Press Release: Unloq raises $1.2m to help businesses predict what happens next and act on it

Unloq, a Birmingham-based AI company helping businesses make better strategic decisions, has raised $1.2m to accelerate the development of its decision intelligence platform.

The round was led by the West Midlands Co-Investment Fund (WMCO), with backing from Future Planet Capital Regional, Mercia Ventures and Haatch.

Founded by Dr Yiannis Maos MBE (20 years in AI) and Satyen Fakey (Oxford MBA who has built and exited tech startups), Unloq is building AI software that helps organisations move beyond dashboards and retrospective reporting. Its platform connects internal business data with external market signals to predict likely outcomes, recommend practical actions and help leadership teams improve performance with greater confidence.

The company only started trading within the past 12 months and has already worked with a number of global organisations to apply AI and decision intelligence inside real operating models. Its early work has focused on helping businesses identify where AI can deliver measurable value, then building governed tools that can be used safely by teams across the organisation.

Unloq’s approach is built around one principle: AI should sharpen human judgement. Its platform applies prescriptive intelligence to recommend what to do next, test those recommendations against a company’s own goals and constraints, and improve as it learns from real outcomes.

Recognising Unloq’s potential to solve the emerging gap created by the failure of traditional corporate strategy to scale raw AI capabilities with its decision-intelligence technology, this latest round of investment will allow the company to spearhead the transition to agile, high-accuracy next-generation operations.

As part of the growth plan, Unloq will be heavily investing in product engineering and expanding its go-to-market team with the hire of a dedicated GTM Manager to scale enterprise adoption.

Dr Yiannis Maos MBE, co-founder and CEO of Unloq, said:

“Most businesses are surrounded by data, but still rely on backward-looking reports to make decisions about the future. We started Unloq to change that. Our ambition is to help organisations predict what is likely to happen next, understand why, and take the right action at the right time.

“We are proud to be building from Birmingham with global ambitions. The West Midlands has the talent, industrial base and entrepreneurial energy to produce world-class AI companies, and this investment gives us the platform to prove that.”

Satyen Fakey, co-founder and CTO of Unloq, said:

“I have watched plenty of AI pilots impress a room and then stall in procurement, because no one could defend the recommendation to a board or a regulator. That gap, between a smart LLM response and an accountable decision, is the real problem worth solving.

"What we are building next is the prescriptive layer: a governed system that recommends the action, checks it against your own constraints and policies, and measures the ROI, while the decision stays with the people responsible for it. Get that right and strategy stops being a quarterly guess on a dashboard. It becomes something you can engineer."

Rupert Lyle, Investment Director at Future Planet Capital Regional and Fund Principal of WMCO said:

“Unloq is tackling a critical challenge for modern organisations: how to turn growing volumes of data and AI capability into clear, accountable decisions that drive performance. Yiannis and Satyen bring a powerful combination of ecosystem leadership, technical expertise and commercial experience, and have already demonstrated strong early traction with customers.

“For WMEC, this investment reflects our commitment to backing high-potential technology businesses building from the West Midlands. With its deep talent base, global connectivity and industrial strength, the region is well positioned to produce category-defining AI companies, and we are excited to support Unloq as it scales its platform from here to international markets.”

Fred Soneya, Co-founder and Partner at Haatch, said:

“Unloq is exactly the kind of company we like to back: operator-led, commercially grounded, and solving a problem that genuinely matters. Most businesses are still making forward-looking decisions on backward-looking data, and the gap between a clever AI output and an accountable decision is a real and costly one worth closing.

“Yiannis and Satyen bring a rare mix of technical depth and commercial credibility, and they understand that AI only earns its place when it sharpens human judgement rather than replacing it. Backing them continues a track record we’re proud of: supporting outstanding founders well beyond London, with the British Business Bank alongside us.”

The funding will be used to grow Unloq’s product and engineering capability, expand its commercial team, and accelerate development of its Decision Intelligence platform, designed to support AI-enabled growth.

The WMCO was launched by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and the West Midlands Pension Fund to help expand SMEs that offer high-growth potential and the ability to help supercharge the regional economy. Managed by Future Planet Capital Regional, the fund provides innovative SMEs with equity of up to £1 million matched on a 1:1 basis by private co-investment.

Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, said:

“AI is revolutionising the way we do business. By embracing this powerful technology companies can not only stay competitive in fast changing markets but get ahead.

“I’m backing Unloq because their cutting-edge AI platform can help our businesses do just that by giving them the ability to make the right decisions at the right time.

“That means a more productive, high growth economy, something that sits at the very heart of my West Midlands Growth Plan. By using the WMCO to invest in the industries of the future we are driving innovation, jobs and growth.”

