Dyamotech: Catching up with our 2025 Startup Angel winner
As the AXA Startup Angel competition kicks off for 2026, we decided to catch up with one of last year’s top winners, Simone Panella.
Founder of Dyamotech, Simone Panella, impressed the judges and secured one of the top prizes with his startup. Dyamotech is a wearable concussion management system that monitors head impact exposure for schools and sports clubs, using a smart headband and app.
Hi, Simone! It’s a new year since we last caught up! How are things, what has Dyamotech been up to?
It’s been a very intense year. We’ve been focused on refining the technology, improving the hardware and software, and preparing the next generation of our headband for real-world testing. At the same time, we’ve been building relationships with schools and sports organisations to start deploying the product and collecting meaningful data.
Any achievements or highlights you’d like to call out?
A big milestone has been reaching a stage where the technology is ready for live testing with teams. We’ve also had strong interest from schools, which is exciting because it confirms that there’s a real need for better tools to monitor head impacts and support athlete brain health.
What does Dyamotech have planned for 2026?
2026 will be about deployment and data. Our goal is to start rolling out the headbands across schools and clubs, collect large-scale data on head impacts in youth sport, and continue improving the platform so coaches and organisations can better understand and manage athlete safety.
As part of your prize package from last year’s win, you received mentoring from the Angels. How did that go? Did you have a particular focus for the sessions?
The mentoring sessions were extremely valuable. We mainly focused on fundraising strategy, go-to-market planning, and how to scale the business while staying focused on our long-term vision of building the largest dataset on youth athlete brain health.
How has winning last year’s competition impacted Dyamotech’s journey?
Winning the AXA Startup Angel competition has been a significant catalyst for our growth. The exposure, credibility, and support have opened doors to new partnerships and accelerated our development process.
For anyone who’s thinking of applying to this year’s AXA Startup Angel competition, what would you say?
I’d absolutely encourage them to apply. It’s a fantastic opportunity not only because of the funding, but also because of the exposure, mentorship, and network you gain access to.
With the £25,000 cash prize, how have you used this so far?
We’ve mainly used the funding to continue developing the technology, particularly improving the hardware and software platform and to support the testing and validation phase of the product.
Visit our hub to find out more about the competition and how to enter!
The AXA Startup Angel competition is back, and we’re looking across the UK for this year’s standout business idea! Do you have a great startup idea, or have you recently started your small business and could use a boost? This could be your chance!
You can also find more about what our other top winner from last year, Main Squeeze, has been up to here!