29. Untap Health Untap Health’s plug-and-play technology can detect pathogens in wastewater before a single person shows symptoms. 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: Dr Claire Trant and Dr Jay BullenYear founded: 2021Website: untaphealth.comNone of us really like to think about what goes on with our sewage. But luckily, Untap Health is thinking about it, and it could be saving lives. This is a startup on a mission to stop disease outbreaks tomorrow by detecting pathogens today.In a post COVID-19 world, most people don’t need to be educated on why infectious diseases are still a modern problem, costing healthcare and agriculture billions every year.But here’s the big issue: we’re only aware of them after symptoms start to spring up and the disease has started to spread. Co-founder Dr Claire Trant decided that society needed a method of spotting harmful bacteria and viruses before someone gets infected, not after.This was the birth of Untap Health, which monitors wastewater to detect traces of disease (“wastewater epidemiology” to the uninitiated). This plug-and-play technology is scalable, and is designed to easily integrate into a building or site’s existing infrastructure.What makes Untap Health unique, and unlike municipal wastewater testing, is that its system is always on-site, providing continuous, non-invasive, real-time testing, without the need to test people – so nobody has to worry about sticking a swab up their nose.This system is helping hospitals, senior living facilities, cruise ships, airports, farms, educational institutions (including Cambridge University and Imperial College London), and many other environments to catch potential outbreaks. According to Untap Health, it can identify disease up to ten days earlier than traditional methods.An early breakthrough came when Untap Health identified norovirus in a community that didn’t even know it was sick. Trant tells us, “that early signal meant protective measures could be put in place immediately – enabling rapid isolation and preventing an outbreak.”Having received support from organisations including Innovate UK, Untap Health is going from strength to strength, and has its sights set on becoming the global standard for real-time disease prevention (with perhaps a third Startups 100 win to boot). For now, we’re thrilled to welcome it back to the Startups 100 Index for the second time.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.