UK: Universal Signalling has moved into an office in Kelvin House on the RTC Business Park in Derby. The scale-up, which is aiming to ‘radically’ reduce the deployment time and cost of digital signalling products, was previously a fully remote company, but said with its growing headcount, material stockpile and customer base, ‘now is the right time to pin our flag on the map’.
The move announced on September 10 comes after the successful close in August of the second tranche of a pre-seed investment round. This was anchored by the Southern Angel Investors Club network of early-stage investors in technology ventures, alongside what Universal Signalling said were several high net worth individuals with extensive experience in the UK and overseas rail industry.
‘We’re thrilled to have Southern Angels anchor this tranche and to see the full allotment taken up so quickly’, said Sam Bemment, Founder & CEO of Universal Signalling. ‘This is a strong vote of confidence in our vision and the team’s ability to execute on our business plan. The funds raised will enable us to execute that plan: concurrently accelerating our R&D efforts around future product lines, whilst continuing to move early systems to market with our key light and heavy rail partners. When compared with some other industries, it is rare that this type of investment comes into rail, and even rarer for it to be into a company which is operating in the safety and operationally critical space.’
The first close announced in April saw participation from a mix of angel investors and early-stage venture funds, led by SFC Capital.
Universal Signalling said it is now well-positioned to expand its technical team and prepare for commercial deployments with early adopters. A seed round is anticipated mid to late 2026.
