CSignum raises £2.6M to send data through water, ice and ground
What's the deal? CSignumDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a wireless communications startup based in Bathgate near Edinburgh, has raised £2.6 million in early-stage funding. Backers include ArchangelsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, PXN VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Scottish Enterprise, British Business Bank, and a group of US-based angel investors. The company builds technology that carries data from beneath the surface of water, ice and ground.
What's the endgame? Conventional wireless signals cannot pass through water, rock, soil or concrete, leaving parts of critical infrastructure unconnected or reliant on cabling. CSignum's EM2 portfolio uses Electromagnetic Field Signalling to move data through those media without cables, cutting cost and complexity. Applications span utilities, maritime, offshore energy, and environmental monitoring, with water quality measurement a main use case.
Why now? Sales growth has been driven by the UK's Section 82 (AMP8) Act, which requires continuous water quality measurements at combined storm overflows and sewage discharge points. Utilities must monitor 25% of England's 14,000-plus CSOs during AMP8, which runs to 2030, with the rest covered under AMP9 to 2035.
The round follows a £6 million investment from the same investor group in April 2025. Since then, CSignum has moved from pilots into volume deployments with multiple UK water utilities and international customers, including a 'smart buoy' project in the Gulf of Mexico and through-ground sensing for a large-scale infrastructure project in Asia. New funding will support commercial expansion and manufacturing scale-up.
New leadership. John Nicholls has been appointed chief executive officer, succeeding Jonathan Reeves, who becomes chief strategy officer. Nicholls has held CEO and chief commercial officer roles across photonics, quantum technologies, space, semiconductors, and EV infrastructure. "My focus now is turning that potential into large-scale deployments," he said.
The signal: The raise sits in roughly the 25th percentile by amount, a modest early-stage round for a deep tech company that has found early commercial pull. As monitoring rules tighten across water and infrastructure, CSignum is betting that closing the data gap in hard-to-reach places becomes a large, recurring market.
Image credit: Office of Naval Research
