Nightingale HQ Rising Star Regional Winner With Tech Nation
Over the last week, Tech Nation have been announcing the regional winners - link no longer works of their 3rd Rising Star competition and we are honoured to be one of the Regional Winners.
The competition in its digital format had a record number of 330 applications resulting in 5 finalists from each region and a total of 55 winners selected.
Nightingale HQ are ecstatic to be in the company of iungo Solutions, Immersity Ltd - link no longer works, Tendertec and Yoello for the Wales region finalists. Tech Nation are renowned for nurturing tech companies and helping them to achieve scale and growth, so we are excited to make the cut. We will have the opportunity to meet leading investors, influencers and corporates and hope to follow in the footsteps of previous winners such as Skyscanner and Monzo.
Competitions Lead, Esme Caulfield, noted the diversity of applicants this year with a range of companies from every corner of the UK, going on to say “The 55 Rising Stars Regional Winners are companies that are proving their resilience and adaptability, building products that will support businesses and customers both now, and into the future. They are all deserving of recognition - and here at Tech Nation, we’re thrilled to celebrate and showcase them.”
The competition also received 39% of applications from female founders and co-founders, which is wonderful news given the gender imbalances that women are currently facing in business, specifically, the widening gap in female led start-ups and women in STEM.
Our CEO Steph Locke added “Being a Regional Winner for Rising Stars is great validation of the direction we’re taking and the type of company we’re building. The benefits Rising Stars offers will definitely help us as we open our investment round in January.”
We are sure to have more news on our progress in the competition as we prepare for the next stages, so stay tuned.
FAQs
What does Tech Nation Rising Stars represent?
Tech Nation Rising Stars is one of the UK’s most competitive tech startup competitions, run by the organisation responsible for some of the most important support initiatives for UK technology businesses. Being selected for the Rising Stars programme places a company in the top tier of UK tech startups — businesses that are building genuinely innovative solutions and have the potential to become significant players in their sector.
The competition is open to UK tech businesses at seed or pre-seed stage, across all sectors. The selection process evaluates both the commercial potential of the business and the capability of the founding team. Being shortlisted is a recognition that Nightingale HQ met the bar for both — and that its work at the intersection of AI and manufacturing represents a genuine innovation opportunity.
What is the Rising Stars 3.0 cohort context?
What did the recognition mean for GoSmarter?
Being recognised by Tech Nation in 2020 helped establish Nightingale HQ as a credible participant in the UK tech ecosystem, not just the Welsh tech scene. Tech Nation’s reach extends across the investor community, the enterprise technology buyer community, and the tech press — all audiences that matter for a company at the stage Nightingale HQ was at in 2020.
The Rising Stars recognition also provided a quality signal that supported subsequent investment conversations, grant applications, and partnership discussions. Being selected by a rigorous programme that evaluates hundreds of startups is a form of third-party validation that carries weight in these conversations.