Edinburgh-based Zelim crowned UK top tech trailblazer
Zelim, a Scottish AI business, has been crowned KPMG’s 2026 Tech Innovator in the UK.
The annual competition spotlights and celebrates the world’s most innovative technology start-ups and provides a platform for entrepreneurs to showcase their businesses and collectively champion the future of tech.
The Edinburgh-based start-up, which builds AI-enabled maritime safety and security systems to save lives when people fall overboard at sea, beat off competition from hundreds of businesses across the UK to win the award.
Andy Tipping, from Zelim, said: “We are honoured to be chosen as the winner, especially given the phenomenal crop of tech companies that came to compete from across the UK.
“2026 has been a big year for us already, so this award is the icing on top of the cake and is testament to the dedication of the team who worked so hard to bring a genuinely world leading product to market.”
The competition, which is in its thirteenth year, has celebrated some of the UK’s best pure technology and tech-enabled businesses 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, a leading tech conference that takes place each year.
Zelim will now head to the global final later in the year, where an international panel of judges will select the KPMG Global Tech Innovator.
Vishal Chopra, Scotland Senior Partner at KPMG UK, said: “Zelim’s success is a great example of the world-class technology businesses emerging from Scotland. Our thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem continues to support ambitious companies developing solutions to global challenges, and Zelim is a standout example of the talent and ingenuity we’re seeing across the country.
“We wish the team at Zelim every success as they go on to represent the UK at the global final and showcase Scottish innovation on the world stage.”
The People’s Choice award, which saw members of the public vote via social media for their favourite company, was won by Bridlington-based Supply Chain In-Sites. The firm came out on top for its work providing supply chain solutions such as gap analysis, risk management and bespoke programs.
Amy Burnett, Emerging Giants lead in Scotland at KPMG UK, said: “Zelim is a perfect example of the UK’s burgeoning tech talent and we wish them good luck as they head to the global final of the competition to represent the UK and look forward to playing a part in the exciting journey they have to come.
“We are so proud that an exciting company from Scotland has won and provides yet another shining example of the trend of success for fast-growing firms in the country.
“This competition has allowed us to see an amazing range of scale-ups who are all showcasing why the UK is one of the most attractive places in the world right now when it comes to tech innovation and tech investment.”
The eight UK finalists were:
| Prospectral | East of England winner |
| Pimloc | London winner |
| Supply Chain In-Sites | North East and Yorkshire winner |
| urfuture | North West winner |
| Zelim | Scotland winner |
| Digostics Limited | South Central winner |
| RIG Corp LTD | South West and Wales winner |
| High Temperature Materials Systems | Midlands winner |
Previous KPMG UK Tech Innovator winners
2025 – Inicio AI
2024 – Halocycle
2023 – Inovus Medical
2022 – HiiROC
2021 – FIDO Tech
2020 – VividQ
2019 – Humming Bird Technologies (acquired by Agreena)
2018 – Echo (acquired by McKesson UK)
2017 – Safe To Net
2016 – What 3 Words
2015 – RefMe (acquired by education company Chegg, Inc)
2014 – Babylon Health (acquired eMed Healthcare UK)
