Five Investment-Ready High-Growth Businesses Seeking £225,000–£550,000 to Pitch at Dorset Business Angels’ First Event of 2026
Investors will have the opportunity to hear from five investment-ready, high-growth businesses at Dorset Business Angels’ first pitch event of 2026, taking place on 26 January at the Bournemouth Carlton Hotel. The event will showcase innovative companies seeking between £225,000 and £550,000 in funding, spanning sectors including regulatory water testing, production efficiency, AI-driven services, legal technology, and enterprise data management.
“This event is a great way to kick off 2026,” says Peter Eales, Managing Director at Dorset Business Angels. “The quality of businesses pitching reflects both the pace of innovation we are seeing and the real-world problems founders are solving. From regulatory-grade water testing to enterprise AI data integrity, these companies are addressing urgent market needs. Our ‘Meet the Founder’ session ahead of the pitches remains an integral part of the DBA experience, giving investors that essential chance to connect with entrepreneurs on a personal level and begin building relationships that often underpin successful long-term investments.”
Featured Companies
· Water Testing: Transforming how bacteria in water is detected and managed, delivering laboratory-grade results on site in under 15 minutes. By removing the delays and costs associated with traditional lab testing, the platform supports stronger regulatory compliance for water companies, environmental agencies, and industrial users. With 13 granted patents and four pending, validation from universities, regulators, and water utilities in the UK and North America, and repeat institutional customers already generating revenue, the business is seeking £500,000 to support manufacturing scale-up, regulatory progression, and international expansion.
· Production Line Efficiency: Addressing the billions lost annually through unplanned downtime and poor utilisation, this rapid-deployment, hardware-agnostic factory intelligence platform delivers measurable ROI in weeks. By combining real-time machine data with operational context such as shifts, schedules, and energy usage, it provides manufacturers with a single trusted source of truth. With more than a dozen paying customers, high retention, growing ARR, and double-digit productivity improvements reported shortly after deployment, the company is raising £225,000 to accelerate sales and expand its customer base.
· Voice-First AI: A voice-first AI assistant that the administrative burden faced by tradespeople and small service businesses by enabling users to manage quotes, invoices, scheduling, payments, and tax records entirely by voice. With Making Tax Digital approaching and admin time already costing businesses thousands each year, demand is growing rapidly. The platform has attracted strong early user interest across multiple trades. Founded by experienced entrepreneurs with previous exits, the team is now seeking £550,000 to scale the business.
· AI Data Handling for Lawyers: This legal-tech SaaS platform automates rankings submissions, capability statements, and fee proposals, replacing fragmented manual processes with a single AI-powered system. Law firms benefit from improved quality, consistency, and win rates while significantly reducing time and cost. With dozens of law firms onboarded across multiple jurisdictions, paying customers, and a strategic partnership with Chambers & Partners, the business operates a transparent, scalable pricing model and is focused on accelerating growth.
· Big Data: Addressing a critical enterprise challenge: AI systems operating on inaccurate or fragmented data, this platform enables organisations to audit, correct, and continuously maintain a single, authoritative knowledge source for both AI and human use. Targeting highly regulated sectors such as aviation, utilities, telecoms, and infrastructure, the company is already running paid pilots and advanced commercial discussions. It is seeking £500,000 to further develop the platform and extend its customer base.
Event Format
The event welcomes DBA members, High Net Worth Individuals (HNW), and Sophisticated Investors (SI) interested in investment opportunities. The format supports both individual investments and collaborative syndicates.
Each company will deliver a 10-minute pitch, followed by 10 minutes of Q&A. Investors staying for dinner will enjoy a two-course meal with wine, providing further opportunities to continue discussions and build relationships.
Strong Partnerships
Dorset Business Angels continues to benefit from established partnerships with BCP Council, TC Group, Ellis Jones, and Rathbones. Event sponsor Rathbones will be represented by Tom Rich, who will provide a review of 2025, reflecting on the past year’s developments and offering Rathbones’ perspective on what may lie ahead in 2026.
Registration
Registration is now open for the pitch event. Two ticket types are available, with full details on our Eventbrite page.