Prolific North Tech Awards 2026: Full list of winners revealed

Awards and Events, Prolific North Tech Awards

by Rachael Hesno
October 16, 2026

Hundreds of tech leaders gathered at Manchester Hall last night as the winners of the Prolific North Tech Awards 2026 were exclusively revealed at a packed ceremony celebrating the North’s thriving tech sector.

From leading investors and rising stars to established businesses and ecosystem champions, these annual awards continue to shine a spotlight on the businesses, individuals and innovations driving the sector forward.

The live event was hosted by Adam Faulkner, a comedian, comedy creator, video producer, event host, former journalist and TV producer.

Now a firm fixture in the Northern tech calendar, an independent panel of experts from across the UK’s tech and investment community once again selected this year’s winners.

The judging panel included Andy Barrow, MD of PXN Group; Marie Hamilton, strategic partnership director at Microsoft; Hannah Williams, ecosystem innovation and growth specialist at Innovate UK; Naomi Timperley, co-founder of Tech North Advocates; Katherine Megson, head of innovation & growth at Bruntwood SciTech, alongside a host of other industry figures you can read more about here.

A big thank you also goes to our sponsors GM Business Growth Hub, Better Placed, Beyond Echo PR, Bruntwood SciTech, Car Finance 247 for helping make these awards a reality.

Congratulations to everyone shortlisted and, of course, the very worthy winners! Now for what you’re really reading for…

The Prolific North Tech Awards 2026: The Winners

Tech Start-up of the Year – 5+ employees

Sponsored by Bruntwood SciTech

Winner: Ctrl AI

Highly Commended: Candid Hospitality

Also nominated:

audioadpro
Greenhouse OS
Harker

Tech Start-up of the Year – Less than 5 employees

Sponsored by Bruntwood SciTech

Winner: GoodShip*

Also nominated:

CerebraPatch
ExpoBooth.ai
Greenwood Online
Keeve
Novidian
Origin Matters
Silvia Health

Scale-up of the Year – More than 30 employees

Winner: iAM Compliant

Also nominated:

Boxphish
Enablis
Flowd
HyperFinity
Panintelligence
SwiftCloud by Adventoris

Scale-up of the Year – Less than 30 employees

Winner: Candid Hospitality

Also nominated:

Buymedia
Lionheart Marketing
The Curve Consulting Services

High-Growth Tech Company of the Year

Winner: Voicescape

Also nominated:

Apex Computing Services Ltd
Buymedia
Parallax
Steel City Interactive

Northern Tech Powerhouse

Winner: ConnexAI

Highly Commended: ANS

Also nominated:

Buymedia
Car Finance 247
HammerTech

Tech Investor of the Year

Winner: Fhunded

Also nominated:

EHE Venture Studio
GC Angels

Tech Hub of the Year

Sponsored by Car Finance 247

Winner: Royal Academy of Engineering’s Enterprise Hub – Regional Talent Engines (RTE)

Also nominated:

Bruntwood SciTech Female Founders North Incubator

Digital Agency of the Year

Winner: CTI Digital

Also nominated:

Reading Room

Best Culture Award

Winner: Apex Computing Services Ltd

Also nominated:

Comms Installations
POWWR
Steel City Interactive
TalkTalk Business

App of the year

Sponsored by Car Finance 247

Winner: talat

Also nominated:

Fuudle

Tech for Good Award – Digital Accessibility

Winner: Recite Me – Lived experience then, lived experience now

Also nominated:

AUDITSU – Accessibility Compliance Platform
Bnode Ltd
The Curve – Good Things Foundation

Tech for Good Award – Health & Wellbeing

Winner: XR Therapeutics – Boundless

Also nominated:

Leaf AI – Leafnotes and Leafstory
Learnella – Early Signals
moneyappi by mEthos – better Financial Wellbeing at scale
MYQER
The Hair and Beauty Directory

Tech for Good Award – Safeguarding & Public Safety

Winner: Quinly

Also nominated:

CDS & Single Online Home – Modernising Policing’s Digital Front Door
Check My Child
Story UK & The Home Office – Enough: End Violence Against Women and Girls

Tech for Good Award – Skills & Employment

Winner: Candid Hospitality – Removing subconscious bias from hospitality hiring

Also nominated:

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 GM Business Growth Hub

Winner: ConnexAI

Also nominated:

Optalysys – Photonic Compute-in-Transit
Parallax – Remote Automation
Salesfire – AI Connect
Tribepad & Horton Housing – Moving from reactive recruitment to strategic, sustainable talent acquisition

AI Innovation of the year

Sponsored by Better Placed

Winner: Jaywing & Bensons for Beds – No More Losing Sleep Over Brand Search Spend

Also nominated:

ConnexAI
Godel
mEthos / moneyappi – Specialised Intelligence for Financial Wellbeing
Quinly Ltd
Resulting IT – S4SensAI
Salesfire – AI Connect

Best SaaS Platform

Sponsored by Better Placed

Winner: Summize

Also nominated:

CustomerSure
HammerTech

Tech Collaboration of the Year

Winner: Enigma Interactive & National Grid – Storm Season

Also nominated:

Agile & West Midlands Fire Service – Building a Data Driven Future for West Midlands Fire Service
CustomerSure & Gentoo Housing – Closing the Loop
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

Winner: Carecircle & Wales Digital Rare Care Centre

Also nominated:

ANS Group – Becoming our own Customer Zero to drive responsible AI adoption
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