Scottish startups were among a ‘Tech 100’ list at the Northern Tech Awards, which took place in Edinburgh on Thursday.
The annual event – put together by GP Bullhound, the leading tech advisory consultancy and investor – brought together some of the best and brightest stars of the tech ecosystem in the north of England and Scotland.
In Scotland, Administrate, Evotix, Firefish Software, MRM Global, Quorum Cyber, ShotScope, Speech Graphics, and xDesign made the annual list of the fastest-growing tech companies.
Additionally, Callum Murray-founded Amiqus, which itself was named as the fastest-growing tech business in Scotland by the 2022 Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 rankings and is chaired by Sir Sandy Crombie, has been selected as one of GP Bullhound’s ‘Northern Stars’, viewed as the technology scaleup companies to watch in the months and years ahead.
The event took place at Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh, with Scottish entrepreneurs Ana Stewart, Chris van der Kuyl, and George Mackintosh among the judging panel, and TVSquared founder Calum Smeaton featuring as keynote speaker. The awards ceremony was hosted by former BBC presenter and Freer Consultancy associate Vanessa Collingridge.
Calum Smeaton, founder, TVSquared, said: “Over the past year, the technology sector has faced unprecedented challenges as we continue to navigate a global pandemic, issues in the banking industry and economic uncertainty. Yet despite these obstacles, technology has remained resilient and adaptable, demonstrating the strength and innovation that defines everything that the Northern Tech Awards stand for… celebrating the successes of how the brightest minds are shaping the future of the industry.”
TVSquared, a previous Northern Tech Awards winner, was acquired by US-based Innovid for $160m in February 2022.
The full list of the 2023 Northern Tech Awards winners:
- Fastest Growing Company of the Year: Burendo
- Fastest Growing Larger Company of the Year: Fruugo.com
- Judges’ Innovation Award: Shot Scope
- Judges’ Award for International Success: CurrentBody
- Judges’ Leadership Award: Opencast Software
- Judges’ Tech4Good Award: Cognassist
- Judges’ Entrepreneur Award: Planixs
- Judges’ Young Entrepreneur Award: Horsefly
- Overall Judges’ Award: CurrentBody
- Northern Star Innovation Award: UMA
- Northern Star Leadership Award: Sticky
- Northern Star Award for potential International Success: GigPig
- Northern Star Overall Judges’ Award: Recast
Javed Huq, executive director of GP Bullhound, said: “It was an honour to recognise and celebrate the fastest-growing technology companies across the Northern tech ecosystem at last night’s awards in Edinburgh. 2022 proved to be an outstanding year for the Northern tech sector, despite a more challenging environment across tech, demonstrating the resilience of the brilliant entrepreneurs building these innovative tech companies. The North of the UK is a true powerhouse in starting and scaling world-class businesses, and we look forward to following our talented award winners as they continue their success journeys.”
GP Bullhound has advised on multiple transactions involving Scotland-based companies in recent years, including the 2019 acquisition of DeltaDNA by San-Francisco-based gaming group Unity Technology, and the 2017 acquisition of data analytics startup Aquila Insight by Maryland-based Merkle Group.
GP Bullhound provides transaction advice and capital to entrepreneurs and founders across the globe. Founded in 1999 in London and Menlo Park, California, today the firm has 12 offices spanning Europe, the US, and Asia.
Sponsors of the Northern Tech Awards include Cazenove Capital, SVB UK, London Stock Exchange, and Shepherd Wedderburn.