2025 Award Winners & Finalists

Accelerator of the Year

Recognising the accelerator with the most dynamic and innovative programme of support for early stage founders.

WINNER

Sponsored by

FINALISTS

Angel Investor of the Year

Recognising the most active and impactful angel investor backing start-up and early stage UK businesses, bringing not only vital risk capital, but significant added value to support the growth and success of their portfolio.

WINNERS

Amir & Claire Nooriala

Sponsored by

FINALISTS

Dorothy Chou

Richard Laverick

Simon Bell

Carmel Rafaeli

Nicholas Lenz

Suzanne Donovan

Amir & Claire Nooriala

Angel Group of the Year

Recognising the most active and impactful angel group in the UK, making not only a significant number of investments during the past year, but bringing strong added value to support the growth and success of their portfolio.

WINNERS

Rising Star

Sponsored by

Barclays Demo Directory 

FINALISTS

Best Investment in Sustainable Innovation

Recognising an early-stage business that has accessed equity investment to develop an innovative solution to the challenges of sustainability.

WINNERS

Backed by Ascension, Lower Carbon Capital, Extantia Capital, Inditex S.A., Amadeus Capital Partners, BoxGroup & individual investors

Sponsored by

FINALISTS

Backed by Ascension Ventures, Baltic Ventures, Praetura Ventures, E.ON Innovation Funding, DESNZ Grants

Backed by Innovate UK, Low Carbon Innovation Fund, Amadeus, Deep Tech Labs + individual investors

Backed by Eos Advisory, Progress Tech Transfer, PI-NB, CDP Ventures Capital, Paragon Ventures

Backed by Seedcamp & individual investors

Backed by Ascension Ventures, CrowdCube, Oval Hamilton Investment Group, CIO Investments Monaco & PAL Advisory

Backed by Par Equity, BBI, Aer Ventures, GMCA, and the University of Manchester.  

Backed by etsaW Ventures& South East Angels

Backed by Lower Carbon Capital, Extantia Capital, Inditex S.A., Amadeus Capital Partners, Ascension, BoxGroup & individual investors

Best Legal Team for Early Stage Deals

Recognising the legal firm that is making a significant impact on the ecosystem during the past year, both through actively supporting angel and early stage investment deals and bringing real added value to the investment process.

WINNERS

Sponsored by

FINALISTS

Best Woman-Led Investment in Innovation

This Award recognises the role taken by a woman investor in backing a highly innovative growth-focused business and who has brought not only risk capital, but significant added value to support the further growth and scale of the business. Both the Female investor(s) and entrepreneur are recognised and awarded.

WINNERS

Rachel Ashley’s investment in Polytag Ltd
Founded by Alice Rackley

Supported by

FINALISTS

Suzanne Donovan’s investment in The Bettii Pod
Founded by Elaine Galston

Danielle Dixon’s investment in BindEthics
Founded by Victoria Garcia

Rachel Ashley’s investment in Polytag Ltd
Founded by Alice Rackley

Hazel Savage’s investment in un:hurd
Founded by Alex Brees

Tatum Getty’s investment in Daye
Founded by Valentina Milanova

Emma Steele’s investment in Linq
Founded by Toby & James Bradshaw

Deep Tech Investment of the Year

Recognising the investors and founders that are pioneering deep technologies like AI, machine learning, IoT and robotics to achieve fundamental breakthroughs to global challenges.

WINNERS

Backed by Lifted Ventures, The Forestry Commission, Innovate UK, University of Birmingham & Individual investors

Sponsored by

FINALISTS

Backed by: SFC Capital, Sparx, Deeptech Labs, London Co-Investment Fund & individual investors

Backed by: Innovate UK,University of Birmingham Accelerator & individual investors

Backed by: Par Equity, BBI, Aer Ventures, GMCA, and the University of Manchester. 

Backed by: ACF Investors, Cambridge Angels, the Royal Academy of Engineering & individual investors

Backed by: Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of the UK (HBSAA UK), NPL, Akash Walia & other individual investors.

