Five early-stage businesses in the West of England have been named among the 海角视频’s best new tech companies.
The firms were all regional winners of Tech Nation’s annual Rising Stars competition, which recognises Britain’s most innovative technology businesses.
It also provides the opportunity for the best of the nation’s early-stage scale-ups to meet investors, influencers and corporates.
Last year, Cornish video streaming company Codices, which creates live interactive shows, scooped a Rising Star award.
After winning the accolade, the company was listed under the World Economic Forum’s top 10 tech trends to watch, as online entertainment boomed.
It also landed £250,000 in equity investment from the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF), as part of a larger £650,000 funding round, which included investment from existing and new private investors.
Tech Nation's 2020 winners from the South West will now compete nationally for the chance to be named one of 10 Rising Stars 海角视频 winners in February next year.
Vicky Hunter, entrepreneur engagement manager in the South West at Tech Nation, said: “The South West winners represent a wide spread of the region with companies from Bristol, Bath, Exeter and Cornwall.
Most Read
"Their tech reflects some of the strengths of the region including AI and net zero, and applies these to industries such as leisure, hospitality, recruitment and HR.
"I wish all the Rising Stars regional winners good luck but of course I’ll be cheering on the South West companies the loudest and hope to see them all in the final.”
Tech Nation's South West regional winners for this year are:
Bowimi, Bath
The Bath-based company is owned Dom Bowcock and Dan Ghadimi.
Bowimi allows brands to get products to its target audience by sending free samples to a person's mobile phone at the point of sale.
The company uses WiFi, QR codes and weblinks to secure consumers and send them free products to trial alongside digital experiences, with no app download needed.
Dom said: “It’s been a tough year for most people, not least for those working in hospitality and live events. We know that tech like ours can be the catalyst for recovery.
Don’t miss
"Being recognised by Tech Nation will be a fantastic platform to showcase Bowimi to new clients and investors.”
DataDuopoly, Falmouth
DataDuopoly is owned by Tanuvi Ethunandan and Erin Morris. Its mission is to revolutionise the visitor experience in any venue worldwide, according to the duo.
The pair say they are solving the issue of congestion and visitor frustration by using personalised incentives to help people discover and navigate venues - and giving value to visitors for their data.
Tanuvi said: “We are thrilled to have been recognised in the South West, and are looking forward to representing the region at the finals. Currently we are closing our seed round and are excited to share our plans to help venues welcome back visitors during this pandemic!”
Sign up for more business news straight to your inbox
Stay up to date with our daily newsletter, email breaking news alerts and weekly round-ups. To sign up, find out more and see all of our newsletters, follow the link here
Cloud8, Bristol
Ian Rummels is the founder of Bristol firm Cloud8, which is driving digital transformation within the employee benefits industry.
The company's flagship product, BEAM at Work, showcases employee benefits on a simple, people-friendly platform.
BEAM is offered on a subscription model to employee benefits consultants, brokers and intermediaries to help them deliver a better benefits experience for their clients (employers) and employees.
Ian said: "It’s a fantastic achievement to be recognised by Rising Stars. Cloud8 has gone from strength-to-strength in the last year with exciting product upgrades and new client wins, so this is a real testament to our hard work."
Spherics Technology, Bristol
George Sandilands, Mike Chatziapostolou and Ciaran Wood are the founders of Spherics Technology.
The company is aiming to help millions of organisations reach net-zero by 2030 by helping them understand their climate impact. The firm's system integrates with established software packages, and tracks and visualises a company’s carbon footprint in real-time.
It makes custom suggestions on how to reduce impact, matching data trends with research and climate science, and offsetting any unavoidable carbon emissions.
George said: “We're excited to represent the greentech movement in the South West, as a part of Rising Stars 3.0. After winning Innovate 海角视频 funding in October, this furthers our momentum and growth.”
Role Mapper, Exeter
How jobs are designed and job descriptions are created is critical to attracting and retaining talent, but the process for designing jobs is "broken, manual and disconnected", according to Sara Hill.
Her company, Role Mapper, helps organisations to design and manage jobs, and create great job descriptions that increase hiring diversity and workforce flexibility.
"Since we launched 12 months ago it has been a whirlwind of growth, so it's great to step back and see what we have managed to achieve in such a short space of time," said Sara.
"Being recognised as one of the top-five early-stage scale-ups in our region is a real boost for us.”