- Former detective Steven Richardson’s 22one has hit a valuation of around $400 million.
- Investors are Sequoia, General Catalyst, Lux Capital and Creandum. The amount raised is undisclosed, according to the Financial Times.
- The UK government wants 43 police forces to start using AI, but Palantir’s pilot programmes have been met with resistance.
22one, a London startup founded by Steven Richardson, a former detective chief superintendent at Merseyside Police until 2021, reached a valuation of around $400 million, with investors including Sequoia, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, and Creandum, according to the Financial Times.
Companies House shows that 22one Technologies Limited was incorporated on December 9, 2026. The company aims to create AI tools to help police work more efficiently.
A detective who has worked both sides of the table
Richardson left Merseyside Police, which covers the Liverpool area, in 2021. After that, he became the UK policing lead at Amazon Web Services, worked at Palantir, and co-founded Riven, a company that makes AI software to find and remove personal data from police documents.
NEC Software Solutions bought Riven and said that its DocDefender product was used by almost half of UK police forces. In a pilot with Bedfordshire Police, DocDefender reached 92% accuracy and saved more than 9,500 officer and staff hours each year.
Why four venture firms are paying before there is a product
Sequoia has experience in this field. It led Peregrine Technologies’ $190 million round at a $2.5 billion valuation in March 2025. Peregrine later raised $250 million at a $6.8 billion valuation in June, and Nick Noone, who also worked at Palantir, is familiar with backgrounds like Richardson’s.
The other three investors have defence and early-stage investing experience. Lux Capital invested early in Anduril and co-led the $1bn Series A in Flapping Airplanes. General Catalyst led Helsing’s 2024 Series C and has also invested in Anduril. Creandum led an early round in Lovable, which is now valued at $13.3 billion.
The timing is spot on. PoliceAI launched in June with £75 million set aside over three years to fund pilot schemes in up to 10 police forces to process digital evidence. The trials will run through 2026-27 with a full rollout expected in 2027.
One is incorporated in the UK so it’s classed as homegrown. US and Swedish investors fund it, with no British investors named. Tech Funding News has seen this pattern with the new Cambridge unicorns, too.
The big question is what 22one will actually build and whether police forces will consider the founder’s background as sufficient proof that it works. Riven built their credibility through a series of very careful pilots and by publishing the accuracy data. A $400M valuation will require police buyers to have some degree of trust in it prior to seeing any results.
