After a very busy year for the angel market in the UK, Modwenna Rees-Mogg asks what there is to look forward to in 2022?

BGF has made a £8 million investment in Operational Solutions Ltd (OSL), a leading counter drone technologies business based in Reading.

OSL actively supports major international airports, national infrastructure projects and defence markets with solutions to the growing challenges posed by the increasing prevalence of unmanned aircraft systems (“UAS” or “drones”) in airspaces around the world.

Circularity Capital has continued to build its portfolio of European growth-stage businesses enabling the circular economy, with an £8m investment in P2i – a global leader in liquid repellent nanotechnology products. 

Founded in 2004, P2i works with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to enhance devices by making them liquid resistant, providing waterproof protection, improving their reliability and enabling them to survive liquid exposure from everyday accidents. P2i’s range of innovative coating solutions delivers up to IPX8 lifetime protection without the need for mechanical seals or gaskets.  

The national SPRINT (SPace Research and Innovation Network for Technology) business support programme has been awarded additional funding worth £200,000 from the UK Space Agency to extend its reach to all UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

Atom Learning, the fast-growth adaptive learning edtech platform, announces that it has raised $25m in a Series A round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.

SoftBank Vision Fund 2 will become the only private investor in Atom Learning, which since launching in 2018 has grown without external funding and is already profitable.

The Startup Race Accelerator has launched a call for submissions for its hackathon, a new opportunity in advance of its £10,000 Startup Race, which kicks off in early February 2022. Aspiring Entrepreneurs can access its free accelerator programme on Leanstack to prepare for the opportunity to recruit fellow co-founders during The Startup Race’s Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Hackathon and start growth hacking as a team to win a £10,000 cash prize.

Autentica, a disruptive tech start-up has raised over £150,000 of investment – and is set to make 20 key hires by the end of 2022 – in a bid to become the ‘Amazon of the global additive manufacturing sector’ and transform the archaic spare parts industry.

The company  has developed the first blockchain-powered, AI-based digital supply chain for spare parts and – with private investors matching a £76,000 Innovate UK grant – is set to move from proof-of-concept to full launch by March 2022.

gigl, a video-based job platform on a mission to solve the UK hospitality staffing shortage, has closed a $1.5m round.

gigl’s mobile and video first platform enables employers to combine the application process, telephone screening and 1st round interview into a 60-second video. 

Salisbury-based LENA Space, an SME chemical rocket propulsion product development company, has signed up to the national SPRINT (SPace Research and Innovation Network for Technology) business support programme.

Glucose Republic (GR) has raised a £500,000 investment round from leading equity investors Deepbridge Capital and the Development Bank of Wales, to build the world’s first system focused on what  impact food has upon us.

On-demand laundry service provider, Oxwash, which closed a £500,000 crowdfunding capital raise last month, has announced that they are aiming for net zero carbon emissions by 2023, in line with the UK government’s ambition to be carbon neutral by 2050.

Leading digital training solutions provider, WELL Training (WELL), has secured £625,000 funding from Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) West Midlands Equity Fund, managed by Midven, part of the Future Planet Capital Group, to drive its growth strategy in two main areas - increasing apprenticeship training capacity and expanding the use of its online digital training platform.