50. NavLive Mistakes in capturing building data cost big money. NavLive brings together AI, LiDAR, and high-resolution imagery for accurate, speedier surveying. 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: Chris Davison and Dr David WisthYear founded: 2022Website: navlive.aiThe building industry has long suffered from a time-consuming – and therefore costly – bottleneck. Surveyors have to spend days on sites making measurements to create an accurate digital representation of a building. Even then, there are often inaccuracies that impact the project after construction has started.NavLive set out to solve this issue. Its founders, Chris Davison and Dr David Wisth, explain that they realised that using AI, LiDAR and high-resolution imagery, it was possible to capture an entire building simply by walking through it.The research started at the Oxford Robotics Institute at the University of Oxford and focussed on how to combine these technologies in one device. They cracked it with a robust, lightweight device that can be both handheld or mounted on a robot.As The Oxford Trust reported, “an exercise that may take a day or more to complete with standard mapping equipment can be completed within 15 to 30 minutes”. The data is also processed “on device” so firms don’t need to rely on the Cloud.NavLive was spun out in 2022 and the time and cost savings immediately attracted a strong base of early customers. This is in no small part because the building industry is facing spiralling materials costs and the impending changes to zero-hours contracts are sure to have an impact on bottom lines.The venture lists architectural firms like AE Works and office outfitting specialist BW, among its clients. It has recently closed a £3.3m seed round led by Oxford Science Enterprises. The team was also shortlisted for the Trimble 0-60 challenge, which recognises innovative startups transforming the construction and surveying industry.The team plans to integrate NavLive in autonomous robots and drones in the future to revolutionise the building industry worldwide.NavLive says, “combined with building information modelling and digital twin integration, NavLive will be a core tool for the future of digital construction”.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.