AXA Startup Angel 2026 winners: umbrella and cycling brands share £25,000 prizes

The AXA Startup Angel 2026 winners have been revealed, with SOAKED Umbrellas and Vistella Cycling each taking home £25,000 at an awards night held on 10 September in central London. Four runners-up also received a package of media support and mentoring, while a separate People’s Choice award went to a fifth entrant.

The AXA Startup Angel competition, run in partnership with The Standard, is an annual search for promising new UK businesses. Winners receive not only a cash prize but a year of business insurance from AXA and mentoring from the AXA Startup Angels: Raphael Sofoluke, Henry Firth, Ian Theasby and Izzy Obeng.

AXA Startup Angel 2026 winners: who took the top prizes?

Megan Oliver, founder of SOAKED Umbrellas, was one of the two main prize winners. Based in Manchester, SOAKED makes durable umbrellas from recycled materials, with an explicit goal of reducing waste. ‘This feels amazing. I’m literally buzzing,’ Oliver said after the announcement. ‘We’ve been going for 18 months and have had amazing progress, but it’s been really slow and considered. This win will give us the confidence to take a couple more risks.’ Oliver added that she hopes the prize will help get people thinking about how many umbrellas they buy and where those umbrellas end up.

The second main prize went to David Boadu, founder of Vistella Cycling, a cycling safety brand aimed at making visibility straightforward for everyday riders. According to The OUUT, Boadu is a British-Ghanaian entrepreneur whose idea for reflective cyclewear originated during a university project, prompted by news reports of cycling casualties. ‘I’m actually blown away, as this is such a big accomplishment,’ he said.

Vistella’s current range includes reflective gloves and backpacks. Boadu told The OUUT that he plans to expand the line with a reflective jacket, and his ambition is for those three products to establish Vistella as the go-to reflective cycling safety brand. The prize money, he said, arrives at a well-timed moment: ‘I’ve been testing lots of different platforms and channels, and I think I’ve just figured out what works. It’s the perfect time to double down on that and scale [up].’

The runners-up: four more businesses to watch

Christy Llewellyn, founder of Loste, was among the four runners-up. Loste makes premium, reusable false nails designed to give salon-quality results at home, with sustainability built into the proposition. Llewellyn said she is looking to grow into retail and expand the product range, adding: ‘Hopefully, lots of The Standard’s readers will be wearing our nails soon!’

Mi Code, co-founded by James Ohene-Djan and Mark Buzza, is a digital health platform that gives people easy but secure access to their medical data and key contacts in an emergency. Ohene-Djan described the runner-up placing as giving him a sense that ‘there’s a future for the business’, while Buzza said the result would provide fresh impetus to keep the platform growing.

Gracie Broom, founder of Reporti, has built a crowd safety app that lets event attendees discreetly report safety incidents in real time. Broom said she would like Reporti rolled out across major UK festivals and stadia, and explained that the mentoring and media support she gains as a runner-up will help build on early momentum: ‘We’ve got the product; we’ve pilot tested it; we’ve got the first few customers.’

The fourth runner-up, Reporti, sat alongside another business in this category: Skill Bloom, which took the People’s Choice award. Eniola Taiwo, founder of Skill Bloom, has developed an app that enables neurodivergent children to practise real-life social situations through interactive scenarios. Taiwo said the recognition would bring visibility to a project she has been developing alone, and that her goal is for the app to be available to all children who need it within a year.

The Financial Conduct Authority regulates AXA Insurance UK plc, which underwrites the business insurance element of the prize package. Full terms and conditions apply to that cover.

For the AXA Startup Angel 2026 winners, the next step is clear: both Oliver and Boadu have stated specific products and markets they intend to pursue with their prize money, and the wider cohort of runners-up will begin their mentoring programmes in the months ahead.