Workspace hazard wearables company spacebands has been named Best Start Up Business of the Year at last night’s Welsh Business Awards.
Organised by Chambers Wales South East, South West and Mid, the award celebrates outstanding new businesses demonstrating ambition, innovation and strong potential for growth. It recognises start-up businesses that have successfully launched, shown early traction, and are building a strong platform for sustainable growth through innovation, leadership and market impact.
spacebands was created to help organisations protect workers by measuring exposure to workplace hazards in real time. The compact, multi-sensor wearable was designed to monitor risks such as hand-arm vibration, excessive noise, proximity to machinery and PPE compliance, alerting the wearer when thresholds were approached or unsafe conditions were detected.
Following its strong performance, the technology’s success enabled the company to bring on board some of the UK’s leading companies, with adoption now underway across major safety‑critical organisations including Network Rail, M Group Highways, Kier Group and Balfour Beatty, all of which treat long‑term exposure management as both a legal requirement and a moral responsibility.
Just a year later, the Cardiff-based company exceeded its seed funding target of £600,000, securing £1 million in a round led by a US venture capital firm.
spacebands co-founder Harry Kimberley-Bowen said: “We launched the business in 2020 supplying contact tracing devices during the pandemic before evolving the company in late 2021 to focus on workplace health and safety wearables. It’s been a fast-paced few years, but incredibly rewarding.
“We’re incredibly proud of the strong feedback we receive from customers, both for our products and the insights provided through our data, and we are honoured to be recognised for this award. It’s testament to the hard work and passion of the whole team.”
spacebands has also been named in The Startups 100 Index, run by Startups.co.uk, which showcases the top 100 new UK businesses which exhibit technological innovation, impressive financials, market disruption, and a strong customer base or following.
