Startup of the Year
Auum AI
Auum AI helps institutional investment organisations navigate AI adoption, and has built its credibility with one of the hardest audiences in financial services from a standing start. Twelve episodes in three months featuring leaders from a $360 billion advisor, a $20 billion outsourced CIO and professors from Oxford and Columbia, with single episodes reaching around a third of the global allocator community.
Honourable mentions
Topic Hero
Topic Hero matches you with a stranger who disagrees with you, lets you debate it out, then judges who made the better case. Over a million video views and 2,000 users in two months, with judges praising a constructive angle on a part of the internet that rarely has one.
SIYTE
SIYTE is the platform for building and deploying autonomous guardians across critical infrastructure, unifying CCTV, IoT sensors, drones and legacy systems so operators can act in real time rather than piecing together four systems first. Already deployed with Network Rail, and scored full marks on every criterion by one of our judges.
Outstanding Achievement
CUSP.AI
CuspAI is applying frontier AI to discovering the breakthrough materials needed to power human progress. This year it closed a £450 million raise, one of the most significant by any UK company, having built its cap table and employment agreements on SeedLegals from the very start.
Game Changer
Ctrl Alt
Ctrl Alt provides the tokenisation infrastructure that lets institutions bring real-world assets on chain, running the full lifecycle from structuring to distribution. Judges called it the strongest package in the category, pointing to over $1.4bn tokenised, Dubai Land Department and Ripple partnerships, and a four-jurisdiction licence stack they described as the real moat.
Eco Innovator
HyFlux
HyFlux builds superconducting electric motors and the cryogenic cooling systems that make them viable, tackling the bottleneck standing between hydrogen-electric aviation and commercial flight. Judges rated it highest in the category for innovation, with backing from the Aerospace Technology Institute, the AMRC and the University of Manchester.
Soonicorn
Zinc
Zinc has made background screening fast, compliant and genuinely painless, building technology-first in an industry that bolted it on as an afterthought. Judges highlighted good growth and real capital efficiency, with clients including Busy Bees, John Lewis and Trainline.
Honourable mention
Fundpath
Business intelligence connecting fund buyers and sellers with real-time data.
Angel of the Year
JP Harrop
JP Harrop is a hands-on angel investor and mentor, backing early-stage startups he believes in through funding, advice and community.
Honourable mention
Matt Cooper
One of Europe’s most prolific angels, with 400+ investments since leaving Capital One.
Community Leader
Focused For Business
Focused For Business supports start-ups raising their first or second equity round create investor-ready materials, connect with expert advisers and investors, and negotiate and close funding. Three in four achieve their funding goal.
Honourable mention
Lets Fund Her
Events, community and fundraising courses making entrepreneurship less lonely for young women.
Customer Champion
Tootilab
Tootilab makes high-performance, lab-tested haircare for curls, coils and waves, with a colour-coded range built to take the guesswork out of a confusing category. Judges loved the customer examples and feedback, from a brand that involved customers before the first product existed and has grown to 22,000 of them in two years.
Honourable mentions
Sailia
One system for bookings, staffing, CRM and payments for experience businesses.
Sprive
Turns everyday shopping into cashback paid straight to your mortgage lender.
Social Sensation
Foundervine
Imagine Me Stories is a monthly discovery box of Black children’s books and empowering Black history activities, built after its founder saw firsthand how the lack of representation in children’s books affects self-esteem.
Honourable mentions
Topic Hero
AI-judged debates with a stranger on the other side of a topic.
Tootilab
Curly haircare built by and for curly-haired people.
Inspiring Entrepreneur
Florence Sargent
Rainbox builds compact water treatment technology for the places that need it most, targeting 1,000 litres of safe water a day in the footprint that currently delivers around five. Judges called the problem statement and mission genuinely strong, with one awarding full marks on every criterion.
Honourable mentions
Juliet Bakovljev
The Arzen Collective is a wellness hub where 40+ medical and holistic practitioners treat the whole person.
Ali Adams
Chest funds pensions through cashback on everyday spending, proving younger generations can be engaged with retirement.
Top Workplace
Foundervine
Foundervine is one of the UK’s largest startup accelerators, giving diverse founders with the skills and support to scale confidently.
Honourable mentions
Tootilab
Curly haircare built by and for curly-haired people.
Zinc
Turns everyday shopping into cashback paid straight to your mortgage lender.
Inspiring Entrepreneur
AI Seed
Rainbox builds compact water treatment technology for the places that need it most, targeting 1,000 litres of safe water a day in the footprint that currently delivers around five. Judges called the problem statement and mission genuinely strong, with one awarding full marks on every criterion.
Honourable mentions
SFC Capital
The UK’s most active early-stage investor, backing British startups since 2012.
Haatch
Pre-seed and seed VC for B2B SaaS, with 200+ companies backed.
Captivating Mission
Rainbox Technologies
Rainbox builds compact water treatment technology for the places that need it most, targeting 1,000 litres of safe water a day in the footprint that currently delivers around five. Judges called the problem statement and mission genuinely strong, with one awarding full marks on every criterion.
Honourable mention
ProMaterial Ltd
AI-vision inspection hardware catching defects in EV, wind turbine and robotics materials.
Founders’ Favourite
The Arzen Collective
The Arzen Collective is a collaborative wellness hub where 40+ medical and holistic practitioners work together to treat the whole person, not just the symptoms.
Honourable mentions
Twinnin
A consent registry where real people verify and license their likeness.
Finmile
AI operating system for logistics, cutting routes by 42% and claims by 82%.