Backed by: Eos Advisory, SIS Ventures, University of Strathclyde, Norcliffe Capital, Scottish Enterprise, Mercia Asset Management,  the Investment Fund for Scotland, & Macmillan Cancer Support.

Backed by: Calm Storm VC, StartUp Health, Deeptech Labs, SFC Capital, Finance Yorkshire, Syndicate Room, Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of the UK (HBSAA UK), Akash Walia, Michelle Tempest, Dr Chris Kelly,  Stephen Bullock & other individual investors.

Exit of the Year

Recognising the most exciting exit by an early stage investor in the last 12 months as a result of backing an innovating UK entrepreneur.

WINNERS

Backed by AI Seed Fund and Sistema Venture Capital

Sponsored by

FINALISTS

Backed by Bethnal Green Ventures, Development Bank Wales, WealthClub and individual investors

Backed by Haatch and Endeavour Ventures

Backed by Mike Ashworth, Pete Lockett, Stéphane Berset, & Bish Smeir

Backed by AI Seed, Fly Ventures, Redalpine, Spark Capital & Highland Europe.

Backed by AI Seed Fund and Sistema Venture Capital

Backed by SFC Capital, EdenBase, GPOS Investments, British Business Bank, Pembroke VCT, SidebySide, Ingenii VC, and individual investors.

Hard Tech Investment of the Year

Recognising the founders and early stage investors whose disruptive innovations in research-intensive and capital-intensive sectors such as health & life sciences, engineering and manufacturing are driving the future economy

WINNERS

Backed by IQ Capital, Plural, Parkwalk, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, & Individual Investors

Sponsored by

FINALISTS

Backed by Lifted Ventures, The Forestry Commission, Innovate UK, University of Birmingham & Individual investors

Backed by South East Angels, Bionexus LLC, Innovate UK, & individual investors

Backed by SFC Capital, Mercia Ventures & Individual Investors

Backed by Origin Syndicate, ACF Investors, Chris Brady and Wren

Backed by TRICAPITAL Angels, Scottish Enterprise, & UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund (UKI2S)

Backed by IQ Capital, Plural, Parkwalk, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, & Individual Investors

High Growth Woman Founder of the Year

Recognising the exceptional leadership of a woman founder or co-founder of a high growth business.

WINNER

Reeva Misra

FINALISTS

Founded by

Dr Chen Mao Davies

Founded by

Ella Rauen-Prestes

Founded by

Jenny Barnett

Founded by

Chloe Smith

Founded by

Anna Bilych

Founded by

Reeva Misra

Founded by

Elaine Harding

Investment in Diversity Champion

Recognising a key individual in the UK early-stage investment ecosystem that is taking a leadership role in breaking down barriers for access to equity investment  for founders from diverse backgrounds, including women founders, Black and ethnic minority founders, or other overlooked groups.

WINNER

Emmie Faust

Sponsored by

FINALISTS

Emmie Faust

Rupa Popat

Denise McQuaid

Dr Pamela Walker Geddes

Carol Hall

Dorothy Chou

Hazel Savage

Most Active Investor in the Regions

Recognising the most active and impactful investor in leading entrepreneurs from across the UK’s regions.

WINNERS

FINALISTS

Scale Up Team of the Year

Recognising the most active and dynamic entrepreneurial team who, through strong leadership and teamwork, have achieved fast growth and scale of their highly innovative business.

WINNERS

Backed by
Haatch, SFC Capital, Side-By-Side, Wealth Club & individual investors

Sponsored by

FINALISTS

Backed by Pembroke VCT, Haatch Ventures, Brick Capital, & individual investors

Backed by
Haatch, SFC Capital, Side-By-Side, Wealth Club & individual investors

Backed by
ACF Investors, Triple Point, Samaipata, Stage 2 Capital, Vulpes, & individual investors

Seed VC of the Year

Recognising the most active and impactful early stage fund in the UK, bringing investment and support to build and scale their investee businesses.

WINNERS

Sponsored by

FINALISTS