Once a week, TechSPARK scans the newswires and summarises the relevant tech stories from the Bristol & Bath area, so you don’t have to. Here’s our summary of the week of 12th May 2014.
Somo, the world’s largest independent mobile tech company launches specialist engineering centre in Bristol
(TechSPARK, 16th May)
Bristol and Bath’s reputation as a centre for tech innovation is attracting a growing number of UK and foreign companies. Somo is the latest to announce it is setting up a tech centre in the region. Somo’s CTO, Dave Evans, penned a post on why the company chose Bristol (Mobile Entertainment, 19th May). The combination of the city’s innovation culture and the best quality of life makes it one of the best cities in the world to have a tech centre.
University of Bath researchers help create ‘ultra sonic’ invisible hands that can move cells under a microscope
(South West Business, 14th May)
Researchers from the universities of Bath, Bristol and Dundee have discovered that ultrasonic waves can be used to grab microparticles and move them.
Momentum UK acquires Bristol-based startup YourWealth.co.uk
(SETsquared, 12th May)
It seems like SETsquared companies are getting acquired every week! Last week, YourWealth.co.uk (a SETsquared Bristol company) announced that it is to be acquired by Momentum UK. Aimed at people with anything from £5 to £50 million, YourWealth.co.uk and Money Hub offer access to information, products and financial advice.
Bristol leads the technology revolution says London Stock Exchange Chief Executive
(Bristol Post, 14th May)
Xavier Rolet bigs up Bristol as a centre for tech innovation in a speech organised by the University of West of England.
Creative England announced round 2 of its GamesLab fund for games developers in the South West
(TechSPARK, 13th May)
The second round of the GamesLab fund launches – providing games developers in the region with funding of up to £10k for games development projects.
University of Bath ranks 2nd overall out of 111 UK universities in Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey
(Times Higher Education, 15th May)
The Times Higher Education surveyed 14,000 students to get their views across 21 categories – Bath cam first in seven of those including High Quality Facilities, Good Industry Connections, Good Sports Facilities and, most importantly Would You Recommend Bath to a Friend?
Audiowings founder Carl Thomas wins the People’s Award in Virgin Media’s Pioneers pitching competition
(Bristol Post, 19th May)
Local entrepreneur pitches his premium ‘Spotfiy-ready’ headphones to judges at Richard Branson’s house and wins the People’s Award and £5k.

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.