68. Air Aware Labs Air pollution kills. Air Aware Labs provides personalised air quality insights to arm people with the information they need to protect their health. Written by Helena Young Sponsored by Sage Published on January 12, 2026 About the Startups 100 Now in its 18th year, the Startups 100 is the definitive list of the most promising new UK businesses. There's no fee for entry or for inclusion in our index. The Startups team of new business experts judge all our top 100 entrants in collaboration with specialist industry consultants. See our guide to this year’s hottest new businesses and most exceptional founders in the complete 2026 Startups 100 index. Founders: Louise Thomas, Will Hicks, Sacha Manson-Smith and Dan HarrisYear founded: 2024Website: airawarelabs.comIt was every parent’s nightmare. Standing outside of their child’s primary school with a handheld monitor measuring air pollution, and seeing the results, but knowing that the data wasn’t enough to compel action.One thing it did compel, though, was the founders of the London-based Air Aware Labs to kickstart their venture – a platform to give personalised health insights with air pollution data.As the team explains, “air pollution data isn’t personalised so people can’t protect their health. It is the largest environmental threat to health, yet the data is overly generalised so it doesn’t help people understand something as simple as the air they breathe.”The statistics are terrifying. The founders quote the State of Global Air Report, which details that there are eight million deaths worldwide each year; and 36,000 in the UK. They knew that they needed to act. But the team admit they were warned that getting investors on board would be impossible. “We were told that air pollution was uninvestable”, they relay.Thankfully, persistence and a (slow) growing awareness of the health impact of air pollution meant they eventually raised an over-subscribed pre-seed round early last year.Education is a large part of their work as each meeting with a B2B partner is a chance to talk about the impact of pollution. The team has also written four blogs with the World Economic Forum and has forged a partnership with the World Economic Forum Clean Air Alliance – which is more than 20 major corporations committed to reducing the impact of air pollution. Other partnerships include Global Sustainable Sport and Walk Wheel Cycle Trust (formerly Sustrans), the active travel charity.The venture’s app, AirTrack, is today widely used by outdoors enthusiasts to get detailed insights into air pollution exposure and now has 2,200 users with minimal marketing spend.The team now works with an increasing number of businesses; but it has its sights on becoming the leading environmental health company globally. The ultimate aim is preventing hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide; and it is well on this path.View the full Startups 100 Index for 20261. Omnea2. HIVED3. MAGIC AI4. OXCCU5. Lightyear6. Neuranics 7. Hormona8. Burbank9. Better Dairy 10. Lenkie Technologies11. Userled12. Hoxton Farms13. Rensair14. PulpaTronics15. TradeKart16. 32Co17. Carmoola18. cheqd19. Sightline Analytics20. Adamo Foods21. Bold Bean Co22. Beams Renovation 23. Pan Galactic24. Capi Money25. Spotted Zebra26. ANTHROTEK 27. Unravel28. Perci Health29. Untap Health30. Hair Syrup31. Connect Earth 32. spacebands 33. Unfabled34. Lightning Reach35. STOCKED36. Embeddable37. XR Therapeutics38. Literal Labs39. Scooch40. Openr41. Fibe Limited42. Inicio AI43. Peachies44. Better Nature 45. Ctrl Alt46. Resting Reef47. Nila48. ROXFIT49. Finmile50. NavLive51. Volunteero52. Inntelo AI53. Zonova54. A&B Smart Materials55. Ethicronics56. Treeapp57. kennek58. Soil Benchmark59. Vox Aeris60. Asan Cup61. Nuuri62. Mindstone63. MYNDUP64. Enbiosis Biotechnology65. JUX Food66. Danu Robotics67. Wylde Market68. Air Aware Labs69. Mimicrete Ltd70. ALYVE71. Happl72. Living Things73. Grub Club Pets74. Mealia75. PetProov76. Lylo Products77. Chest78. ZIM Connections79. Uptime Labs80. Teal81. Zero Fintech82. Micro Thermal Energy 83. Kanjo 84. Merlin Cloud85. My Skin Feels86. Eleria87. Cashblack88. RevvedUp89. Cosysense90. SuperFi91. Loom92. Legacy Compass93. Meshed94. SWURF95. Main Squeeze96. Sampl Technologies97. Over the Moo98. Pioneering People99. Bikebook100. Recondition Share this post facebook twitter linkedin Tags 2026 Written by: Helena Young Deputy Editor Helena is Deputy Editor at Startups. She oversees all news and supporting content on Startups, and is also the author of the weekly Startups email newsletter, delivering must-know SME updates straight to their inbox. From interviewing Wetherspoon's boss Tim Martin to spotting data-led working from home trends, her insight has been featured by major trade publications including the ICAEW, and news outlets like the BBC, ITV News, Daily Express, and HuffPost UK. With a background in PR and marketing, Helena is particularly passionate about giving early-stage startups a platform to boost their brands. That's one reason she manages the Startups 100 Index, our annual ranking of new UK businesses. Sponsored by: Sage Startups 100 Index Sponsor 2026 Sage exists to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive, starting with the millions of Small and Mid-Sized Businesses served by us, our partners and accountants. Customers trust our finance, HR and payroll software to make work and money flow. By digitising business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, banks and governments, our digital network connects SMBs, removing friction and delivering insights. Knocking down barriers also means we use our time, technology and experience to tackle digital inequality, economic inequality and the climate crisis.