# Paul Atkinson

> Paul Atkinson is a funding round investor at Par Equity backing Software. See 42 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Par Equity](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/par-equity)
- Total investments: 42
- Last investment: Sep 2025
- Lead investor: 69%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-atkinson-52413a/
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/parequitypaul
- Website: https://x.com/parequitypaul

Paul Atkinson is a funding round investor at Par Equity focused on Software and Information Technology. Paul Atkinson is based out of Edinburgh, City of, and is the Chairman and Partner of Par Equity. Paul previously worked at Converge as a Board Member & Former Chair. Paul Atkinson attended the University of Manchester. Paul Atkinson has been awarded Honorary Doctorate.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Software | 6 | 14% |
| Information Technology | 5 | 12% |
| Computer | 2 | 5% |
| Analytics | 2 | 5% |
| Automotive | 2 | 5% |

27 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Funding Round | 9 | 21% |
| Seed | 5 | 12% |
| Venture - Series Unknown | 4 | 10% |
| Series A | 1 | 2% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Skylark Lasers | Skylark Lasers specialise in the development and production of ultra-stable, spectrally pure CW single frequency DPSS lasers. Our NIR and UV lasers enable the advancement of life science, deep tech manufacturing, and quantum research. We work collaboratively with our customers and research partners to understand their needs and tailor our lasers totheir application – helping reveal the unseen, detect the imperceptible, and measure the unknown.From optomechanical design to software development, our team pushes the capabilities of laser technology to engineer ultra-stable, spectrally pure DPSS lasers. Established in 2013 with a focus on the R&D of uncommon and hard-to-reach wavelengths, we now deliver commercial systems trusted by leading researchers and OEMs worldwide.Each laser system is precision engineered under Class 5 cleanroom conditions at our headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland. |  | Venture - Series Unknown | Sep 23, 2025 |  |
| Gigged.AI | Gigged.AI is an innovative digital talent sourcing and onboarding platform. | $1.4M | Seed | Jul 10, 2025 |  |
| Ceres Holographics Ltd. | Ceres Holographics is a pioneer in digital holographic mastering and hologram replication technology. The technology is used to produce precision engineered Holographic Optical Elements (HOEs) in new material that enables new mass market display applications. Ceres competitive advantage is in the design and mastering of high performance precisionengineered HOE masters and their replication in high-volumes. The benefit of the digitally controlled pixel-wise mastering approach is design flexibility, accuracy, repeatability, and less artefacts. ceres in-house HOE design software and mastering technology is unrivalled, and the company provides licence to its HOE replication technology that together with our HOE masters, can enables mass production of HOEs for partners in order to address multiple mass market applications. Ceres beachhead market is in automotive/transport where it already has significant traction with OEMs want Head-Up-Display (HUD) and Transparent Display (TD) systems in cars to improve safety and comfort. Conventional optics make HUDs too bulky and expensive. Ceres photopolymer HOEs can solve this problem. When integrated into the windshield, they add optical power, and enable smaller footprint AR HUD systems. This breakthrough technology opens the possibility of inclusion of HUD systems as standard in more cars. Ceres most mature HOE technology is for a new type of Transparent Display (TD) system for front, side and rear window. TD enables the use of very small, lower cost LED based projectors, and because of its maturity and low cost will be 1st to market. The company is also currently leading the way in supplying HOEs for Augmented Reality HUD (AR-HUD) prototypes, while working to make this a reality with OEM customers and tier1 suppliers. Ceres has a multi-sided business model generating revenue from design services, HOE master supply, and replication technology licencing. | $1.7M | Seed | Nov 01, 2023 |  |
| Gigged.AI | Gigged.AI is an innovative digital talent sourcing and onboarding platform. | $2M | Seed | Jan 16, 2023 |  |
| Red61 | Red61 has grown out of a desire to build a different kind of ticketing solution supplier. Frustrated with the state of the ticketing market and the seemingly endless cycle of dissatisfied ticketing organisations moving to new suppliers, Red61 founders, Box Office Manager Tony Davey and software designer Peter McNaught got together to create acompany whose guiding principle is to create long term collaborative relationships with its clients. | $636K |  | Nov 30, 2020 |  |
| Wallet.Services | We are the makers of SICCAR, the most cybersecure platform for organisations to collaborate by configuring and running business processes that share trusted data.SICCAR has been purposely built for cybersecure data sharing and process automation - where data security, protection, integrity and governance are addressed out of the box. Configurewhat you need and, within a matter of hours, you can get processes up and running. It has been designed so that you can quickly respond to changes and grow incrementally. The development of SICCAR for the Public Sector was informed in detail after our review of Distributed Ledger Technologies for the Scottish Government. As part of the world-leading CivTech accelerator programme, SICCAR has been specifically developed to address data sharing problems between public sector agencies.An award-winning platform, it was recognised in Citibank's Tech for Integrity Challenge and won the Best Cyber Breakthrough Award at the Scottish Cyber Awards 2017. Out with public sector, SICCAR is being utilised in manufacturing and resources industries to assure the integrity of supply chains and address complex manufacturing challenges.To build SICCAR we’ve taken the best bits from Distributed Ledger Technology and made it easy to use by business analysts. It has REST APIs and SDKs in order to interoperate with all the other good stuff going on. SICCAR also integrates with existing identity platforms via OpenID. | $1.7M |  | Oct 14, 2020 |  |
| Wallet.Services | We are the makers of SICCAR, the most cybersecure platform for organisations to collaborate by configuring and running business processes that share trusted data.SICCAR has been purposely built for cybersecure data sharing and process automation - where data security, protection, integrity and governance are addressed out of the box. Configurewhat you need and, within a matter of hours, you can get processes up and running. It has been designed so that you can quickly respond to changes and grow incrementally. The development of SICCAR for the Public Sector was informed in detail after our review of Distributed Ledger Technologies for the Scottish Government. As part of the world-leading CivTech accelerator programme, SICCAR has been specifically developed to address data sharing problems between public sector agencies.An award-winning platform, it was recognised in Citibank's Tech for Integrity Challenge and won the Best Cyber Breakthrough Award at the Scottish Cyber Awards 2017. Out with public sector, SICCAR is being utilised in manufacturing and resources industries to assure the integrity of supply chains and address complex manufacturing challenges.To build SICCAR we’ve taken the best bits from Distributed Ledger Technology and made it easy to use by business analysts. It has REST APIs and SDKs in order to interoperate with all the other good stuff going on. SICCAR also integrates with existing identity platforms via OpenID. | $1.7M | Seed | Oct 14, 2020 |  |
| Red61 | Red61 has grown out of a desire to build a different kind of ticketing solution supplier. Frustrated with the state of the ticketing market and the seemingly endless cycle of dissatisfied ticketing organisations moving to new suppliers, Red61 founders, Box Office Manager Tony Davey and software designer Peter McNaught got together to create acompany whose guiding principle is to create long term collaborative relationships with its clients. | $610.3K | Venture - Series Unknown | Aug 04, 2020 |  |
| Skylark Lasers | Skylark Lasers specialise in the development and production of ultra-stable, spectrally pure CW single frequency DPSS lasers. Our NIR and UV lasers enable the advancement of life science, deep tech manufacturing, and quantum research. We work collaboratively with our customers and research partners to understand their needs and tailor our lasers totheir application – helping reveal the unseen, detect the imperceptible, and measure the unknown.From optomechanical design to software development, our team pushes the capabilities of laser technology to engineer ultra-stable, spectrally pure DPSS lasers. Established in 2013 with a focus on the R&D of uncommon and hard-to-reach wavelengths, we now deliver commercial systems trusted by leading researchers and OEMs worldwide.Each laser system is precision engineered under Class 5 cleanroom conditions at our headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland. | $915K | Venture - Series Unknown | May 18, 2020 |  |
| Skylark Lasers | Skylark Lasers specialise in the development and production of ultra-stable, spectrally pure CW single frequency DPSS lasers. Our NIR and UV lasers enable the advancement of life science, deep tech manufacturing, and quantum research. We work collaboratively with our customers and research partners to understand their needs and tailor our lasers totheir application – helping reveal the unseen, detect the imperceptible, and measure the unknown.From optomechanical design to software development, our team pushes the capabilities of laser technology to engineer ultra-stable, spectrally pure DPSS lasers. Established in 2013 with a focus on the R&D of uncommon and hard-to-reach wavelengths, we now deliver commercial systems trusted by leading researchers and OEMs worldwide.Each laser system is precision engineered under Class 5 cleanroom conditions at our headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland. | $887K |  | May 01, 2020 |  |

