Winners of 2025 Northern Tech Awards announced.

A standout moment of the evening was a fireside chat with guest speaker Graeme Ankers, who shared the remarkable story of scaling Firesprite from a startup into the largest independent development studio in Merseyside and one of the UK’s fastest-growing tech companies, before its acquisition by Sony PlayStation in 2021.

This year’s Top 100 league table is a testament to the Northern tech ecosystem’s innovation, resilience, and rapid growth. We congratulate all the winners and thank every participant who made the Awards a true celebration of the region’s thriving community – from the fastest-growing companies in the Top 100 to the rising stars recognised for their future potential.

The 2025 Northern Tech Awards winners:

• Fastest Growing Company of the Year: UrbanChain
• Fastest Growing Larger Company of the Year: Vespertec
• Judges’ Innovation Award: Summize
• Judges’ Award for Global Ambition: AeroCloud
• Judges’ Leadership Award: Apadmi
• Judges’ Tech4Good Award: Vivify
• Judges’ Entrepreneur Award: Voly Group
• Judges’ Award or Cultural Excellence: Thrive Learning
• Overall Judges’ Award: myHappymind
• Northern Star Innovation Award: Vsim
• Northern Star Entrepreneur Award: Raven Controls
• Northern Star Award for Commercial Success: SeeChange
• Northern Star Overall Judges’ Award: PlayerData

Our sincere thanks to the esteemed panel of judges, for their time, insight, and dedication in reviewing the shortlists and selecting this year’s winners. We are also deeply grateful to our sponsors – HSBC Innovation Banking, Apprentify, Cazenove Capital, Inflexion, Oakley Capital, Squire Patton Boggs, Bruntwood SciTech, London Stock Exchange, and YFM Equity Partners – for their continued support, which has been instrumental in making the Northern Tech Awards a success.

The Northern Tech Awards are proud to support Ada, the National College of Digital Skills in their mission to educate and empower the next generation of diverse digital talent.

Enquiries
For enquiries and 2026 partnership opportunities, contact northerntechwards@gpbullhound.com or visit northerntechwards.com

About GP Bullhound
GP Bullhound is a leading technology advisory and investment firm, providing transaction advice and capital to the world’s best entrepreneurs and founders. Founded in 1999 in London and Menlo Park, the firm today has 13 offices spanning Europe, the US, and Asia. For more information, please visit www.gpbullhound.com.