Tech pioneers from Bristol and Bath made up over a third of the UK’s most exciting startups and scale-ups at the 14th annual Accelerating Growth Investment Showcase last week.
“This year we have seen some extraordinary companies come forward with fantastic investment propositions”
The event, which was held in London, saw the startups and scale-ups – who are all members of the world-leading business incubator SETsquared – pitch for a total of £20M of investment from an audience of 150 investors.
Included in the Bristol line-up was Good Sixty, an online app to allow people to discover local independent producers, vertical-farming tech startup LettUs Gtow, LuJam Security Ltd, which provides cybersecurity solutions to SMEs and Motion Impossible, which designs robotic dolly systems to revolutionise the way in which cameras move in film, TV and VR.
Pitching from SETsquared in Bath were Ordoo, an app to pre-order food and drink, shopping discovery platform JOOK and Living Map – creators of connected smart maps.
Scaling up: Rosie Bennett centre director at Bath SETsquared Innovation Centre
with the co-founders of Living Map at the investment event
Emma Thorn, centre director at SETsquared in Bristol says: “I am hugely proud of the success that businesses involved with SETsquared achieve on their pathway to growth. This year we have seen some extraordinary companies come forward with fantastic investment propositions.
“The investor community that we work with has turned out in significant numbers. This is a testament to the faith that they have in quality of the deal flow presented at SETsquared events. In 2016 businesses we supported raised £166.7m and I am confident after today, 2017 will also be a bumper year for the companies we have been working with.”
Scale-up innovation
Along with 13 other SETsquared businesses, the startups and scale-ups were vying for investments between £200k and £3M. The event also proved an excellent showcase for the array of technology from across the wider West of England including in advanced engineering, VR, retail, healthcare, robotics and cybersecurity.
“We’ve met lots of interesting investors and potential collaborators”
Jack Farmer, founder and director at LettUs Grow (pictured right, centre) comments: “It has been a positive day, we’ve met lots of interesting investors and potential collaborators. It has been fantastic to meet investors who can bring more than just funding, but also connections, mentorship and a shared vision.”
Tom Dewhurst founder of Ordoo adds: “SETsquared put a lot of effort into the event and I was impressed by the number of relevant investors that I met. We hope the hard work will pay off.”
Find out more about SETsquared Bristol and Bath businesses via the SETsquared website or follow them on Twitter here: @SETsquared_BR and @Bath_Innovation.
