More than 100 business leaders and entrepreneurs came together in Newquay to celebrate Cornwall’s fastest growing industry.

The Cornwall Live EDGE Awards shine the spotlight on Cornwall's brightest and best digital businesses, entrepreneurs, teachers and stars of the future.

Alongside our partners, Invest in Cornwall, we've pulled together a campaign of content that celebrates Cornwall as the best place in the UK to live, play and do business.

Where else indeed can you find the fastest broadband speeds in the UK, unrivalled levels of expertise developed through schools, colleges and universities, a growing integrated tech cluster and the opportunity to go surfing at lunchtime and an amazing work-life balance?

Celebrating the best of Cornwall's tech sector with the Edge Awards 2018

The awards were held at Newquay Lighthouse Cinema, where the cast of Star Wars entertained guests before they all settled down for popcorn in front of the big screen for the main event.

Introducing the awards, Jacqui Merrington, regional digital editor with Cornwall Live, Devon Live and Plymouth Live, said: "This year we’ve given the awards a space theme to mark Cornwall’s key role in the UK space race, with the Spaceport and Goonhilly putting the duchy on the intergalactic map in 2018.

"2018 has been a pivotal year for Cornwall. As the country negotiates a difficult path to Brexit, the duchy has been busy forging a future without the millions of pounds of EU funding which have helped boost the economy for decades.

"We know that while the picture postcard will attract visitors here and will always underpin our identity and contribute to our economy, it’s innovation and growth through digital that will create highly paid jobs and skills that will give people opportunities to stay here and will be key to our future.”

The EDGE campaign , supported by Truro and Penwith College, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Skills Hub and Avanti, showcased the sectors that make Cornwall a true centre of excellence, space, aerospace, robotics, marine, gaming, healthcare, artificial intelligence and more.

Garry Barter, co-founder and CEO of Truro-based leading artificial intelligence company Hertzian, was the guest speaker on the night.

He told the audience at the Lighthouse Cinema in Newquay that Cornwall has the potential to compete with the rest of the world and indeed Hertzian does - within its niche sector - and regularly beats tech giant from Silicon Valley at their own game.

The Force was strong with the Cornwall Live EDGE Awards at the Lighthouse Cinema in Newquay

He said Hertzian, which now has 11 staff, is much talked about in some tech circles and is now one of the top five leading A.I. companies in the UK - not bad for a company born out of the Launchpad programme at Falmouth University and based in Cornwall.

"We’ve had interest from Silicon Valley and firms like Netflix. We’re in Cornwall because we all know the distractions being in London can cause. Everyone is in Cornwall for a purpose. We know time is valuable but we know the potential that exists here.

"We very much champion Cornwall whenever we speak to other people. Here we’re working together to create new products that will compete on the world stage.

"There is such a massive opportunity in Cornwall. So let’s keep doing what we’re all doing because it is very much working."

Nicola Lloyd, head of inward investment at Invest in Cornwall, the EDGE Awards headline partner, said: "Thanks to the roll out of superfast broadband, Cornwall boasts the world’s largest fibre broadband network.

"This coupled with access to leading universities and skilled talent and an unrivalled lifestyle, is attracting a variety of tech-led businesses into the region.”

She added: "It was my absolute pleasure to co-host the awards and meet the wonderfully talented businesses who make up the inspiring and rapidly growing tech sector in Cornwall.

Avanti's satellite dishes at its home at Goonhilly Earth Station on the Lizard in Cornwall

"These businesses are competing at a global level and I was happy to announce that Invest in Cornwall aims to soon assist businesses to maximise their reach by extending our services to include export and trade support.

"Our aim is to work even closer with ambitious businesses in Cornwall to help them access new markets and enhance their opportunities for growth. These are very exciting times for Cornwall."

EDGE winners

Best Digital Innovation in Tourism - Bad Wolf Horizon

Tom Wadsworth, founder of Bad Wolf Horizon, winner of the Best Digital Innovation in Tourism category in the Edge Awards with Simon Edgley, MD of Reach PLC in the south, Nicola Lloyd, head of inward investment at Invest in Cornwall and Jacqui Merrington, regional digital editor for Cornwall Live, Devon Live and Plymouth Live

Bad Wolf Horizon Ltd specialises in film production and aerial photography. They have recently launched a new set of drone live streaming services – the first of their kind in the UK, under the name Aerostream.

Their main service, “Social Stream” allows them to live stream, in full-HD, directly to Facebook, YouTube or a website. This is a revolutionary step in social media marketing.

Their client list includes big names such as Visit Cornwall and Algarve Tourism.

