Tech Awards – 2026 Shortlist
The Prolific North Tech Awards celebrate the innovators, teams and organisations driving the North's tech industry forward.
We’re delighted to reveal the shortlist for the 2026 Tech Awards. This year’s entries showcased an exceptional standard of innovation and talent across the North’s tech sector. Scroll below to see who has made the shortlist.
Congratulations to everyone who has made the shortlist. The winners will be revealed at the Tech Awards ceremony in Manchester on 15 October.
Tickets are now on sale, so join us to celebrate the North’s tech sector and find out who takes home a trophy on the night. #CelebrateTheNorth
Recognising companies and teams
Tech Start-up of the Year - Less than 5 employees - Sponsored by Bruntwood SciTech
- CerebraPatch
- ExpoBooth.ai
- GoodShip*
- Greenwood Online
- Keeve
- Novidian
- Origin Matters
- Silvia Health
Tech Start-up of the Year - 5+ employees - Sponsored by Bruntwood SciTech
- audioadpro
- Candid Hospitality
- Ctrl AI
- Greenhouse OS
- Harker
Scale-up of the Year - Less than 30 employees
- Buymedia
- Candid Hospitality
- Lionheart Marketing
- The Curve Consulting Services
Scale-up of the Year - More than 30 employees
- Boxphish
- Enablis
- Flowd
- HyperFinity
- iAM Compliant
- Panintelligence
- SwiftCloud by Adventoris
High-Growth Tech Company of the Year
- Apex Computing Services Ltd
- Buymedia
- Parallax
- Steel City Interactive
- Voicescape
Northern Tech Powerhouse
- ANS
- Buymedia
- Car Finance 247
- ConnexAI
- HammerTech
Tech Investor of the Year
- EHE Venture Studio
- Fhunded
- GC Angels
Tech Hub of the Year
- Bruntwood SciTech Female Founders North Incubator
- Royal Academy of Engineering’s Enterprise Hub – Regional Talent Engines (RTE)
Digital Agency of the Year
Best Culture Award
- Apex Computing Services Ltd
- Comms Installations
- POWWR
- Steel City Interactive
- TalkTalk Business
Recognising products & projects
App of the year
- Fuudle
- talat
Tech for Good Award - Digital Accessibility
- AUDITSU – Accessibility Compliance Platform
- Bnode Ltd
- Recite Me – Lived experience then, lived experience now
- The Curve – Good Things Foundation
Tech for Good Award - Health & Wellbeing
- Leaf AI – Leafnotes and Leafstory
- Learnella – Early Signals
- moneyappi by mEthos – better Financial Wellbeing at scale
- MYQER
- The Hair and Beauty Directory
- XR Therapeutics – Boundless
Tech for Good Award - Safeguarding & Public Safety
- CDS & Single Online Home – Modernising Policing’s Digital Front Door
- Check My Child
- Quinly
- Story UK & The Home Office – Enough: End Violence Against Women and Girls
Tech for Good Award - Skills & Employment
- Candid Hospitality – Removing subconscious bias from hospitality hiring:
- Fuudle
- fuwment
- GoodShip* – AI Activator
- Localito
- Nimble Approach & Community Shop Turning Member Experiences into Measurable Social Impact
- Skills Co-op
Tech innovation of the Year - Sponsored by The Growth Company
- ConnexAI
- Optalysys – Photonic Compute-in-Transit.3
- Parallax – Remote Automation
- Salesfire – AI Connect
- Tribepad & Horton Housing – Moving from reactive recruitment to strategic, sustainable talent acquisition
AI Innovation of the year
- ConnexAI
- Godel Technologies Europe Limited – Godel Factory
- Jaywing & Bensons for Beds – No More Losing Sleep Over Brand Search Spend
- mEthos / moneyappi – Specialised Intelligence for Financial Wellbeing
- Quinly Ltd
- Resulting IT – S4SensAI
- Salesfire – AI Connect
Best SaaS Platform - Sponsored by Better Placed
- CustomerSure
- HammerTech
- Summize
Tech Collaboration of the Year
- Agile & West Midlands Fire Service – Building a Data Driven Future for West Midlands Fire Service
- CustomerSure & Gentoo Housing – Closing the Loop
- Enigma Interactive & National Grid – Storm Season
- HyperFinity & JD Sports – Personalisation at Scale
- Mogl & Invested Agency
- Sum Vivas Ltd & Liverpool City Region Combined Authority – Jimmy, the AI Visitor Concierge
Digital Transformation Award
- ANS Group – Becoming our own Customer Zero to drive responsible AI adoption
- Carecircle & Wales Digital Rare Care Centre
- CDS & Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland – LEO, a Platform Built for Scotland’s Most Vulnerable
- Cognexo & Zenith: Building a Continuous Employee Experience from Day One
- Harrison Carloss & The Mum Club – A system to connect a global franchise of women
Recognising talented individuals
Ecosystem Champion
- Damien Murphy – Rebel Meet-ups
- Dr. Ralph MacKinnon – Out-There HealthTech
- Gavin Sherratt – GoodShip*
- Tom Salmon – Agency by Agency
The winner of this category will be decided by a combination of public vote and judges’ scores. The public vote is now OPEN!
You have until 5pm 29 September to ‘Cast Your Vote.’
Tech Female Entrepreneur - Sponsored by Beyond Echo PR
- Amy Wild – Silvia Health
- Helen Ward – The Hair & Beauty Directory
- Kate Heath – Gaia Learning
- Ruth Sparkes – Quinly Ltd
- Sabreen Isaq – CerebraPatch
The winner of this category will be decided by a combination of public vote and judges’ scores. The public vote is now OPEN!
You have until 5pm 29 September to ‘Cast Your Vote.’
Tech Founder of the Year
- Adam Roney – Kalisa
- Ash Habib – Steel City Interactive
- Daniel Shone – Apex Computing
- Helen Ward – The Hair and Beauty Directory
- James Barber – Harker
- Jason Crispin – AUDITSU
- Paul Ridgeway – The Curve
- Ross Linnett – Recite Me
- Sam Brown & Nick Holroyd-Doveton – Candid Hospitality
- Tom Dunlop – Summize
The winner of this category will be decided by a combination of public vote and judges’ scores. The public vote is now OPEN!
You have until 5pm 29 September to ‘Cast Your Vote.’
Prolific Tech Rising Star
- Adedeji Awolesi – Civica
- Bethany Prior – Candid Hospitality
- Faye Boswell – Sensified Spaces
- Isabelle Lewis – audioadpro
- Ivanna Pliva – BNY
- Jake Ashcroft – CDS
- Katie Fearon – Resulting IT
- Sabreen Isaq – CerebraPatch
The winner of this category will be decided by a combination of public vote and judges’ scores. The public vote is now OPEN!
You have until 5pm 29 September to ‘Cast Your Vote.’
Prolific Tech Leader of the Year - Sponsored by Better Placed
- Ash Habib – Steel City Interactive
- Charlotte Bailey – Panintelligence
- Chris Gorman – Apex Computing
- Joe Wolski – Godel Technologies Europe Limited
- Ruth Kennedy – TalkTalk Business
The winner of this category will be decided by a combination of public vote and judges’ scores. The public vote is now OPEN!
You have until 5pm 29 September to ‘Cast Your Vote.’
Our Sponsors
GM Business Growth Hub
Beyond Echo PR
Better Placed
