The best companies and individuals in tech in the South West have been honoured at an awards ceremony in Bath last week.

The SPARKies awards celebrated their fifth anniversary with a record number of guests attending the event, headlined by Gradwell Communications, on Thursday 29^th June 2017 at the Komedia in Bath

In the run-up to the night, 21 judges, all prominent figures in the South West tech community, had to read through no less than 240 nominations to select the winners.

Abby Frear, Director of the SPARKies, said: “It’s been an exceptional year for the SPARKies. We received a record number of applications, the quality of which was incredibly high.

“The judges were truly impressed and it wasn’t always easy for them to pick the winners.

“The ceremony at Komedia was sold out and brought together many key players, shakers and movers in the region’s tech community.”

Over 300 guests attended the ceremony to find out which start-ups, designs, hardware, people and more had been crowned winner of 2017 SPARKies.

Wriggle was the only one to take home two awards, for Best App and Best Digital Marketing Campaign. The judges commented that “the app does one very useful thing very well” and had achieved “staggering results with an impressively small team and a tiny budget”.

Nick Sturge, currently Director of Engine Shed, was given the Lifetime Achievement award for his dedication in promoting the South West tech cluster.

The People’s Choice award was selected on the night by the guests in attendance and went to Mayden.

Abby said: “We would like to thank all our sponsors and partners for their continued support and making the SPARKies possible.

“We would also like to once again congratulate all of this year’s winners and hope they will continue to achieve great things.”

Additional information

Full list of SPARKies 2017 winners:

Best App: Wriggle

Judges’ comment: “Slick and contextual, it does one very useful thing very well – everything you would want in the Best App of 2017.”

Best Digital Design: Complete Control (Bits and Bricks)

Judges’ comment: “Bits and Bricks is a wonderful design with fun characters and excellent animation. A fantastic method of teaching children to code through play.”

Data, Data, Data: Bath:Hacked

Judges’ comment: “A fantastic community-led open data project. The group are clearly passionate about open data and through initiatives such as Accessible Bath they are trail-blazing ways of collating and publishing data into the public domain.”

Best Mentor/ Advisor: Ash Phillips

Judges’ comment: “We were impressed by Ash’s network of contacts and commitment to mentoring young people. He has had a profound effect on those that nominated him, always being available to offer advice when needed.”

Most Exemplary use of Virtual or Mixed Reality: Ultrahaptics

Judges’ comment: “The technology developed by Ultrahaptics allows its users to touch virtual objects in mid-air. It pushes boundaries, is hugely fun, immersive and has massive potential.”

FutureSPARK: Neha Chaudhry

Judges’ comment: “Neha is a young entrepreneur who’s identified a real-life problem and addressed it through technical innovation. She has shown commitment and initiative to design and deliver the product and clearly has ambitious plans for her company – the world needs more innovators like Neha.”

The Hard Award: Motion Impossible

Judges’ comment: “Motion Impossible is great example of continual innovation in a fast-paced market. They had the best application of them all!”

Founder/ Entrepreneur of the Year: Diane Douglas (Vigiles Group)

Judges’ comment: “Starting and growing a business is challenging even in the most supportive conditions, and to do so while being treated for cancer demonstrates determination beyond belief. Coupled with knocking down public speaking fears and ultimately growing the business globally, this was a hard one to rival.”

Best Digital Marketing Campaign: Wriggle

Judges’ comment: “Wriggle has achieved staggering results with an impressively small team and a tiny budget. Really considering consumer behaviour, they’ve capitalised on the loyalty of true brand ambassadors.”

The ‘Good’ Award: Designability

Judges’ comment: “We chose Designability as the winner due to its highly innovative, inventive and bespoke use of hardware and software to improve quality of life and make a difference. The scale and potential for impact makes this an impressive application.”

Lifetime Achievement: Nick Sturge

Judges’ comment: “Nick is a high profile and vocal promoter for tech in the South West. The transformation of SETsquared during his tenure has been phenomenal, rightly gaining national and international acclaim.”

The ‘Totally Killing It’ Award: VR World Congress

Judges’ comment: “The impact of VR World Congress is massive and goes beyond the event itself. It’s helped cement Bristol’s place on the regional, national and international map and reflects everything that we are proud of in the South West region.”

Best Start-up: Keymailer

Judges’ comment: “Keymailer has achieved staggering growth in the highly competitive ever-changing marketplace of gaming – reaching 20% of the market and attaining global reach.”

Best Place to Work in Tech: Edo (formerly Sift Digital)

Judges’ comment: “Edo has gone above and beyond to ensure their staff are made to feel valued both in the workplace and outside of it. From eating together on a day-to-day basis to foster community, to supporting their staff with mental health awareness, this is a shining example that many companies could take inspiration from.”

The People’s Choice: Mayden

Ends

Notes to editors:

• The SPARKies are the digital and tech awards for the South West, which have regularly been held in Bristol and Bath over the last five years.
• The SPARKies shine a light on the very best people, products and companies that make up the tech sector in Bristol, Bath and the broader South West of England region.
• The SPARKies are organised by TechSPARK, the information hub for all things tech in Bristol, Bath and the South West of England.
• For more information, please go to: http://thesparkies.com

For media information contact:

Sarah-Jane Freni
Account Director
Shooting Star
0117 4038200 
sarahjane@weareshootingstar.co.uk

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