SETsquared showcases technologies of the future from early-stage companies

SETsquared is today (14 October) holding its seventh Partnership Investment Showcase at which nineteen early-stage companies involved in aerospace, biotechnology, electronics, green technology, health, information technology and materials science will be on show.

The companies are pitching for investment of between £250,000 and £5 million each. Last year, companies that participated in the Investment Showcase event raised a total of £14 million, and over the past six years participants have raised over £85 million.

In the last five years, the SETsquared Partnership has supported more than 200 companies, helped raise more than £150 million in capital, and created over 1,000 new jobs.

At the event, Richard Vellacott, Director of the management consultancy Deloitte, is presenting the results of a Deloitte study examining the investment performance of the University Challenge Fund associated with the SETsquared Partnership.

The SETsquared Partnership combines the resources of the universities of Bath, Bristol, Southampton and Surrey to incubate early-stage technology businesses.

A day earlier, SETsquared hosted the Changing Worlds event to showcase the global impact of university research on the economy, society and the environment. Twenty case studies from a range of fields were presented.

Keith Robson, Chair of the SETsquared Management Group said, “At Changing Worlds, the SETsquared Partnership is showing how important industry collaboration and government funding can be in helping academic research reach its full potential.”

Representatives from a variety of industrial backgrounds, including spin-out companies and larger businesses who have worked in partnership with the universities on long term research, explained how they have benefited.