Picking up his award, Tom Wadsworth, founder of Bad Wolf Horizon said: "Thanks for this. It's amzing. It proves that you can go on and achieve what you set out to achieve. In my case I have managed to turn messing around with toy helicopters into a business."

Best Software Developer/s - Craig Webster

Craig Webster,a pilot with Cornwall Air Ambulance and desiger of cloud-based helicopter management sfoteare which he runs through his company Zero One Alpha with Nicola Lloyd, head of inward investment at Invest in Cornwall and Jacqui Merrington, regional digital editor for Cornwall Live, Devon Live and Plymouth Live

HeliCrewManager is a Newquay-based versatile web-app which allows companies and organisations to manage their helicopter crews.

A subscription based web-app it tracks flight time limitations, checks and currency, taking the pain out of rostering.

The app, the brain child of Cornwall Air Ambulance helicopter pilot Craig Webster, who has worked for the off shore industry with Babcock, and has been programming helicopter flight management software and apps since the 1990s, has already been taken up by London Air Ambulance and Airbus UK to name a few.

Picking up his award Mr Webster who runs his own software company Zero One Alpha, said: "My children have had a great upbringing in Cornwall and have been able to go to the beach after school. I fly helicopters over our beautiful county every day.

"In my spare time I do things like this software. I think the potential for it is massive. Now we need Cornwall's support to push it out further."

Best Digital Media Company - TIGERX

(Sponsored by Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Skills Hub)

Dougie Cross, founder and MD of Hayle-based TIGER X with Nicola Lloyd, head of inward investment at Invest in Cornwall, Josh Hoole, project manager with Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Skills Hub and Jacqui Merrington, regional digital editor for Cornwall Live, Devon Live and Plymouth Live

TIGER X is a visualisation, animation and virtual-reality creation studio generating highly engaging computer generated images, animation VR and augmented reality for a host of different business sectors.

From individual designers to corporate multinationals, transport projects in the USA to towns in Russia, public information broadcasts and online advertising to multimedia presentations and virtual experiences, they create tailor-made, individually crafted CGI outputs that push what's possible, connect with stakeholders and get results.

Always advancing technical boundaries, their work is cutting edge, futuristic, engaging and vibrant.

Dougie Cross, founder and managing director of TIGER X which employs 10 staff, said: "We’ve just had someone win an awards for flying toy helicopters and making a great business out of it. I have managed to 15 years by making pretty pictures so may it long continue."

Best Space Tech Start-up or SME - Goonhilly Earth Station

The Goonhilly Earth Station team with with Nicola Lloyd, head of inward investment at Invest in Cornwall and Jacqui Merrington, regional digital editor for Cornwall Live, Devon Live and Plymouth Live

Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd is a satellite ground station, located in Cornwall.

Goonhilly engages in near space commercial satellite communications, deep space communications, data centre services and systems engineering/space consulting.

Some of the services it offers include a dedicated on-site engineering team and some of the best fibre connectivity in the whole of the UK.

Goonhilly is a unique facility on the Lizard Peninsula with amazing infrastructure including high speed fibre broadband that connects it to the rest of the world.

It has been a good year for the company which received more than £8m in funding from the EU for the Deep Space research programme which was followed by a £24m investment from Bristol billionaire Peter Hargreaves.

Further expansion plans are in the pipeline with offices in Australia and the US.

Best Video, Animation or Game - Triangular Pixels

John Campbell, co-founder of Triangular Pixels in Bude, winners of the best Video, Animation or Game category in the EDGE Awards 2018 with Nicola Lloyd, head of inward investment at Invest in Cornwall, Philippa Jenkins, editor of Cornwall Live and Jacqui Merrington, regional digital editor for Cornwall Live, Devon Live and Plymouth Live

Award-winning game developers Triangular Pixels, in Bude, have created Smash Hit Plunder, a physics-based tear-it-up set in a medieval castle.

Fight ghosts, munch food, start fires and cause chaos and collect as much treasure as possible before your time ends.

Smash Hit Plunder came out for exclusively on PlayStationVR in October this year, both digitally and on disk in stores.

John Campbell, co-founder with his wife Katie Goode of Triangular Pixels, said: "Thanks so much for our team. We have an amazing team and I’m really proud of the work we have accomplished together.

"Thanks to Cornwall Council our game is the first game on Playstation to have been translated into Cornish."

Best Digital Innovation in Agritech - Glas Data

The Glas Gata team, winners of the Best Digital Innovation in Agritech at the EDGE Awards 2018 with Nicola Lloyd, head of inward investment at Invest in Cornwall and Jacqui Merrington, regional digital editor for Cornwall Live, Devon Live and Plymouth Live

Glas Data has created a data ecosystem, FarmHand, designed to unify the agricultural sector. Agricultural data is currently fragmented and complex.

