Western Mail

Tech firm ‘stands out from crowd’

- SION BARRY Business editor sion.barry@walesonlin­e.co.uk

TECHNOLOGY firm Haia Communicat­ions, which is gaining global traction for its online and hybrid events platform, has been named the best start-up firm in Wales.

Based at the M-Sparc science park in Anglesey, it took the overall title at the Wales StartUp Awards 2023 having also taken the digital start-up of the year category. Launched during the pandemic, it has ambitions to be a global player with its innovative use of AI allowing users to host events in multiple languages.

Haia co-founder, Tom Burke, said: “We’re incredibly proud. It was totally unexpected but is brilliant recognitio­n for all the hard work our team put into developing Haia.

“We want to say thank you to all our supporters, it isn’t possible to do things like this alone. For anyone starting a business in north Wales I say go for it, the support is here and it’s unparallel­ed. If you have the passion and determinat­ion, you’ll get it done.”

Professor Dylan Jones-Evans, creator of the awards, said: “In the eighth year of the Wales StartUp Awards, we have seen yet again the incredible contributi­on of new businesses to job creation, innovation and prosperity across the whole of this entreprene­urial nation. It’s been an honour and a pleasure to read the stories of those individual­s from across Wales who have spotted the opportunit­y and taken the risk to launch their own venture, especially at a time when the economy is still fragile after the Covid pandemic.”

He added: “I am delighted that Haia Communicat­ions has won the Wales Startup of the Year award for 2023. A new business that was born during Covid to address a market need at the time, it has evolved its offering over the last couple of years to offer considerab­le benefits to users. As a result, it has ambitions to be a global player in the field of online and hybrid events and, according to the judges, its innovative use of AI to host events in multiple languages makes it stand out from the crowd.”

 ?? ?? > Winners of the 2023 Wales StartUp Awards
> Winners of the 2023 Wales StartUp Awards

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