Midlands-founded startup Live Tech Games, now based in London, has been awarded three awards at the Midlands final of the illustrious National StartUp Awards. Following a successful launch to thousands of players nationwide, a pilot with ITV’s This Morning resulting in a multi-million investment from the TV giant, and a step into the US international game market, Live Tech Games has now been named as the Overall Startup of the Year, Digital Startup and Young Entrepreneurs of the Year at the Midlands Final of the StartUp Awards National Series.

The StartUp Awards National Series debuted this year to highlight the dynamic startup scene across the country that skyrocketed during the pandemic, and has been rolled out in nine UK nations and regions, supported nationally by BT, Clearco, Moblox, Fearless Adventures and with regional support from Moja Group.  The final was held in Birmingham and saw 20 awards given out to top new businesses. The awards were judged by a panel of prominent industry experts, including successful entrepreneurs such as Stefania Pellegrino of Purely, Tom Walker of Holy Moly Dips and serial entrepreneur Piers Linney.

Live Tech Games launched during the pandemic and is pioneering a new wave of digital entertainment on a global scale. The UK market launch started in 2020 with Roshambo Live - a competitive rock, paper, scissors game - that achieved phenomenal success, hitting number three on the App Store Game Charts and led to partnerships and collaborations with renowned brands such as ITV, Arsenal Football Club and Tombola. The upcoming launch of pogl will be Live Tech Games’ first US venture, taking the thrill of competitive mobile games internationally with prizes on offer for every winner. 

Samuel Worsley, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Live Tech Games said, “Myself and my co-founder Nathan were absolutely thrilled to be named the winners of awards for Digital Startup, Young Entrepreneurs and Overall Startup for the Midlands. Launching Live Tech Games during Covid has been a challenging journey, however we have come a very long way from our first nationwide game and achieved a great deal, changing the foundations of digital customer engagement strategies and appointment-to-play entertainment. With the support of the National StartUp series and GBEA I am incredibly excited to see where the rest of this year will take us.”

In the UK, Live Tech Games is working collaboratively with media giant ITV to develop targeted and creative new games and campaigns to change the way viewers engage digitally. Live Tech Games’ platform offers previously unseen levels of integrated sponsorship and engagement for brands with non-intrusive formats, such as custom trivia questions and sponsored power ups. Now, winning Overall Startup in the Midlands as well as Young Entrepreneurs and Digital StartUp of the year, Live Tech Games is set to continue thriving and driving the startup entertainment industry.

Creator of the awards Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE said the inaugural event not only celebrated the best new firms in the Midlands, but recognised the amazing entrepreneurial talent across the nation. He said: “We’re so proud of the amazing reception the first year of the StartUp Awards National Series has had across the country. 

“There are some exceptional stories of dedication and passion from founders of new firms across the Midlands and it was an honour to showcase these local entrepreneurial heroes in Birmingham last night. As this year’s competition has shown, there are some incredible businesses across all parts of the Midlands and, with the right support, there is huge potential for entrepreneurs to be the real engine of the regional economy over the next few years.

“A huge congratulations to everyone who won last night and especially to Samuel and Nathan at Live Tech Games who were named StartUp of the Year. Given that they started their business in the same month that the economy was shutting down due to COVID-19, this is an incredible achievement that they should be very proud of. They and many of the businesses showcased last night are going to have a significant impact on their sector and I hope that many other entrepreneurs in the Midlands will follow in their footsteps over the next few years.”