• Swindon & Wiltshire Awards
• Wednesday July 2 2025

Bath tech firm to represent the West in national competition

A Bath-based firm that uses hi-tech sailing vessels to generate clean energy at sea has been selected to represent South West and Wales in the search for the best UK tech trailblazer.

DRIFT Energy fended off competition from dozens of local tech startups to be crowned South West and Wales Tech Innovator as part of KPMG’s search for the UK’s most exciting tech businesses.

It will now represent the region on the national stage later this month.

The competition, which KPMG runs to spotlight and celebrate the world’s most innovative technology, provides a platform for entrepreneurs to showcase their businesses and collectively champion the future of tech.

Mike Mackay, head of vessel design at DRIFT Energy, said: “To be selected to pitch alongside so many other South West UK based disruptor companies in the regional heat was a true privilege.

“As a scaling tech startup, being recognised like this helps us to get the message out that there is a new way of doing renewable energy.

“We were up against some strong competition and it was a pleasure to meet the leaders of such a diverse range of companies across multiple sectors.

“I am looking forward to going head-to-head with the nation’s most exciting innovators in the UK final. The competition is bound to be fierce, so DRIFT will prepare to make waves.”

Commenting on the regional heat, David Williams, Bristol office senior partner at KPMG UK said: “The calibre of innovation at this year’s South West and Wales heat was exceptional, with businesses tackling some of the most pressing global challenges through cutting-edge technology. DRIFT Energy stood out for its bold and unique approach to clean power generation.

“The team’s pioneering use of high-tech sailing vessels to harness and deliver renewable energy is a compelling example of the ingenuity and ambition that defines the region’s tech ecosystem. It’s a ground-breaking concept with huge potential to reshape how we think about offshore energy.

“We’re proud to see a business like DRIFT Energy emerging from the South West and can’t wait to see them take centre stage at the national final in London.”

The competition, which has been running since 2013, has celebrated some of the UK’s best pure technology and tech-enabled including What3Words, VividQ and HiiROC who have all been crowned previous winners. 2022 winner HiiROC took it a step further by winning the global final at Web Summit.

The overall UK champion will then advance to the global final later in the year, where an international panel of judges will select the KPMG Private Enterprise Global Tech Innovator.

Nicole Lowe, head of emerging giants at KPMG UK, said: “The standard has been extremely high this year and it has been brilliant to see the variety of businesses the competition has unearthed across the country.

“Each year we are delighted to showcase the best the country has to offer and cannot wait to see who comes out top in the final.”

Inset: David Williams left, Mike Mackay of Drift Energy right