FarmHand is an easy and powerful tool to enter, visualise, analyse and aggregate data for individual farm businesses all the way to processors and vendors.

Users can simply upload their existing data sets and explore new ones in order to drive productivity and profitability.

Rob Sanders founder of Glas Data Ltd, which is based at Falmouth University, said: "The agriculture sector is more data and precision driven than it has ever been.

"We've only incorporated this year but already we are looking to expand in term of staff number. We're also looking for capital investment. Watch this space."

Best Digital Innovation in Healthcare - Lumira DX

The LumiraDx Care Solutions team winners of the Best Digital Innovation in Healthcare award at the EDGE Awards 2018 with Nicola Lloyd, head of inward investment at Invest in Cornwall, Kim COnchie, CEO of the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce and Jacqui Merrington, regional digital editor for Cornwall Live, Devon Live and Plymouth Live.

LumiraDx Care Solutions is the home of INRstar, the market leading anticoagulation clinical decision support software for the NHS born and developed in Cornwall.

INRstar brings together the best technology, clinical knowledge and education to support clinicians and care teams to deliver safe, efficient, diagnostic-led care.

Moving care closer to home, their new patient-facing app aims to engage, keep clinicians and patients digitally connected and enable safe, remote care for all anticoagulation patients.

Dr Mark Sullivan, medical director with LumiraDx which is based in Camborne, said: "We are thrilled to have been recognised in these awards, and we are delighted for others to be able to help us to celebrate all the hard work the team has put in.

"The calibre of other entrants in the EDGE awards really demonstrates that Cornwall is leading the way in digital innovation, developing health tech and the future of healthcare."

Best Digital Innovation in Marine - Ultrabeam Hydrographic

Gabriel Walton, co-founder and director of Ultrabeam Hydrographic which won the Best Digital Innovation in Marine category at the EDGE Awards 2018 with Nicola Lloyd, head of inward investment at Invest in Cornwall and Jacqui Merrington, regional digital editor for Cornwall Live, Devon Live and Plymouth Live

Ultrabeam Hydrographic is a recently formed Cornwall based company providing precision hydrographic survey services to a wide range of clients from ports and harbours, renewable energy, oil and gas and public sector marine industries.

Ultrabeam undertakes surveys and inspections of marine based assets, using the latest sonar and laser technology deployed from our own unique unmanned survey platforms.

In the same way aerial drones have revolutionised a significant number of land based survey tasks, a similar technological approach can be utilised in marine applications.

This makes operations both safer and more efficient, particularly in hazardous locations.

Picking up the award, co-founding director Gabriel Walton said: “I’m not one for long speeches so thank you very much.”

Best FinTech Company - Duesday

The Duesday team from Liskeard picks up the best Fintech company award in the Cornwall EDGE Awards 2018, with Nicola Lloyd, head of inward investment at Invest in Cornwall and Jacqui Merrington, regional digital editor for Cornwall Live, Devon Live and Plymouth Live.

Duesday is a Liskeard-based FinTech business, reinventing direct debits and recurring payments made by consumers utilities, phone companies, health clubs and the housing sector.

Founded in 2016, it has grown from two people to 14 staff and has a strong software development and innovation focus.

Duesday’s app tells consumers about upcoming bills and gives them more power to control how to pay them.

Service providers receive payments earlier, quicker and cheaper than traditional direct debits.

CFT Group, the company behind Duesday with clients across the UK and a first partner in the US, has recently expanded into online card payments and chip and pin machines.

Co-founder and CEO Marcus Kern said the company was in advanced talks with some of the largest banks in Mexico and further growth over the next few years.

he said he hopes to take grow his team to 30 within the next 18 months.

He added: "Our focus is on recurrent bill and recurrent payments. Duesday gives users more control and transparency over their expenses and the payment of their bills.

"The talent that exists in the region is great and the quality is amazing."

Best Community / Social Use of Digital - MATR

(Sponsored by Avanti)

Andy Williams, business manager with Avanti picking up the award for Best Community / Social Use of Digital on behalf of MATR with Nicola Lloyd, head of inward investment at Invest in Cornwall and Jacqui Merrington, regional digital editor for Cornwall Live, Devon Live and Plymouth Live.

MATR has developed a smart pollution eliminating air purifier, up to 300 times more efficient then HEPA filters at cleaning the air you breathe.

