The best startup firms in the South East revealed

The best startup firms in the South East have been revealed at the South East Start-Up Awards, which were held at The South of England Centre in Haywards Heath and saw 35 different awards given out to new businesses in categories such as Online Retail StartUp of the Year, Tourism and Leisure StartUp of the Year and Technology Services StartUp of the Year.

The South East Startup of the Year was won by Climategames. Climategames is an all-inclusive solution for effective climate action and promoting wellbeing. In minutes, it transforms engagement with sustainability targets using the power of play. Every swim, cycle, run or walk completed helps fund climate-positive activities such as tree planting, carbon sequestering and plastic removal schemes.

Martin Lacey, CEO of Climategames had this to say about their win:

“Thank you to the StartUp Awards for declaring us overall winners! We released Climategames just over a year ago as a unique way to engage thousands of organisations and people into climate action. It is clear that we are facing a climate emergency as well as a mental and physical health crisis. We believe that Climategames can play a major part in solving these problems. We want to also thank our community of environmental partners, business and App users who have supported us to date.”

The South East awards were sponsored by regional sponsor, Scalewell. The awards were also sponsored by national sponsors including Starling Bank, Blackfinch Group, British Business Bank, BT, Creative Ideaz, Dream Factory, Tiny Rebel, Jeeves, Join Talent, Mountside Ventures, OVH Cloud, the Purposeful Project and ScoreApp.

The StartUp Awards were established in 2022 to highlight the success of start-ups across ten UK nations and regions and to celebrate the achievements of entrepreneurs in all sectors of the economy. Originally formed as the Wales StartUp Awards, the Awards Series has joined forces with the Great British Entrepreneur Awards to take the celebration of newly formed businesses nationwide.

Helen Bierton, Chief Banking Officer at Starling Bank says:

“Congratulations to all our StartUp Award finalists and winners in the South East. We’ve had some fascinating entries this year across a broad range of categories including agritech, manufacturing, social enterprise and e-commerce. These businesses are incredibly inspiring and are the main drivers of the local economy.”

Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, creator of the awards, said the events have celebrated the best new firms in the UK and recognised the amazing entrepreneurial talent across the nation. He said:

“In the second year of the South East Startup Awards, we have seen yet again the incredible contribution of new businesses to job creation, innovation, and prosperity across the whole of this entrepreneurial nation. It’s been an honour and a pleasure to read the stories of those individuals from across the South East who have spotted the opportunity and taken the risk to launch their own venture, especially at a time when the economy is still fragile after the Covid pandemic.

I am delighted that Climategames has won the South East startup of the year for 2023 with its brilliant idea that enables organisations to transform engagement with their sustainability targets using the power of play. As a result, every swim, cycle, run or walk completed helps to fund climate-positive activities such as tree planting, carbon sequestering and plastic removal schemes.

The judges were highly impressed by the concept behind the business and how it combined two important elements - the environment and personal wellbeing - that affect every aspect of our lives today to create a unique new venture. A truly transformational business that could help to change the way we all contribute to the climate change agenda over the next few years in a positive way.”  

Full list of winners: