Giving platform Neighbourly wins Queen’s Award for Enterprise

Our alumnus Neighbourly, the community engagement and investment platform, has been awarded a 2022 Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category. Now in its 56th year, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are the most prestigious business awards in the country – with the innovation category recognising businesses that demonstrate strong commercially successful innovative products…

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Wearable tech startup SpaceBands launch crowdfunding campaign

Our member Spacebands, who create wearable technology solutions to make workplaces safer, has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs to help with their next stage of business growth. Investment from Development Bank Wales, Henley Business Angels and Southern Angel Investors Club has contributed to the funding round. After gaining extensive press coverage and 1000+ customers…

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Femtech startup LatchAid secures £1m seed funding

Our member LatchAid, an award winning breastfeeding and early parenthood support innovator, has closed its seed funding round with an ultra-competitive £510k Innovate UK Innovation Loan, bringing total investments to £1m, as testament to its ground-breaking technology and user traction. LatchAid was founded by Dr Chen Mao Davies, a R&D specialist who previously worked on the Oscar (Academy Award)…

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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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FluoretiQ announces the closure of £1.1 million funding round

Our member and University of Bristol spin-out, FluoretiQ, has today announced the completion of a £1.1 million, pre-series A investment. Their pioneering NANOPLEX technology is a 15-minute proprietary diagnostic platform for bacterial infections.   The round was led by early-stage life science investors, Deepbridge Capital LLP, with significant participation from MAINStream, OION, SAIC and existing investors. This…

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Enterprising Women showcases new innovative businesses

A cohort of 13 women entrepreneurs showcased their innovative startups at a pitching event on 15th February as a finale to our Enterprising Women 2.0 pre-incubation programme. Now in its second year, the NatWest funded programme helps women-formed businesses to access SETsquared Bristol business support, including coaching, mentoring, pitch training and workshops. The event, hosted…

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SETsquared Bristol tech companies raise record investment

We are thrilled to announce that our companies attracted a record investment of £98.8 million in 2021. The figure was equivalent to 15% of the total £636 million raised by Bristol businesses last year, evidence of a promising market recovery since Covid. More than half of our 80 companies raised investment in 2021, including alumnus…

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Startup advice from Stewart Noakes, Entrepreneur in Residence

In the second of a series of startup advice features with our Entrepreneurs in Residence (EiRs), we had a chat with Stewart Noakes to hear his top tips for startups.  Our EiRs work with our members to provide support, advice and recommendations drawn from their own entrepreneurial backgrounds and specialist experience.  In what ways does your…

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Is your tech business ready for an incubator?

Marty Reid, Director of SETsquared Bristol, reflects on what we look for when selecting new members, and the questions to ask yourself before you apply.  We’re experiencing exciting times at SETsquared Bristol. We are currently incubating over 80 high-growth potential technology startups, from a broad range of sectors. Many of our members have gone on to achieve significant global success,…

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