Winners
2022
The total amount raised to date by #21toWatch alumni has reached more than £710 million
In 2024, we highlighted that the Top 21 had collectively raised £110 million in a single year. In 2025, that number surged by 42%, with alumni raising over £183 million – bringing the total amount raised to date to more than £710 million (excluding CMR Surgical private equity, and undisclosed deals).
Full #21toWatch List
| Name | Synopsis | People, Company, Thing | Longlist | Shortlist | Top 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| People | ✓ | ||||
| AgriGrub is fighting the climate crisis by providing a net-zero-carbon to process our food waste. They do this using a special insect, the Black Soldier fly larvae. The AgriGrub team was the first in the UK to grow these grubs and is currently setting up a grub farm to process 10 tonnes of waste a day. |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| People | ✓ | ||||
| People | ✓ | ||||
| People | ✓ | ||||
| Anna Sturrock is a fish ecologist and lecturer at the University of Essex. Her international research programme focuses on tracking fish movements and health to inform conservation and resource management. |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| People | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| BioSure develops and manufactures rapid tests with the highest levels of accuracy - UK's first CE marked BioSURE HIV Self Test and BioSURE COVID-19 IgG Antibody Self Test – providing immediate results. |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Thing | ✓ | ||||
| HexagonFab’s Bolt is a benchtop device for simple on-site protein, antibody, and small molecule affinity and kinetic analysis using only electrical detection. |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Thing | ✓ | ||||
| Carbon Re combines world-class deep reinforcement learning - a field of artificial intelligence best suited to managing complex decision-making - and industrial sustainability expertise from the University of Cambridge and University College London. |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Thing | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
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| The Climate Code shirt features two main datasets – the warming stripes of the shirt fabric represent the last 70 years of temperature records from the Arctic, with details providing the backdrop of 800,000 years of Antarctic temperature and CO2 data. The innovative design brings together the dynamic story of the past and the worrying trends of the present in a novel visualisation that aims to inspire climate action. |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| CorrosionRADAR has unique solutions for Predictive Corrosion Monitoring (PCM) and is an important enabler for safer and more sustainable operations in the Oil & Gas and Energy sectors. |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Finalist in the Outstanding Young Engineer of the Year category at CW Technology & Innovation Awards. |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Thing | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| People | ✓ | ||||
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| Alisa is a Business Development Executive at Marshall ADG Futureworx, a technology accelerator which aims to spot strategic technology gaps based on relevant mega-trends such as net-zero carbon. |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| People | ✓ | ||||
| People | ✓ | ||||
| Christopher developed DeepForm Technology, an innovative sheet metal forming process that can reduce trimming and thinning. His aim is to produce better car body parts with half the metal, helping automakers reach zero manufacturing emissions. |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
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| Thing | ✓ | ||||
| electronRx is a deep tech company of world-class scientists and engineers leading the development of novel chronic disease management solutions that pave the way for personalised digital medicine. |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| eScent is a wearable technology system, enabling the delivery of a personalised "Scent Bubble" (and other liquids) as a sensory-controlled solution for the Wellness, Healthcare, Perfumery, Fashion, Gaming/Metaverse, and Psychedelic Medicine sectors, and is protected by several awarded/pending patents. |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| The FLS110 is the world’s smallest flow sensor with a unique integration concept. It’s been designed to make it easy to add new flow measurement features into virtually any product. Even the most tightly packed or cost-sensitive designs. |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Forefront RF’s Adaptive Passive Cancellation (APC) Technology |
The unique APC chip cancels out the transceiver’s self-interference, enabling a smartphone’s receiver to “hear” the weakest signals while transmitting at full power. |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CGD leads the European funded GaNext project under the PENTA Programme, targeting the design and development on highly efficient, highly compact prototypes of next-generation Gallium Nitride power modules, for low and high power applications. |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Having chronic pain can feel like living with a beast. The Happyr App helps you to tame this pain dragon. Track your daily mood and log your migraine symptoms for increased resilience and wellbeing. |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Inficaf is a sustainable raw material for product developers, made from upcycled spent coffee grounds. It is a consistent, yet versatile material that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and displaces virgin and petrochemical materials in plastics, automotive friction, cosmetics, and more. |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| People | ✓ | ||||
