AI Investors in Nottingham and the East Midlands (2026): Who Is Backing Early-Stage Startups

Investors backing early-stage AI startups in Nottingham and the wider East Midlands in 2026 include Mercia Ventures, Haatch, Guinness Ventures and Midlands Mindforge, covering pre-seed through to Series A.

Researched and written by Zeeshan Ali at Platvix. Checked on 22 October 2026.

TL;DR

• Who has actually put money into Nottingham recently? Mercia Ventures and Guinness Ventures have both backed companies inside the Nottingham city boundary in the past year.
• Is there anything at pre-seed? Yes. Haatch runs an £8m early-stage fund for companies based in Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham or Nottinghamshire, and it was still investing from that fund in July 2026.
• Why cover the whole East Midlands? Too few investors have a dated Nottingham city deal that also meets the AI test, so deals across Derbyshire and Lincolnshire are included.

Early-stage AI investors in Nottingham and the East Midlands

Mercia Ventures

Runs the Midlands Engine Investment Fund II equity mandate for the East and South East Midlands alongside its own venture funds.

• Invests in: AI and software, consumer, deep tech and life science, at Series A and beyond through its own venture funds. The East Midlands deals below come through a separate mandate, MEIF II Equity, which is open to Midlands businesses in any sector, covers the East and South East Midlands, and backs companies from early traction through to scale-up, whether an established business or a start-up with ambitious plans.
• Cheque size: up to £10m of initial capital from its own funds, and up to £5m through MEIF II Equity, which has also written cheques as small as the £500,000 it put into Neupulse in 2024.
• AI startups backed: Shield Space in Lincoln, which builds autonomous AI guidance systems for satellites, raised £2m in January 2026 in a round led by Mercia Ventures through MEIF II.
• Latest Nottingham deal: Neupulse, a University of Nottingham spinout, raised £3m in February 2026 in a round led by Eos Advisory and MEIF II through Mercia Ventures. That was a follow-on, since MEIF II first backed it with £500,000 in 2024. Mercia has since backed Ambrey Baker in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, which secured £5m on 1 October 2026 with funding from MEIF II through Mercia Ventures.
• Website: merciaventures.co.uk

Haatch

A pre-seed and seed investor with a fund ring-fenced for Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire companies.

• Invests in: pre-seed and seed. Its SEIS fund and EIS fund focus exclusively on B2B SaaS, while its £8m Early Stage Angel Investment Fund works to different criteria, taking companies trading between six and 24 months that are based in Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham or Nottinghamshire.
• Regional fund: the £8m fund launched in May 2024 and was still investing in 2026. In April 2026 Derbyshire welding technology startup StirLight raised £1.25m, including more than £750,000 of pre-seed investment from Haatch Ventures, the British Business Bank, D2N2 and angel investors. In July 2026 robotics software company Kinematic Trees raised £585,000 in pre-seed funding backed by Haatch through its SEIS Fund, the D2N2 Early-Stage Angel Investment Fund and the British Business Bank Syndicate Fund.
• AI startups backed: Vigilant AI.ai, the Derby-headquartered platform behind "AI teammates" designed for regulated businesses, raised £585k in pre-seed funding led by Haatch in November 2025, with the East Midlands Combined County Authority and the British Business Bank.
• Latest deal: Haatch's most recent announced investment is outside the region. In October 2026 it joined a £1.9m round for CoComply, an AI-native external workforce compliance platform based at Alderley Park in Macclesfield, Cheshire. That round was led by Mercia Equity Finance, part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II.
• Website: haatch.com

Guinness Ventures

A Series A investor that led a £3.8m round into a University of Nottingham physics spinout.

• Invests in: Series A companies in business services, healthcare and consumer, through EIS, VCT and SEIS vehicles.
• AI startups backed: Dragonfly AI, a neuroscience-based platform that predicts attention and emotional response to marketing, raised £5m in a round led by 24Haymarket in January 2026, with Guinness Ventures reinvesting alongside Foresight Group.
• Latest Nottingham deal: Cerca Magnetics, a University of Nottingham spinout registered on Nottingham Science and Technology Park, raised £3.8m in a Series A led by Guinness Ventures in April 2026. Its most recent investment overall is in Cambridge, where Qureight closed a $20m Series B for its AI-powered imaging platform in July 2026.
• Website: guinnessventures.com

Midlands Mindforge

A patient capital company set up by eight Midlands universities, the University of Nottingham among them, to back their spinouts.

• Invests in: early-stage science and technology businesses across life sciences and medtech, deep tech and digital technologies including quantum, AI and semiconductors, and clean energy and agri-tech.
• Latest East Midlands deal: it led a seven-figure round in TextureJet, a University of Nottingham spinout based in Ripley, Derbyshire, announced on 29 June 2026, with reinvestment from the University of Nottingham and existing shareholder Foresight Group. Its most recent investment is in the West Midlands, backing University of Birmingham spinout KVector in a £3.8m round announced in September 2026.
• Website: midlandsmindforge.com

Also worth knowing

Eos Advisory co-led the £3m Neupulse round in Nottingham in February 2026, and it makes early-stage investments in science and technology companies, with follow-on investments up to and including Series B. Foresight Group has a Nottingham office, and its £39m Foresight Nottingham Fund was dedicated to supporting smaller companies throughout Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. As appointed fund manager to the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, it invests up to £2m into growing smaller companies predominantly in the East and South East Midlands. Maven Capital Partners offers MEIF II debt finance of £100k to £2m across the East and South East Midlands. Nottingham Technology Ventures manages the University of Nottingham's spinout portfolio and an Invention Fund that co-invests in seed-stage companies raising syndicated rounds.

Other support in the region

Grants matter here. MatAlytics, a University of Nottingham spinout applying physics-based AI to steel manufacturing, was awarded £619,000 by Innovate UK through its Frontier AI programme in August 2026. The East Midlands Combined County Authority secured £20m through the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund in October 2026, with the University of Nottingham leading three of the projects. On the equity side, MEIF II writes up to £5m per company as a public co-investor.

FAQ

Which of these investors says it looks at AI specifically? Mercia Ventures lists AI and software as one of its four focus areas, and Midlands Mindforge names AI within its deep tech and digital technologies theme.

Is there anything for a University of Nottingham spinout at pre-seed? Nottingham Technology Ventures runs an Invention Fund that co-invests in seed-stage spinouts raising syndicated rounds, and Haatch's £8m regional fund is open to Nottingham companies trading for six to 24 months.

How were these investors chosen? Each one has a dated investment in Nottingham or the East Midlands within the last 24 months, invests at pre-seed, seed or Series A, has made a new investment in the last 18 months, and either states an AI focus or has backed an AI company in the last 24 months.

How do I find which Nottingham investors fit my startup? Platvix is an investment intelligence platform for founders. It helps you through your fundraising journey, from analysing your pitch deck to finding the right capital for your startup, including VC firms, angels, accelerators and grants.

Where to go from here

• AI investors in Birmingham, the closest companion guide for a Midlands founder
• AI investors in London
• AI investors in Manchester
• AI investors in Leeds and Yorkshire
• AI investors in the North East
• AI investors in Cambridge
• AI investors in Oxford
• AI investors in Bristol
• AI investors in Edinburgh
• AI investors in Glasgow
• What investors look for in AI startups
• 5 claims investors fact-check in AI pitch decks

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