Inspiring women founders pitch at Enterprising Women finale 

Enterprising Women 3.0 group

We were delighted to showcase 18 women-led startups on our Enterprising Women 3.0 pre-incubation programme last week.   The evening, kindly hosted at TLT in Bristol, brought an inspirational group of women founders together with an audience to pitch, network and celebrate the launch of their innovative startups, ranging from healthtech to sustainability solutions.   The programme…

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Milbotix: Transforming dementia care with SmartSocks™

Zeke Steer, Founder of Milbotix with Smart Sensor Sock. Photo credit to St Monica Trust

Following our company Milbotix’s recent investment from Alzheimer’s Society and £1.15m in non-dilutive funding awards, we had a chat with CEO, Dr Zeke Steer, to hear his story… Milbotix key facts Start date: 24 February 2020 Market sector: Healthtech/wearables/IoT Location: Bristol and Oxford Number of employees: 8 Company growth status: Startup Milbotix is partnered with the UK Dementia Research Institute and University…

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Ethical Equity: A funding revolution for fair access to capital

Ali Kazmi, Founder of Ethical Equitym, smiling in a suit at Bristol's harbour

We had a chat with Ethical Equity and AI Simulator Founder, Ali Kazmi, to hear his story… Ethical Equity key facts Start date: 13 Aug 2019 Market sector: Fintech Location: Bristol Number of employees:  5 core members Company growth status: Growth In your own words what does Ethical Equity do? Ethical Equity’s raison d’être is to improve…

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Paul Forster award nomination for championing women in tech

Paul Forster in SETsquared Bristol corridor, wearing bear logo on red jumper

We’re thrilled that our Community Manager Paul Forster has been nominated for FDM’s Everywoman in Technology Male Agent of Change Award. This is testament to his active commitment to championing and advancing the progress of women in tech. At SETsquared Bristol Paul supports over 80 of our technology companies and develops a network of expert advisers and community partners to…

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Gritty Talent: Connecting underrepresented talent with the TV industry

Following our member Gritty Talent’s recent pre-seed funding success with Innovate UK and partnership with Channel 4, we had a chat with Founder and CEO, Mel Rodrigues, to hear her story… Gritty Talent key facts Start date: 2019 Market sector: TV and Film (Createch) Location: Bristol Number of employees: 11 Company growth status: High growth startup In your own words…

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Minority ethnic tech founders supported by Breakthrough Bursary

We are thrilled to relaunch our Breakthrough Bursary for the fourth year, continuing SETsquared Bristol‘s commitment to tech inclusivity.   The bursary is for UK tech entrepreneurs from a minority ethnic background, providing access to tailored business support at heavily discounted rates. This includes coaching and mentoring, advice clinics, events, skills and training workshops and support…

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Gritty Talent partners with Channel 4 to increase talent from under-represented groups

Gritty Talent team - a diverse group of people in gront of a graffiti wall

Channel 4 is partnering with our member Gritty Talent to help independent production companies build more diverse senior teams. Gritty Talent, who won our 2022 Breakthrough Bursary, is a trailblazing company bridging TV, talent and technology, who discover, nurture and connect talented people from under-represented groups into the media industry. In 2021 the startup, founded…

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Breakthrough Bursary scheme supports diverse founder startups

We’re thrilled to announce that five innovative tech companies with founders from diverse ethnic backgrounds have been awarded our 2022 Breakthrough Bursary. Now in its third year, the bursary provides heavily subsidised membership to our incubation programme including bespoke business support, mentoring, coaching and investment readiness training, as well as access to University of Bristol…

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Paul Forster, Community Manager: Working towards a more inclusive and equal tech scene

Anybody with half an eye on the global, national, or local tech scene will know that it’s a primarily a pale, male and stale affair. In other words, whether we’re talking global behemoths or scrappy startups, they’re traditionally helmed by white men.   When I first started as Community Manager at SETsquared Bristol some four and a half years ago, one of the first conversations I had…

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