| Jeroen is Co-Founder and CEO at Semarion, a Cambridge spin-out which brings together material science and cell biology to solve key bottlenecks in drug discovery. |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Dr Kanta Dihal is Assistant Professor in Science Communication at Imperial College London and Associate Fellow of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, University of Cambridge. Her research focuses on the intersections of fiction and science, particularly AI and quantum physics. |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
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| Company | ✓ | ||||
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| Macomics has closed a follow-on financing round of £4.24M to propel its precision cancer medicine work. |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| People | ✓ | ||||
| Marcel is co-founder and CEO of Cyted, a medical diagnostic company that is committed to building a world where disease is prevented rather than treated utilising their pioneering digital pathology infrastructure. |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| People | ✓ | ||||
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| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| The Mobilityways Platform is a suite of software tools that enables employers to evidence, track, plan and change their commuter emissions. |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| PhD student at Cambridge University developing cutting-edge cancer early detection technology, and managing operation and R&D at Cambridge Nucleomics where we count native RNA molecules, more quickly and accurately. |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Monavate is a payment solutions provider, aiming to demystify finance, making it accessible to all; simplifying and improving how people pay the world over. |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
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| A next generation Coronavirus vaccine administered through a needle-free 'injection' - a blast of air that delivers it into the skin. |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| People | ✓ | ||||
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| oomph is designing and developing a customer centric ecosystem to deliver rapid, mobile EV charge where people need it…we’re not constrained by a fixed infrastructure, and we don’t believe EV vehicles should be either. |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Outfield leverage revolutionary drone technology and AI to enable fruit farmers to make data driven decisions for their orchards. We deliver accurate yield results which enable them to plan, forecast and sell their harvest. |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ||
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| In the week before the Top21 were announced, Porotech announced a $20 million Series A investment to accelerate global expansion and mass production of its unique micro-LED products. The funding will meet the growing demand from its customers and partners in the global display market. |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Psyomics’ comprehensive digital assessment helps everyone access the best support for their mental health needs, quickly and accurately whilst also reducing the pressure on the stretched mental health system. |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Has partnered with Greenlight Guru in Indianapolis to leverage the US company's strength on Quality Management Software. The move will enable Qureight to take its groundbreaking cloud-based platform through ISO13485 accreditation towards a formal CE mark award. |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| R4DAR Technologies is on a mission to improve the safety and effectiveness of autonomous systems whether that be on the road or in the air. It is one of 20 global companies recently selected by international corporates to participate the US PlugandPlay Mobility Accelerator programme. |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Risilience provides a deeptech analytics platform to enable companies to manage enterprise risk and to transform their businesses to meet the strategic challenges of climate change. |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Rnwl is an Insurtech startup developing a helpful app to help you achieve insurance peace of mind by automatically organising and managing policies and the things which keep them valid. |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Antobot develops highly integrated automotive-grade universal Robot Control Units (uRCU®) – the robot “brain”, combining hardware and software, to power the next generation of intelligent mobile robots in agriculture and beyond. |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Company | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Sano connects people with opportunities to support personalised medicine research. We provide free at-home DNA testing with many of our studies and the chance to learn more about your health and genetics. You own your data and have full control over how and where it is used. |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Developing a tool to identify harmful or abusive online content through her business Unitary. Unitary is working to make the internet safer, by using computer vision technology to identify harmful content, in context, instead of relying on vast numbers of human moderators. |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
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| Sparxell produces the most sustainable coloured pigments and glitters using cellulose extracted from plants. Applications range from cosmetic to fashion, paint and food. Winner of the 2021 Trinity Bradfield Prize. |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Thing | ✓ | ||||
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| Steph’s passionate about using technology to help improve and prevent mental illness and is now using her experience in scaling global digital mental health companies to lead Psyomics as CEO. |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
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