We’re back with the highlights from the past week in South West tech news. Get all the headlines in one place from the local startups, SMEs, scaleups and large organisations putting South West tech on the map.
Four pioneering tech companies from Bristol secure Innovate UK grants
AirGiants, Mach D Trading, SpatialCortex and PyTerra have all been awarded the renowned Innovate UK grants to grow their respective businesses.
Air Giants is a creative studio making huge, joyful robots and powerful immersive experiences. Technological pioneers, they are the first people in the world to make soft robots on such a large scale. Mach D Trading wants to make crypto trading safer for everyone with its easy-to-use crypto trading platform, which is still in development. SpatialCortex’s revolutionary technology MOVA will combine their novel wearable sensors that attach to workwear and AI analytics to help workplaces precisely understand ergonomic risks faced by staff in real operational environments without requiring conventional visual inspections, which further helps risk mitigations, real-time prevention and training development.
PyTerra under Innovate UK’s ‘Net Zero Living: User Focused Design’ competition. This project will engage tenants across Bristol to understand how they can be incentivised to initiate energy efficiency measures in their rented homes. Recognising that tenants are more likely to live in energy inefficient dwellings, and that the retrofit industry is failing to tap into the massive private rented sector, PyTerra is developing a solution called MyGreenDoor to bring these two markets together for mutual gain.
UWE Bristol has supported a homeless charity’s digital skills programme with a donation of laptops
The donation of 25 laptops were used to support St Mungo’s, one of the South West’s biggest homelessness charities, in their Game Changers Digital Inclusion programme, which aims to develop its participants’ digital skills to improve access to jobs.
Low digital capability is one of the biggest barriers facing homeless people in their journey to employment, with 8% of the UK population having no basic digital skills (Lloyds Bank UK Consumer Digital Index 2018). Alexandra Henden, Regional Fundraising Partnership Coordinator at St Mungo’s says, “We are very thankful to UWE for the donation of the laptops to our clients and Digi Local for adding in the operating systems”
New apprenticeships provider Access Industry looks to fill skills gaps in Bristol
To help address future skills gaps in Bristol, Access Industry is calling all local employers to join them at two days of ‘Access Talent’ events happening in Bristol on the 3rd & 4th April 2024. The events are intended to pair passionate young people with innovative employers for apprenticeship opportunities.
Day 1 | 3rd April | 9:30am – 4:00pm | Events Apprenticeship Recruitment
Day 2 | 4th April | 9:30am – 4:00pm | Digital, Marketing & Software Apprenticeship Recruitment
Hartpury Digital Innovation Farm launches its Women in Tech event
Guest speaker Illyana Mullins, Founder of WiTCH (Women in Tech and Cyber Hub) and cyber-tech extraordinaire – and also techSPARK’s Cyber Community Manager – will be delivering a talk at the Agri-Tech Centre, Hartpury University on 13 March at 8:30am. Sign up today!
Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, a seasoned professional, or simply curious about the intersection of technology and agriculture, this event is for you. You will be able to connect with like-minded individuals, share ideas, and explore the latest advancements in technology within the tech industry.
Natwest finds that January saw the strongest rise in business activity for nine months
The headline NatWest South West PMI® Business Activity Index – a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of the region’s manufacturing and service sectors – picked up from 51.3 in December to 52.0 at the start of 2024, to signal a back-to-back expansion of business activity across the region. Though modest, the rate of growth was the best recorded since last April, with firms often linking the upturn to improved demand conditions and higher sales.
Expectations that economic conditions will strengthen further buoyed confidence regarding the year-ahead, with sentiment hitting the highest in two years. At the same time, there were signs that inflationary pressures continued to ease, but rates of both input cost and output charge inflation remained elevated by historical standards.
Shona Wright
Shona covers all things editorial at TechSPARK. She publishes news articles, interviews and features about our fantastic tech and digital ecosystem, working with startups and scaleups to spread the word about the cool things they're up to.
She also oversees TechSPARK's social media, sharing the latest updates on everything from investment news to green tech meetups and inspirational stories.
