The May 2026 edition of Shaping Business features founders who have backed their conviction with action, investors who are building structural change rather than waiting for it, and insight from Cavendish’s own Beauty & Wellness M&A report.

In this edition:

• Dr. Katie King and Dr. Leonor Teles from BioOrbit have raised £9.8 million claimed to be the largest seed round ever for an in-space manufacturing business to produce pharmaceutical-grade cancer drug crystals in low-Earth orbit.
• Valentina Milanova (Daye) has taken her diagnostic tampon from pitchfest winner to a potential NHS pilot pathway at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, screening for high-risk HPV without a clinic appointment.
• Ana Martins (Froot Pops) built her own London factory, hit £1 million in revenue and secured Morrisons and Ocado listings before closing the brand’s first ever external raise, a £1.1 million seed round backed by Active Partners, Graph Ventures and former Sainsbury’s CEO Justin King.
• Sophie Neall (Good Kynd) turned down a funding offer on instinct after 70 recipe attempts, and her vegan prebiotic chai brand has since been featured in Good Housekeeping.
• Arāya Ventures announced the first close of its Sie Fund at £7.5 million – a vehicle specifically structured to back female-led technology startups at a time when all-female founder teams received just 1.9% of UK equity investment in 2024.
• Cavendish’s Beauty & Wellness M&A Report (April 2026) sets out what buyers are actually looking for and why growth alone is no longer enough.

Shaping Business is deliberately focused on what’s useful. Less theory, more perspective. Insight that reflects where many leaders actually are, rather than where they are told they should be.