Bionic hand start-up among winners at awards for the west's best tech

A company that 3D prints low cost prosthetic hands for amputees scooped three of the prizes at The SPARKies, an awards scheme which celebrates small tech companies in the West of England.

Open Bionics was named best start-up and most innovative use of hardware at a ceremony in Bristol last week. The company, which sells bionic hands at £1,000 compared to up to £60,000 for other solutions, also saw its co-founder Samantha Payne named entrepreneur of the year.

The three awards are added to several already won by the Bristol business which was recently accepted onto the Disney Accelerator in the US. The company has produced a range of prosthetic limbs for children inspired by movies including Star Wars and Frozen.

Organised by Tech Spark, the SPARKies aim to shine a light on the very best people, products and companies that make up the tech sector in Bristol, Bath and the broader West of England region.

Among the other winners in 2016 were Doodle Maths, an app for parents to help their children master maths; the Guild, a co-working space in a Grade 1 listed building in Bath; Prezola, an online wedding list service and Callum Short, the young founder of Beambox which allows small businesses to leverage free WiFi to increase revenue.

The Bristol and Bath region, one of the biggest technology economies in the UK, is home to over 4,000 tech companies employing around 30,000 people.

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