10 of 42 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Scottish Investment Bank](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/scottish-investment-bank) — VC Fund, 25 deals together
- [Equity Gap](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/equity-gap) — VC Fund, 12 deals together
- [TRI Cap](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/tri-cap) — VC Fund, 6 deals together
- [Scottish Enterprise](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/scottish-enterprise) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [British Business Investments](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/british-business-investments) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Caledonian Heritable](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/caledonian-heritable) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

## About Par Equity

VC Fund · Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Founded in 2008, Par Equity is a venture capital firm that backs the most innovative, high growth technology companies in the North of the UK. Based in Edinburgh, Par invests across Northern England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

5 contacts available at Par Equity.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Andrew Castell | Partner & Co-founder | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/andrew-castell |
| Nicola McLeod | Compliance Manager | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/nicola-mcleod |
| Paul Atkinson | Chairman and Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/paul-atkinson-cb18 |
| Pauline Cassie | Investor Relations Director | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/pauline-cassie |
| Aidan MacMillan | Investment Manager | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/aidan-macmillan |

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Bpifrance](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bpifrance) — VC Fund
- [SFC Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/startup-funding-club) — VC Fund
- [HTGF (High-Tech Gruenderfonds)](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/high-tech-gr%C3%BCnderfonds) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Paul Atkinson invest in?

Paul Atkinson invests primarily in Software, Information Technology and Computer startups, most often at Funding Round and Seed stage. Most of the 42 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United Kingdom. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Paul Atkinson last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Paul Atkinson closed in Sep 2025. Shizune tracks 42 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

# About Shizune
Shizune.co is an investor database. Core features:
- 48,091 startup investors (angels, VCs, accelerators, and others)
- Email, phone, LinkedIn (for intros), socials, and other contact data
- Updated daily from public funding news
- CSV and Excel export

The User can access the full database FOR FREE after signing up: shizune.co