Companies working in renewable energy, biotechnology and the automotive sector were among the winners at the North East Innovation Awards.
The annual competition to find the region’s most innovative companies took place at the VentureFest North East conference, which was celebrating its 10th anniversary.
Winners were picked by a range of partners, except for the Innovation of the Year prize, which was selected by conference delegates and went to hospitality robotics company Spark EPoS. The Newcastle firm offers Electronic Point of Sale (EPoS) technology and smart robotic solutions that aim to revolutionise the hospitality industry.
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The two-day VentureFest event - under the theme of Our Future, Now - took place at the Boiler Shop and The Common Room, in Newcastle, attracting hundreds of delegates.
Estelle Blanks, CEO at Innovation SuperNetwork, which stages VentureFest, said: “The businesses shortlisted for the awards are innovating at the forefront of their sectors to develop impactful ideas to help us to tackle some of the most pressing challenges that we face in the region.
“VentureFest has always been about bringing together talent, entrepreneurship, research and ideas. The awards help us to really celebrate organisations and innovators from across the North East and the winners in each category demonstrate the range of ideas flourishing right here in our region. I extend my congratulations to all of them and eagerly anticipate their future achievements.”
The university spinout prize was won by 3D Bio Tissues, while the sustaination innovation award went to Chestnut Bio and the digital innovation was was taken by Reveela. All of the companies are based in Newcastle. The advanced manufacturing innovation was prize was won by Cramlington firm Transmission Dynamics, while North Tyneside’s Kinewell Energy won the award for energy innovation. Newcastle firm Scuba TV won the health and life sciences innovation award while TREAT-NMD, a not-for-profit organisation based in Newcastle that supports patients with neuromuscular conditions, won the social innovation prize.
Personal awards also went to Helen Aitchison, founder of the Write on Tyne organisation, for inclusive innovation, and Paul Butler, of the North East Automotive Alliance, who was named the region’s innovation champion and praised for his “passion for regional development” and his motivation for “improving the societal and economic factors impacting people in the region”.
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