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 | Top21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Alceus Bio is pioneering the first class of multimodal CAR T therapies, targeting solid cancers in multiple ways to prevent cancer resistance and improve therapeutic outcomes |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| AllFocal Optics is poised to revolutionize AR/VR technology through groundbreaking nanophotonic solutions. Rooted in foundational research from Cambridge University, we deliver unparalleled visual experiences while prioritizing compatibility and scalability |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Founder of Eyesea Green Ltd alumna Dr. Anna-Maria Kypraiou is at the forefront of developing technologies aimed at reducing carbon emissions while enhancing living standards. |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Cofounder of Oltera. He has been working on stem cell models of Neurodegenerative conditions to discover potential therapeutic strategies |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Thing | ✓ | ||||
| Austin Reed |
IntercepTx is working to revolutionise cancer treatment by developing tools to enable cancer prevention therapies - intercepting tumours before they form. Austin is part of the Judge Accelerate programme and completed pre-Accelerate in December 2024 |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Thing | ✓ | ||||
| Thing | ✓ | ||||
| Bioscopic |
Bioscopic is a groundbreaking biotech startup that is tapping into an unexpected source of medical innovation: beneficial bacteria found in infants. These tiny microbes play a crucial role in developing a healthy immune system and fighting diseases from the earliest stages of life |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Bacteria form protective communities called biofilms, where they thrive, and treatments fail. BioTryp Therapeutics is developing novel anti-biofilm therapies to revolutionise how we treat infections, starting with urinary tract infections |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Thing | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Cellestial Health is a pharmacological discovery company protecting the neglected half of the brain composed of astrocytes - to stop the progression of Parkinson's disease from the time of diagnosis |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| clock.bio aims to extend and improve quality of life by reversing the harmful effects of time in our cells, harnessing the regenerative capabilities of human pluripotent stem cells |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| People | ✓ | ||||
| People | ✓ | ||||
| Ethan Waisberg is an Academic Foundation Programme Doctor at Cambridge, member of NASA's Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Working Group and leads AngioGenius, a start-up developing an app for home eye disease detection |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| People | ✓ | ||||
| Thing | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Thing | ✓ | ||||
| Evoralis pioneers enzyme technology to break down textiles and plastics into reusable building blocks, transforming polyester, nylon, and more, even tough blended fibres, accelerating a truly circular economy |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Georgina Leadley |
PhD student at Cambridge researching non-invasive brain imaging using NIRS and DOT for applications in newborns with brain injuries and people with Alzheimer's. Background in Physics and Biomedical Engineering, with extensive laboratory and software developing experience |
People | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Goitseone Thamae |
People | ✓ | |||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Thing | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| HEAVENS, Ethicronics' flagship software solution, ensures 100% electronics products hardware integrity and authenticity down to nanometer scale, segment and product agnostic, supported by leading funding authorities and world leading partners |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Thing | ✓ | ||||
| iBoxit |
iBoxit offers sustainable and carbon-negative packaging and logistical solutions, made entirely from natural and waste materials |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Infiniti Recycling Ltd is building the world's first carbon-negative closed-loop battery recycling system, creating low-impact active materials for new batteries from waste streams |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| People | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| We specialise in precision epigenetics to provide efficient cellular reprogramming solutions, offering customized cells for research, therapeutic, and regenerative medicine |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| JoltSynSor |
Company | ✓ | |||
| Founder of Peter, a device initially developed for his father to help him - and millions of others with Parkinson’s Disease - regain their mobility and walk confidently again |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Journey Lens™ is more than just smart glasses—it’s like a fitness tracker for your focus. Just as wearables track your heart rate, Journey Lens uses biosensors to monitor your attention and help you stay in control |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| We produce a material that converts unused sunlight to light used for photosynthesis, spray coatable on greenhouses or for incorporation in polytunnel films, for a 20% increase in crop-yield |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Founder of LYEONS Neurotech and Charco Neurotech, specialising in innovating life-enhancing solutions for people with long-term, medical, and neurological conditions. Experienced in neuromodulation, sensory modulation, user-centered design, and advancing brain health innovations globally |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Luke aims to accelerate decarbonisation. Just Decarbonise uses his PhD research to drastically reduce the data required for accurate carbon emissions reporting. This enables low-cost and accurate decarbonisation strategies |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| People | ✓ | ||||
| Nanomation's patented technology makes it possible for the semiconductor industry to manufacture with nanomaterials for the first time, paving the way for faster, more powerful, and more efficient chips |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| NanoPrint Innovations specialises in advanced thin-film deposition technology. We provide high-speed, vacuum-free deposition systems for industrial and research use, enhancing solar cell efficiency and enabling scalable, cost-effective solar and electronics production |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Thing | ✓ | ||||
| Thing | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| OutSee is a deep TechBio company exploiting our innovative computational approach to genomics for drug target discovery and precision medicine, extracting value from genomics datasets beyond the state-of-the-art |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Ping Lin is a Gates Cambridge Scholar at the University of Cambridge, whose PhD research focuses on synthetic medical image generation for adaptive cancer radiotherapy. He has been awarded multiple grants to translate this technology into clinical use |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Prospectral has designed a new approach to spectral imaging and is building a technology to empower companies with dramatically lower-cost, more compact, and less complex cameras for gathering the data required to detect and analyse materials |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Raifa’s pioneering research in energy policy contributes to developing low-carbon hydrogen value chains in the GCC region—a sustainable focus that’s driving innovations in Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar |
People | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| The world's first zero-emissions cement has been invented in Cambridge. The new cement is made in a virtuous recycling loop that eliminates the emissions of cement production, saves raw materials, and reduces the emissions needed to make lime-flux |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| People | ✓ | ||||
| People | ✓ | ||||
| People | ✓ | ||||
| Thing | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Thing | ✓ | ||||
| The SenS2 Hub from Supersense Technologies is an at-home monitoring service that protects the privacy and independence for people with dementia and makes caring easier for families |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| We help our clients build better defences against financial crime by translating financial crime intelligence into data resources with our simulation and synthetic data engine Synthetizor® |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| Neurodegenerative diseases affect more than 50 million people worldwide and are now the leading cause of death for both men and women in the UK. These diseases, which include Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s, are caused by protein aggregation inside cells. TRIMTECH’s unique technology targets and degrades aggregated proteins, without affecting non-aggregated forms, offering a solution that is both potent and offers outstanding safety |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| At Trismik, we’re focused on solving a key challenge: how do you efficiently and effectively test LLMs to ensure they behave as expected, accurately, without hallucination, and aligned with societal values? |
Company | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Thing | ✓ | ||||
| Company | ✓ | ||||
| VyperCore |
VyperCore's unprecedented technology offers up to 80% power reduction, with five-fold, memory safe, acceleration of future data centre server class managed-language applications across a vast spectrum of industries |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Integrated photonics is used for energy-efficient communications for AI and data centres, rapid diagnostic tools, on-chip lidar, and quantum technologies. Wave Photonics is building design technology to enable and accelerate the development, mass production and adoption of this technology |
Thing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Company | ✓ |