Shiventa Sivanesan, Director of Investment Management and Stewardship, said:

“We are pleased to support this investment in Unloq through the West Midlands Co-investment Fund. This is a good example of how disciplined local investment can support regional businesses, while keeping WMPF’s fiduciary duty to scheme members and employers central to our approach.”

Shubham Jaipuria, Investment Manager, Mercia Ventures, said:

"Yiannis and Satyen have a clear vision for how AI can create practical value for businesses. Rather than adding to the noise around AI adoption, they are focused on helping organisations make better decisions with greater confidence and accountability. In a short period of time, they have demonstrated both strong customer demand and an ability to translate complex technology into measurable business outcomes. We are delighted to support them as they continue building Unloq from Birmingham for a global market."

Dr Maos added:

“The companies that win with AI will not be the ones that simply adopt more tools. They will be the ones that embed intelligence into how they plan, decide and act. That is the category we are building for.”

ENDS

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About Unloq

Unloq is a Birmingham-based AI company helping organisations adopt AI safely, strategically and commercially. Its decision intelligence platform combines internal business data, external market signals and governed AI recommendations to help companies predict future outcomes and improve performance.

Founded by Dr Yiannis Maos MBE and Satyen Fakey, Unloq works with organisations to identify high-value AI opportunities, build practical solutions and embed them into real operating models.

About Haatch

Haatch is an operator-led early-stage venture capital firm backing ambitious B2B SaaS companies across the UK. Founded and run by entrepreneurs who have built and exited their own businesses, Haatch invests at both pre seed and seed stage alongside a £52m partnership with the British Business Bank to channel institutional capital to high-potential founders beyond the traditional London hubs. To date, Haatch has raised over £150m and backed more than 150 portfolio companies with a combined enterprise value of over £1bn. Pairing early funding with hands-on operational support, Haatch helps founders turn early traction into scalable, enduring businesses.

About Future Planet Capital:

​​Future Planet Capital is the impact-led, profit-first venture capital firm built to back founders, science and technology benchmarked against the world’s top centres of innovation.  Founded in Britain, but with global outlook and reach, Future Planet invests globally, nationally and regionally and has an unparalleled network and data-driven capability to invest across all stages in companies targeting the global challenges of climate change, education, health, security & sustainable growth. 

Founded in Britain with a global outlook and reach, FPC manages over $450m for public and private investors and has deployed a further $200m of co-investment. It manages the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund, a national seed investment fund backed by UK Research and Innovation, the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology and other public bodies. It is also a major regional investor, managing both the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) for the British Business Bank and the West Midlands Co-Investment Fund (WMCO) for their local combined authority.

For more than 25 years, leading Birmingham-based venture capital firm Future Planet Capital Regional, formerly known as Midven, has been supporting Midlands SMEs, investing more than £90m into the region and raising over £200m co-investment into its portfolio. The firm’s 'more than money' approach helps to build strong and successful companies and support businesses every step of the way. For more information about Future Planet Capital Regional, please visit the website.

About West Midlands Co-Investment Fund:

In March 2023 Future Planet Capital Regional, formerly known as Midven, was appointed the fund manager for the £25m West Midlands Co-Investment Fund. The fund has been set up by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) in partnership with the West Midlands Pension Fund to invest equity of up to £1m in innovative high growth SMEs in the WMCA area. Operating over a 10-year period, the fund will also focus on bringing new private investor money to the region, and using a co-investment model will invest alongside business angels and other private sector investors on a minimum £1 to £1 basis.

About the West Midlands Pension Fund:

The West Midlands Pension Fund provides Local Government Pension Scheme services to over 360,000 members and more than 850 employers across the West Midlands region. It is the second largest LGPS Fund in England and Wales with over £23 billion of assets. Over £9.1 billion of these are invested in the UK in a wide range of assets including infrastructure projects, private equity and property.1

Employers include the seven Local Authorities: Birmingham City Council, Coventry City Council, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, Walsall Council and the City of Wolverhampton Council (who are also the Administering Authority), together with the West Midlands Combined Authority for the seven Constituent Authorities.

The Fund was recognised for its approach to responsible investment and diversity, equity and inclusion in the Local Authority Pension Fund Investment Awards 2025. In 2024 the Fund won awards for its strong governance and investment strategy and in 2023 the Fund won the Investment Innovation Award for its collaboration with the West Midlands Combined Authority to support growth and innovation among new companies and technologies within the region via the new West Midlands Co-Investment Fund.

The Fund has achieved signatory status to the UK Stewardship Code (2020) for the last five years, and has attained accreditations for Pension Administration from PASA, holds Investors in People (GOLD), Customer service excellence and annually undertakes independent benchmarking to inform continuous improvement.

1All figures as at 31 March 2026.