Welcome to our weekly South West Tech News roundup, where you can get all the headlines from the past week in one place.
What has our busy tech and digital community been up to this week? From award wins and innovative breakthroughs to unmissable events and capital raised, take a moment to reflect on the hive of daily activity taking place in our region.
If you have a story to share, wizz it over to will@techspark.co – I look forward to hearing from you!
techSPARK's Bristol Technology Festival Evolves Into BTF+: A Bold New Festival of Creativity, Tech + CultureÂ
This week, we officially launched BTF+, a bold evolution of Bristol Technology Festival. Taking place from 6 to 11 October 2025, the six-day festival will celebrate the people, ideas and innovations shaping Bristol’s future and invite the surrounding regions to be part of it.
Developed by techSPARK in partnership with MyWorld and Bristol Creative Industries, and proudly supported by headline sponsor Ghyston, BTF+ will take over venues across the city centre and the Old City. Expect a packed programme of events across tech, design, music, film, gaming, immersive media and more.
Get ready for a festival that puts Bristol’s creativity on the map.
The SPARKies 2025 Shortlist Has Landed
At the start of this week, the final shortlist for this year’s SPARKies was announced, covering all 18 award categories.
A brilliant mix of 90 individuals and organisations made the cut, with names like Ghyston, Becca Hogg, Taught By Humans and Emily Lawes featured across categories including Best Place to Work and FutureSPARK.
The SPARKies is our annual celebration of the South West’s most exciting tech talent, products and companies. It shines a light on innovation across the entire ecosystem.
The Nominees For People's Choice Are Revealed
The nominees for this year’s SPARKies People’s Choice Award have been revealed. Illumno Digital, IngeniumAI, Loqbox, Pawpass, Neuronostics and Phasecraft have all made this year’s longlist, showcasing some of the South West’s most exciting and inspiring tech companies.
Now it’s over to you, the community, to decide who makes it onto the shortlist. Voting is open, and your support could help your favourite nominee secure a place in the final four.
Once voting closes, we’ll reveal the shortlisted finalists ahead of the big night in July. The ultimate winner will then be decided live by the SPARKies audience during the awards ceremony.
Silicon Gorge: Where Are They Now? LettUs Grow Interview
Earlier this week, we caught up with Jack Farmer, Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder at LettUs Grow, one of our standout alumni from the 2017 Silicon Gorge cohort, ahead of this year’s Investor Showcase.
The Bristol-based agricultural technology scaleup was a finalist in the 2017 showcase, helping to secure their initial investment. That funding enabled them to develop their core technology and build their first prototypes.
In our interview, Jack reflects on LettUs Grow’s journey from forming a great team to becoming one of the UK’s leading vertical farming pioneers.
This Year's Silicon Gorge Competition Finishes With Our Investor Showcase
Yesterday, our twelve Silicon Gorge finalists took the stage at the TLT offices and pitched their early stage start-up businesses to a room full of potential investors from across the South West region.
The businesses ranged from femtechs such as Epowar who have a AI-powered persinal safety app to organisations such as Dimension Biotechnlogies who have developed a blood test that detects microvascular disease.
The other organisations that featured at the showcase were: Amturi, CoEd Biosciences, Configo Software, Eleria, IngeniumAI, Integrevise, LevelTech, Molendotech Limited, Not Impossible and Sora Aviation.
Keep an eye on the techSPARK website as we will be posting a summary of the showcase next week.
