#21toWatch 2026 Winners Revealed: Deeptech Founders Tackling Society’s Toughest Health and Climate Challenges

By Tech East 4 minute read

The #21toWatch Top21.2026 winners were announced at an awards ceremony at The Glasshouse innovation hub in Cambridge.

These annual, future‑focused awards spotlight the next generation of high‑potential founders and ambitious deeptech ventures emerging from Cambridge and the East of England.

This year’s winners reflect Cambridge’s signature strength in deeptech, with founders taking on some of society’s most persistent challenges across health, climate, industry and AI.

Many of the winning companies are addressing long‑overlooked health issues—including OCD, endometriosis, stroke recovery, neurodegeneration, and maternal‑fetal health. Through combinations of engineering, AI, precision biology, diagnostics and continuous monitoring technologies, this year’s founders are unlocking new clinical possibilities.

The list also features ventures pushing the boundaries of climate technology, industrial decarbonisation, clean energy systems, next‑generation materials, frontier AI integrity, and bioengineering.

Across the board, these ventures demonstrate a shift towards platform technologies capable of transforming multiple sectors while strengthening the resilience, efficiency and intelligence of modern systems.

#21 Companies

Cyclana Bio

An interdisciplinary team applying computational and tissue‑level biology to target endometriosis by focusing on the extracellular matrix — a previously underexplored driver of the disease.

FactTrace
Building the “truth layer” for the AI era — infrastructure that preserves meaning and integrity as language moves between humans, systems and machines.

Loop52
A circular plastics platform for the automotive sector, enabling dismantlers, recyclers and OEMs to meet EU recycled‑content regulations at industrial scale.

Protalea Bio
Developing therapies that halt the progression of cancer and neurodegeneration by targeting pre‑disease inflammation.

Serenatis Bio
Creating three precision‑medicine drug candidates for OCD, each targeting specific glutamate and dopamine pathways to meet a major unmet clinical need.

Shuffle Energy
Providing the software layer that connects domestic electric heating systems to energy markets, cutting electric heating costs by 30–60%.

SomNyx
Textile‑based, AI‑powered sleep wearable that delivers clinical‑grade monitoring from hospital to home, supporting earlier diagnosis of neurological conditions.

#21 People

Aliki Marina Tsopelakou, CLEAR‑Methane

Leading photochemical filtration technologies to improve indoor air quality while reducing atmospheric methane levels.

Callon Peate, GreenMixes
Co‑founder of a carbon‑negative cement admixture offering the most scalable route to fully decarbonising concrete.

Gemma Swan, University of Cambridge
Developed a highly efficient plant transfection mechanism to enable large‑scale protein production in plant systems.

Mila (Mahlaqua) Noor
Gates Cambridge alumna investigating cytomegalovirus placental transmission to develop antiviral strategies for better maternal‑fetal health.

Omer Nivron, Ötzi
Co‑founder of a physics‑informed AI model generating highly accurate, cost‑effective climate‑risk forecasts to 2050.

Osarenkhoe Ogbeide, Obasense
Co‑leading development of ultra‑sensitive, low‑cost gas‑detection sensors using advanced nanomaterials.

Sara AlMahri, Mina AI
Co‑founder building an AI execution layer for supply chains, shifting operations from passive information to active intelligence.

#21 Innovations

Cambridge Atomworks

Micro‑reactor nuclear fission technology providing reliable power for off‑grid situations.

HotHouse Therapeutics
Using plant bioengineering and AI‑driven platforms (BotanAI, BotanBio) to design novel molecules for drug discovery.

Kodiaq Technologies
Delivering a drop‑in solution for redox flow batteries, enabling scalable long‑duration energy storage.

Memorify Technologies
A neuroscience‑led, emotionally intelligent memory platform that automatically curates and resurfaces personal memories.

Myonerv
A wearable medical device enabling stroke patients with upper‑limb paralysis to regain real‑time hand control.

NANOPLUME
Scaling manufacture of the world’s lightest, thinnest insulating biomaterial for radical energy and space efficiency.

Polytecks
A Cambridge spin‑out developing high‑density e‑textile electrode arrays for next‑gen healthcare diagnostics.

Eight Years of Impact

Now in its eighth year, #21toWatch is widely recognised as a credible marker of entrepreneurial excellence, highlighting founders and technologies with the potential to scale and deliver long‑term impact.

The awards are organised by cofinitive, part of Cambridge Management Consulting, and supported by major sponsors within the Cambridge innovation ecosystem.

Tim Passingham, Chairman, Cambridge Management Consulting:

“We’re now seeing founders who not only advance frontier science but design companies with real‑world deployment in mind from day one. Cambridge’s next wave of deeptech is set to build enduring, scalable businesses.”

Passingham highlighted recent success stories from previous winners, including:

  • Paragraf (Top21.2019) — raised $55m
  • Nu Quantum (Top21.2020) — raised $60m
  • Xampla (Top21.2020) — raised $10m and secured major commercial traction
  • BeyondMath (Top21.2024) — recently closed a $10m Seed extension

Across eight years, total publicised funding (excluding this year’s winners, PE funding, and unicorn CMR Surgical) now stands at £721,267,499.

Chris Keen, Partner & Head of Emerging Companies, Mishcon de Reya:

“We work alongside founders every day as they turn bold ideas into real‑world impact. Supporting this community of innovators is central to what we do.”