Alt Labs

Last week the team attended the Tees Tech Awards 2026!✨🏆

This year, Tees Business hosted the awards from the very impressive Teesside University’s Digital Life Building!

It was a fantastic night recognising innovation and tech excellence in our region!

We’d like to extend our congratulations to all the finalists and winners. It was great to see so many local individuals and businesses being recognised for their contribution to the region’s tech sector.🙌🚀

Teesside Hospice were the chosen charity partner for the evening, and it was very powerful listening to the impact their work has, not only on the people in their direct care, but also their families.

A standout moment was the Tech Start-Up Award pitch competition, featuring Tees Valley Labs alumni Ace Education Rosie Hussain, Surghive Dr Rachael Coates MBA, and Rivisio Limited Ken Robinson!

A huge congratulations to Surghive for being selected as the audience winner! An amazing achievement for Dr Rachael Coates MBA and the entire team. Congratulations to all three businesses, you should be incredibly proud.👏

We’d also like to give a shout out to Daniel Watson who did a stand-up job presenting the Tech for Good Award, and to our good friend Sharon Braithwaite for delivering a great speech when presenting the Small Tech Business Award.

A big thank you to Dave Allan, Martin Walker, and the whole Tees Business team for putting on another great Tees Tech Awards! 🎉

Barclays Eagle Labs Flok

✨ Monthly Round-up! ✨

May has been a busy month for us here at Alt Labs!

Take a look as just some of our stand out moments 👇

✨Introducing the Alt Labs monthly round-up! ✨

A series where we share some of the most exciting work, awards, and events we’ve been involved in over the past few weeks.

It’s safe to say May has been an especially busy month, with some fantastic achievements that we’re incredibly proud of! 🏆



.businessmag

Business Profile: The Orbitor

The Orbitor is the first multi-sports ball launcher giving young football, goalkeeping, basketball & netball athletes perfect, repeatable practice at home.

It’s designed to deliver consistent ball delivery, helping users practise with purpose - anytime, anywhere.

The idea for The Orbitor began after the Founder & CEO, Claire Budge’s goalkeeper daughter Amelie was invited to attend an England Schoolgirls trial. Like many parents, Claire wanted to do everything she could to help her practise at home and prepare.

Find out more & register your interest for when The Orbitor goes on sale via the link in the comments below ⬇️⭐️

The Orbitor Alt Labs (Made In North East)

Bringing our Pre-Flight sessions to a close in !🚀

Yesterday we concluded our final session back in Middlesbrough, marking the end of our Pre-Flight programme, and what a turnout it’s been!

Over the past few weeks, our two-day workshops have travelled across Teesside, including Darlington, Hartlepool, Redcar & Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees, highlighting just how much ambition and talent is emerging across the region. 🙌

A huge thank you to Steve Dougan, MBA and Russell Mills, for delivering some incredible interactive sessions and supporting entrepreneurs at every stage, from those with a business idea to start-ups.

The sessions explored key frameworks, sparked open conversations, questions, and challenged founders to test their ideas, think differently, and importantly build confidence as they take their next steps.💡

A big thank you to everyone who registered and took part, and to our programme coordinators Daniel Watson and Michael Crean for leading the events.

We look forward to seeing everyone’s founder journeys unfold! ⭐️

BusinessIdea

It’s time for the weekly wrap-up, and what a celebratory week it’s been!🎉

🌟On Tuesday, Stable business was selected as a ‘Project We Love’ by , following the successful launch of their brand last week! After reaching their funding goal in under 24 hours, it’s incredible to see so many achievements. Congratulations Ryan Watson!

Throughout the week we celebrated a number of founders an Team members who were shortlisted across a range of categories for the 2026 Tees Tech Awards! 👏

🏆From the Stable, was shortlisted for the Tech for Good award, whilst also being announced a finalist alongside Gloria Mundo for the Newcomer of the year!

🏆Fellow Stable alumni Ace Education and were featured as finalists for the Innovation category.

🏆Observer interactive, one of The Forge businesses, was also nominated for the Small Tech Business of the Year!

🏆Within the Alt Labs team, Michael Crean was shortlisted for Rising Star, along with Forge alumni Nawfal Benjjaoui from Tripcore, and Russell Mills who has been nominated for the Janice Webster Unsung Hero Award!

There’s still time to sign-up for our upcoming Pre-Flight sessions on Eventbrite! Designed for start-ups, business’s looking to scale, and those with new business ideas, our FREE two-day workshop offers hands-on support and guidance!
businessmag

Our weekly wrap-up is coming to you a day early!

🚀On Monday and Tuesday we had our Redcar & Cleveland Pre-Flight! We supported more budding founders start their journey into business and entrepreneurship! Check out our next Pre-Flight session in Hartlepool!

✨Monday, Lynn Chikosha announced she has been selected for the 2026 Impact Entrepreneurship Programme! Congratulations Lynn!

💚On Tuesday, ’s Kickstarter went live and within 24 hours they had 55 backers and reached their first goal of £7,500! Congratulations Ryan Watson!

🧸Wednesday, it was announced that Lou Willis-Keeler from Souuthe has been shortlisted for the UK Start-Up Awards 2026 for Innovative Start-Up of the year! amazing news, good luck Lou!

Today, Victoria Burnip (The Stable Alumni) is speaking at the Institute of Neurodiversity World Autism Day virtual event!