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.
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Plymouth's Oshen banks £3.65m to triple its ocean-robot fleet
Oshen has secured £3.65m to scale up its fleet of ocean-sensing robots, already deployed by the US Navy, Royal Navy and Met Office to monitor the open sea.
The Plymouth startup is using the investment to triple its manufacturing capacity, turning production into what CEO Anahita Laverack calls “something closer to a fast-food kitchen than a shipyard.” The round was led by Lunar Ventures, with AlbionVC, Twin Track and Concept Ventures also on board.
Read the full news here
West of England unveils new skills plan targeting 72,000 jobs
Business West has launched its 2026 Local Skills Improvement Plan, calling for closer alignment between employers, colleges and training providers as the region eyes 72,000 new jobs over the next decade. Digital and AI capability sits alongside net-zero skills and recruitment as a shared priority across the West of England, North Somerset, Swindon, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset. The plan builds on £13m already invested in colleges since 2023, including new cyber labs and AI-focused Skills Bootcamps. Findings and next steps will be presented at Leigh Court, Bristol on September 9.
Read the full news here
Poole's Prolec teams up with Trimble on new plant safety tech
Prolec, the Poole-based excavator safety specialist, has partnered with US tech giant Trimble to launch SiteGuard Pro – a new site-wide safety application built into the Trimble Earthworks platform.
The system automatically halts heavy plant machinery before it breaches pre-set virtual barriers around critical site assets, giving operators a protective “digital net” with no manual setup required. It’s one of the first third-party applications to run directly within Trimble Earthworks, and the first installations are already live on sites across the UK.
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Bristol's Smarter Web Company raises £76k in latest Bitcoin-backed placing
The Smarter Web Company has placed a further 225,000 shares under its December subscription agreement, raising just over £76,000 as part of its ongoing Bitcoin treasury strategy. The Bristol firm, known for accepting crypto payments since 2024, still has around 44m shares left to place under the deal. It comes months after the company reported a £71.9m half-year pre-tax loss, largely down to a non-cash accounting adjustment from Bitcoin’s price decline.
Read the full news here
BRAZEN early bird passes close 14 September - get yours now!
Brazen Festival returns 9–13 November, bringing together tech, creativity and culture across five days of events, talks and connections for the South West ecosystem.
Early bird passes are closing soon – grab yours before 14 September to lock in the best price before they’re gone!
Get them here