Their powerful hybrid air purifier features patent-pending photocatalytic technology, meaning its filters never need to be replaced - eliminating harmful pollutants instead of catching them in order to improve your health and wellbeing.

Working in conjunction with the purifier they’ve developed the world's smallest air tracker with a display, it will sense and display your current air quality and will start to learn your environment helping you to make informed decisions to improve your health.

Digital Rising Stars

(Sponsored by Truro and Penwith College)

Software coding apprentice Jordan Parkway who works for Bluefruit Software, Tom Wadsworth founder of Bad Wolf Horizon with Nicola Lloyd, head of inward investment at Invest in Cornwall, James Bemrose from Truro and Penwith College and Jacqui Merrington, regional digital editor for Cornwall Live, Devon Live and Plymouth Live

Jordan Barkway

To get to where she is today, which is on a level 4 software development apprenticeship with Bluefruit Software in Redruth, Jordan started attending coding courses and discovered she loved code.

At the age of 16 she wanted to go further into the tech industry which is when she started an apprenticeship. To be 16 and start a level 4 course was a huge shock to Jordan as she had only just completed her GCSEs. She now mentors and talks about how she got to where she is at various conferences and meet-ups. Jordan wants to try and inspire others to get into tech or to get others into the industry.

Tom Wadsworth

Tom has been practising film and photography since he was a teenager. During his time at Loughborough University, where he studied product design and technology, he saw a gap in the marketplace and a growing demand for aerial services. He set up his own production company called Bad Wolf Horizon, specialising in film production and aerial photography. One year on and Tom has completed work all over the world, he is the industry leader for drone live streaming services (which he promotes under the name "Aerostream" and has worked with big names including Visit Cornwall and Algarve Tourism. Not bad going, considering he is only 23.

Xavier Craine

Originally from a small town called Tintagel in North Cornwall, Xavier knew what he wanted to do from a very young age. Being raised surrounded by nature and having travelled extensively with his family, he was fortunate to have developed a great perspective and respect for the environment. Twinned with his keen interest in business, fast forward past Truro College and a Degree in Business Management from Surrey, MATR was born. A solution to the global threat of poor air quality that see’s over 7 million pre-mature deaths a year.

Most inspirational educational IT / digital / multimedia project - Software Cornwall/ Game Changer

Software coding apprentice Jordan Parkway who works for Bluefruit picks up The award for Most Inspirational Educational IT / Digital / multimedia project on behalf of Tony Evans who runs the Game Changer Project through Software Cornwall with Nicola Lloyd, head of inward investment at Invest in Cornwall, Tim Rumblelow, account director with Cornwall Live and Jacqui Merrington, regional digital editor for Cornwall Live, Devon Live and Plymouth Live.

Software Cornwall’s Game Changer Project is run by Tony Edwards. It works with young people aged 15-24 who are at risk

of becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training) across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

It supports young people to overcome the complex challenges they face; understand their individual aptitudes, passions and interests; develop skills and experiences, build connectivity and networks, resulting in many successfully now exploring and establishing career pathways into software engineering and Cornwall’s tech community.

The programme is delivered by working with businesses, matching their needs and aspirations with the passions and skills of young people. From experiencing potential careers via sector based work placements to challenge based learning sessions young people grow and express themselves openly and explore opportunities.

Unfortunately Mr Evans was unavailable to pick up his award on the night, but Jordan Barkway, a software apprentice with Bluefruit, picked it up on his behalf.

She said: "It’s people like Tony who will tell young people ‘you know what you want to be, so let’s give you a hand up’. Tony is amazing and inspires other people to achieve greatness."

The EDGE Award for Excellence - Hertzian

The Hertzian team, the winners of the Edge Award for Excellence sponsored by Invest in Cornwall, with Nicola Lloyd, head of inward investment at Invest in Cornwall and Jacqui Merrington, regional digital editor for Cornwall Live, Devon Live and Plymouth Live

Hertzian, based in Truro, are an artificial intelligence development company, focusing on building applications that help users understand large volumes of customer feedback. Tailoring their solutions towards specific industries and companies, they can provide unprecedented and unmatched accuracy, providing insights that none of their clients will have ever seen before.

The company, which now employs 11 staff, give their clients control of the data that they collect, as well as providing an overview, allowing them to browse through it and discover their own insights as well as the ones that Hertzian identify themselves.

Picking up the award, co-founder and CEO Garry Barter, said: "This means a lot to us. We aim to do great things. We may fail but try to have fun along the way.

"A big thank you to our amazing team without which we wouldn’t be where we are now."

He added: "We have shown that because you are in Cornwall you don’t have to be a lifestyle business."