The judging has finished, scores have been finalised and we can finally share with you the shortlisted nominees for The SPARKies 2026!
Thank you to everyone who took the time to submit a nomination, or multiple, for the individuals and organisations currently doing great work in the South West.
It wasn’t an easy task for our judges to select this year’s shortlisted nominees, as the standard yet again has exceeded our expectations. Thank you to each of our judges for taking the time to work through the 300+ nominations to draw up the shortlist.
Our annual awards festival will be back on 16 July at 6pm to once again celebrate the best of tech and digital in the West. This year, we’re heading to the iconic St George’s Bristol for what promises to be a spectacular evening.
Make sure to secure your spot and get yourself a ticket now!
Before all of that though, here are the shortlisted nominees. Whittled down by our judges from the longlist, the following organisations and individuals are in line to take home a SPARKie this year.
But without further ado, here is The SPARKies Shortlist 2026:
Startup of the Year
Sponsored by:
Mentor of the Year
Balazs Slezak (Astro42)
Bobbi-Jo O’Gilvie (Circe)
Dani Palmer (Loqbox)
David Kelly (Storm Consultancy)
Maryna Rybalko (Paydock)
Theresa Benson (Adopstar)
Best Tech For Good
Founder of the Year
Aariffa Hajamaideen (Teckollab)
Ash Phillips (Rebellious Co)
Carolyn Hassan (Knowle West Media Centre)
Dr. Thomas Fudge (WASE)
Gildas Jones (Dial A Geek)
Rob Hall (Tempo Audits)
Tom Eyre (Loqbox)
Community Award
Ash Phillips (Rebellious Co)
Sophia McCall (UK Cyber Team CIC)
SW*AID — South West Women in AI and Data
Tom Harber (Aer Studios)
Sponsored by:
Commitment To Talent
MyWorld (in partnership with Gritty Talent & MARS Academy)
Omodolapo Babatunde (Coding Black Females)
SW*AID — South West Women in AI and Data
Engineering Product/Business of the Year
Computer Network Defence Ltd — Osprey Cyber Security Platform
Best Cyber Firm
HealthTech Business of The Year
Marketing Campaign of the Year
Most Exciting Investment Deal
Creative Tech Business of the Year
FutureSPARK
Abdulrazaq Sanni (WASE)
Ella Hawthorne (Neuronostics)
Hallie Downing (Adopstar)
Hollie Wakefield (CyNam)
Nicole Cheung (Taught by Humans)
Omodolapo Babatunde (CodingBlackFemales)
Yusra Shaeik (Dial A Geek)
People’s Choice
The People’s Choice award is decided by public vote. Ten companies have been selected to go to a social media vote, which will whittle the field down to four finalists — with the ultimate winner then chosen on the night of The SPARKies itself.
This year’s People’s Choice contenders are:
Voting opens for the People’s Choice award Friday 29th May, closing on Friday 12th June. Keep an eye on our socials to get your vote in.
