START-UP businesses have been awarded a total of £24,000 at the bi-annual Entrepreneuring Awards.

The event took place at Entrepreneurial Spark’s Brighton Hatchery in Preston Road and was organised in partnership with NatWest, KPMG, Dell EMC and Pinsent Masons.

Entrepreneurs in Brighton came together to celebrate securing new investments, growing and scaling their businesses internationally and creating jobs.

They also had the opportunity to win up to £24,000 to continue driving business growth.

The awards recognise and celebrate the hard work and determination of all Entrepreneurial Spark’s entrepreneurs.

The main award, Entrepreneur of the Moment, went to Claire Taylor, founder of Simply VAT, who scooped £7,000.

Her company helps online retailers trade internationally through the provision of VAT compliance services throughout the EU

The Acceler8 award, which recognises businesses which have made significant progress in the last six months by moving out of their comfort zones to make the most of every opportunity, was shared by two winners who each received £4,000.

They were Hazel Reynolds of Gamely, which creates games that inspire creativity, imagination and strong communication, and Walter Murira, who started Invictus Recruitment.

This specialises in pairing talented individuals with exciting healthcare opportunities.

The #GoDo prize is awarded to the entrepreneurs who take action, seek challenges and make every day count, delivering impressive results using a #GoDo mindset.

Two entrepreneurs won £3,000 each.

The first was George Lengyel, who founded Hubbub, a context-sensitive social app and targeted chat platform which creates instant communities of people at venues and on travel routes. The second winner was Matt Humphrey, founder of Curtain Call, a tech start-up which offers a subscription-based website providing theatre fans and theatre professionals with theatre content needs.

The Chiclet’s Choice award, nominated by fellow entrepreneurs, recognises the “chiclet” who demonstrates the greatest degree of return and support within their hatchery.

Hassan Rajwani, founder of Double Six, which creates digital experiences targeting grass roots football, was selected by his fellow entrepreneurs to receive the £1,000 prize for coaching other chiclets through investment and pitching processes.

Eight entrepreneurs also took to the stage to battle it out at the pitching competition.