AIM in 2026: exciting new stocks and what’s still to come

By early November 2026 there had been as many AIM new admissions as the whole of 2025 – if the movers from the Main Market are included – and there are more to come. There have also been more reverse takeovers of existing AIM companies – up from three to seven.

There are 19 new companies that joined AIM so far this year. Four of those switched from the Main Market and four from Aquis. There was also one already listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and another on both the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and Canada’s TSX. Last year, there was one transfer from the Main Market and five companies from Aquis.

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This year has already had more new admissions and reverse takeovers than any year since 2021, which itself was the best year since 2014. That more recent peak has not been a help when it comes to attracting investment to new companies on AIM.

Pandemic overhang

There had been a sharp rebound in AIM after the initial Covid lockdowns which attracted companies to the market. One of the problems was that many of them were coming off a bumper trading period that would be difficult enough to maintain let alone grow the business from that level.

Video games companies Devolver Digital and TinyBuild Inc (LSE:TBLD) benefited from people staying in their homes and playing games. It was a similar case for Virgin Wines UK (LSE:VINO), where people bought wine online rather than going to the shops. Devolver Digital has chosen to leave AIM and, even before the announcement, the share price was well below the issue price.

Investment in DIY and home maintenance boosted trading at Lords Group Trading (LSE:LORD), Victorian Plumbing Group (LSE:VIC) and online building products retailer CMO, which left AIM and went bust, with Lords Group Trading acquiring part of the business.

All these companies that took advantage of bumper Covid trading levels have share prices that are much lower than their issue prices.

There is always a temptation for companies to go public when they have had a strong period of trading, and investors need to be wary about the possibility that this could continue.

It was also true for cleantech and electrification companies, which were still at an early stage of development. They were a fashionable sector at the same time. Most of these required further cash calls to continue to fund development of their technology, but the market turned against businesses that were losing money and would require significant funds before there was any chance of a positive return.

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One company that has managed to continue with its progress is sulfur battery technology developer Gelion  Ordinary Share (LSE:GELN), although it is still well below its issue price.

People can get sucked in to these new companies when markets are strong and that can be highly expensive. The ratings and forecasts for these companies can be heady and will not be maintained if stock market trading gets tougher.

When the market is going well, it is much easier to get backing to come to the market. That means that the quality of company does not necessarily have to be as high as when the market is weak - although it does not mean that all the recent flotations are high quality.

There always tends to be fashions, and electrification was such an example. AI is the current fashion, and the quality of these flotations could vary.

Activity in 2026

There have been some good performers among this year’s new companies. Eight out of 15 of them have made gains although some have been modest. This does not include the four that moved from the Main Market, which are all lower. The initial prices are based on issue prices, the price of shares issued in a deal, or introduction prices.

Precision engineer TEK4 Group (LSE:TEK4) is one of the newest and the best performer. It joined AIM on 26 October after raising £2 million at 200p/share with a market capitalisation of £41 million. The share price has jumped to 335p. Existing shareholders, Robin Womersley and chief executive and founder Jason Duffin, raised £22.75 million from share sells.

Leicester-based TEK4 manufactures hole-drilling systems for aero engine and gas turbine components. Aero engines and industrial gas turbines operate at levels higher than their melting point and cooling holes are required to be drilled accurately.  In the year to March 2026, revenues were £16.2 million and pre-tax profit was £4.23 million. Interim revenues should be around £8 million.

This is a specialist business set to benefit from increasing aircraft production and investment in industrial gas turbines due to rising demand for electricity. The share price may drift downwards after the initial interest, though, and the number of shares traded has decreased over the past week.

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Coastal Africa Group Ltd (LSE:CAGL), which is a new investment company with a focus on investing in oil and gas assets in Africa, is the second-best performer. However, share trading has been patchy. The company, backed by BP Oil, is evaluating opportunities in Nigeria, and a deal may increase investor interest and liquidity.

Both new companies that have shares trading on other markets – Bravura Solutions Ltd (LSE:BVS), which is on ASX, and Aimia Inc (TSE:AIM), which is on TSX and JSE – made gains after joining AIM.

Copper gold explorer Axies Ventures (LSE:AXV) is the latest AIM entrant. It raised £1.34 million at 10.5p/share, with £580,000 going on flotation expenses. The company has copper and gold exploration interests in Cyprus and Canada. The flagship project is Kokkinoantonis, where a drilling campaign identified an unknown copper gold orebody, extended by further drilling.

The share price dipped below the placing price on the first day, having opened at 10.75p.  There were 234,000 shares traded, so liquidity was limited. Trading levels of many new companies have tended to start strongly and then tail off.

New admissions in 2026

Share prices on 4 November 2026. *Transfer from Aquis. **Also listed on ASX. ***Also listed on TSX and JSE. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

Transfers from the Main Market

Share prices on 4 November 2026. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

Reversals

Share prices on 4 November 2026. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

More to come

There are more companies slated to arrive on AIM before the end of the year. There is no guarantee that they will all float, but they are well down the line. IntelliAM AI has already raised the cash.

AI-driven industrial analytics company IntelliAM AI (AQUIS:INT) is switching from Aquis to AIM and has raised £6.4 million at 70p/share, including £169,000 from a retail offer. The move to AIM is expected to happen on 20 November.

The company has developed an AI analytics platform that helps improve the reliability and productivity of manufacturers, and it can be used with all types of equipment. Annualised recurring revenues are already £2 million. Customers include Mars, Mondelez and Warburtons.

Revenues are growing rapidly and are forecast to rise from £5.3 million to £6.4 million in the year to March 2027. IntelliAM AI will continue to be loss-making in the foreseeable future, but the cash raised should last well into 2029, despite continuing capital investment in the technology.

Another AI company coming to AIM is SecondPass.ai, which has developed technology that accelerates audio post-production.  The market covers films, television and advertising and the market size is estimated to be $11.8 billion (£8.8 billion), and it could rise to $21 billion in 2034.

SecondPass.ai believes that its technology could reduce the cost of audio post-production by more than 85% and this be up to 10% of content budget. The technology is currently in the beta launch phase. There will be a subscription model that makes it affordable for smaller content creators, while potentially generating significant revenues from the larger content creators.

Chief executive Anthony Matchett was the founder of former AIM company MelodyVR. The plan is to raise up to £5 million and the fundraising is eligible for EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) and VCT (Venture Capital Trust) investment.

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Melbourne-based Voltage X is an AI-related digital marketing and content creation platform operator. This includes PR, marketing analytics, and influencer management services. The main markets are in Asia and Australia with expansion into Europe. The plan is to raise $3-4 million when joining AIM in mid-November. Last year, there were plans to join Nasdaq but that did not happen.

The selling point is that Voltage X, which was founded in 2021, provides clients with the ability to assess the success of their marketing spending. AI-enabled marketing platforms are licenced to brands. Property and sports are the main sector focus.

Liberty Minerals also expects to join AIM mid-November. The company was formed to acquire the mining assets of Liberty Minerals Holding Inc. The two assets are the Boriana and Buckhorn projects.

Boriana was historically one of the main tungsten producers in Arizona and management believes it still has untapped potential. Buckhorn is a longer-term exploration project.

In June, £662,000 was raised in a convertible issue that will be converted at a 25% discount to the placing price. 

Andrew Hore is a freelance contributor and not a direct employee of interactive investor.