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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Bristol’s Novi wins BE100 backing of at least £100k for its phone-distraction software
Bristol University start-up Novi has been selected for at least £100,000 in investment, beating more than 1,400 applicants to become one of ten Blue Earth BE100 winners and taking the media and education category.
Developed by University of Bristol students, Novi helps schools curb smartphone distractions without confiscating devices. Its software blocks distracting apps, websites and cameras during the school day while keeping essential tools available, and teachers can see which pupils are in “focus mode” through a dashboard.
The start-up has already piloted its technology at King Edward’s School in Bath and in Bristol schools, and is backed by Bethnal Green Ventures.
Read the full news here.
BRAZEN Festival reveals its Scale Day agenda
BRAZEN Festival has revealed the agenda for its Scale Day, one of the themed days at this year’s event.
Taking place 9-13 November, BRAZEN brings together tech, creativity and culture across five days of talks, events and connections for the South West ecosystem. Scale Day joins the already announced AI Day, Clean Day, Create Day and Lead Day.
Get to know the full agenda here
Purplefish launches free AI Visibility Tool to help brands get found by AI
With 51% of UK adults now using AI search tools such as ChatGPT to find products and services, Purplefish has launched a free AI Visibility Tool to help brands check whether AI platforms are recommending them.
The audit-style tool gives a score out of 100 across six key metrics, including brand authority, AI discoverability and structured data, plus a list of actions to improve visibility on platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity. It’s free, with no sign-up needed.
Purplefish is also running a free training webinar at 10am on 17 November. Discover more here.
Chorus hosts Bristol event on where to start with Microsoft 365, Copilot and Claude
Chorus is hosting an in-person event at Watershed, Bristol, on Thursday 19 November (11am-1pm) for organisations using Microsoft 365 that want to understand where AI could fit into their business.
The session will look at how tools like Microsoft Copilot and Claude can sit alongside Microsoft 365 and your wider tech stack, through the three A’s: augmentation, automation and agentic. It will include examples of AI in action and practical tips for getting started securely, from picking a first use case to data protection and governance.
Tea, coffee and a working lunch are included. Here’s how to book your place.
Signable adds Qualified Electronic Signatures to its signing platform
Signable has launched Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES), letting customers in regulated sectors manage higher-assurance signing within their existing workflows.
Signers are guided through integrated identity verification, with the feature relevant across legal, property and financial services. It arrives as UK public bodies give greater attention to qualified trust services, with HM Land Registry already accepting QES-signed documents for registrable transactions.
Read full news here
Cornwall’s Robotriks tests environmental-mapping robots with Wildanet full fibre
Par-based Robotriks is in the final stages of testing mobile and stationary robotic systems that give farmers and land managers a far more detailed picture of environmental conditions, with Wildanet’s full fibre helping the team move large volumes of sensor data quickly.
The technology combines mobile robots, including robot dogs and tracked vehicles, with wireless sensor nodes to build detailed heat maps of soil condition, crop health and emissions. In a previous trial, it identified a 15cm chemical ingress affecting crop yields that satellite monitoring had missed.
One project, with Secure Forests at Mount Edgcumbe, is funded by Innovate UK through TechLocal.
Read full news here
