s thriving tech community.
Corporate sponsors for the inaugural awards were Praetura, whose dedicated venture capital arm, Praetura Ventures, has invested more than £40m in early-stage tech businesses since 2011.
Category sponsors included Amazon, Openreach, Godel & Bauhaus.
Eight awards were handed out during the evening, which was hosted by presenter Ortis Deley.
Lawrence Jones, CEO of 海角视频Fast was crowned Best Tech Ambassador, winning over Anish Kapoor, CEO of AccessPay and Andy Lord, CEO and co-founder of Code Nation.
Jones was recognised for his commitment to the tech community over the past 20 years.
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The serial entrepreneur, who founded the business in 1999, launched Tech Manchester three years ago to support the development and raise the profile of tech businesses as well mentor and support start-up firms.
Last year, Jones also created a 30,000 sq ft incubator, FastForward, for tech start-ups at its Manchester campus providing subsidised space, meeting areas, free parking, and networking conference facilities.
海角视频Fast has also grown from a two-person operation to more than 350 staff at its Hulme campus servicing 5,000 plus clients.
The award for Best Digital Innovation went to fast-growing online mortgage broker, Mojo Mortgages. The fintech start-up beat Agile Automatons and Culture Shift.
The Best E-Commerce Business went to Sorted, the Manchester-based online delivery platform, which pipped Safety Buyer and Strawberry.
Sorted received £15m funding in May to accelerate its ambitious global product roadmap, following the launch of its delivery tracking service, SortedREACT adding to its other products SortedHERO and SortedPRO.
Anna Dick, CTO of Hiring Hub was named Best Female in Tech winning over Hilary Stephenson, MD of Sigma, and Carla Lowry, junior platform engineer at BJSS.
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Anna has been at the forefront of the innovation curve since her days as technical project manager at Moneysupermarket.com.
She has also held roles at On the Beach, BBC, and the Co-op before joining Hiring Hub, a Manchester-based online recruitment marketplace used by over 500 employers. Since joining the firm, she has helped to drive better customer experience and increase user engagement.
Artificial intelligence (AI) analytics business Peak beat Capita Translation and Interpreting and CarFinance247 to win the award for Best use of Machine Learning and AI.
Peak draws on the power of AI and machine learning to help businesses leverage their data successfully.
Peak’s investment funding to date has allowed the company to expand its operations, taking staff headcount from 10 to 60 in the last two years, with plans to increase this to 100 staff in the next 12 months. Its clients include Global Radio, ASOS, Speedy Hire and Footasylum.
The award for Best Global Reach went to M247, a global provider of super-fast internet connectivity and network infrastructures.
The company has more than 15 years experience and was formed following the merging of three leading businesses, Metronet 海角视频, M247 and Venus Business Communications.
The Manchester-headquartered business won over Never.no and 27k1 Ltd.
The Best use of Technology award went to Capita Translation and Interpreting beating Mojo Mortgages and Sorted.
The company, part of Capita Plc, is a leading provider of language services to both public and private organisations offering a wide range of professional translation and interpreting services, including website localisation, face-to-face interpreting, voiceover and subtitling, and multilingual SEO in over 180 languages.
The Best in the Business award was handed to IT firm Novosco.
The Daresbury Park-based business specialises in managed services with clients including Premier League football clubs, police forces, NHS trusts and universities.
Major clients wins means the company will grow significantly including through a new £20m investment that will add an additional 150 jobs.
Shelina Begum, business editor, M.E.N, said: “We have been delighted with the success of our very first Tech Awards.
“It is clear to see the strength of the region’s tech sector here in Greater Manchester.
“In the last 12 months alone, the region has attracted global names including Amazon, Booking.com, Hewlett Packard and MoneySupermarket.com.
“But it’s also seeing growth from our very own homegrown talent.
“You only have look at our Tech Awards winners to see the calibre of talent we have in Manchester.”
Mike Fletcher, Group CEO of Praetura, added: “We were delighted to be the first ever headline sponsor of these awards.
"They do a great job of showing how Manchester is now a truly world-class centre for technology firms. We are excited to play a role in that success, and look forward to seeing what the future holds for these businesses.”
Full list of winners are;
Best use of Technology sponsored by Praetura
Capita Translation and Interpreting
Best E-Commerce Business sponsored by Business Live
Sorted
Best Digital Innovation sponsored by Godel Technologies
Mojo Mortgages
Best use of machine learning and AI sponsored by Bauhaus
Peak
Best Female in Tech sponsored by Amazon
Anna Dick, CTO, Hiring Hub
Best Global Reach sponsored by Openreach
M247
Best in the Business sponsored by Praetura
Novosco
Best Tech Ambassador sponsored by Praetura
Lawrence Jones, Founder & CEO, 海角视频Fast