iCOMAT raises $22.5m to automate advanced composite manufacturing for sustainable transport

A scientist in the lab wearing white coat with iCOMAT logo, and engineering device

iCOMAT, a SETsquared Bristol alumnus and University of Bristol spinout, has closed its Series A funding round, securing $22.5m (£17.6m) to deliver lighter transport solutions faster and at a lower cost. The demand for faster, cleaner and more sustainable transport solutions has never been greater. iCOMAT is one of the leading manufacturers of advanced composite structures…

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Sustainable student startup winners join SETsquared Bristol

SLANT and Weaving Change founders with New Enterprise Competition award trophies

We are pleased to welcome two sustainable student startups to our Quest incubation programme as winners of the New Enterprise Competition. The New Enterprise Competition is the University of Bristol’s longest running startup competition which awards £35,000 of funding to entrepreneurial students, staff and alumni each year. SLANT and Weaving Change will join our community…

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Healthtech spotlight: Jack Fertility

Founders of Jack Fertility wearing black and white Jack Fertility branded clothing

Jack Fertility has recently launched its £500K fundraising campaign to bring the world’s first home-to-lab sperm test kit to market. We had a chat with Co-founders, Lily Elsner and Nick Shipley, to hear their story… Jack Fertility at a glance: Start date: 2022 Market sector: Healthtech Location: Oxford Number of employees: 3 Amount of funding raised: £125k + government…

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Wave Photonics secures £4.5m to deploy light-based chips for quantum technologies

Wave Photonics team, a diverse group of eleven people outside wearing Wave branded t-shirts

Our alumnus, Wave Photonics, has received £4.5m funding to develop a new range of on-chip photonics designs for quantum technologies, sensors and datacentre applications. Since 2021, the Cambridge-based startup has been working to reimagine the photonics product development cycle. Integrated photonics share the same scalable process as semiconductor electronic chips, however, the journey of taking…

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The least answered question when preparing for investment

Kevin Simmons, Entrepreneur in Residence at SETsquared Bristol

Kevin Simmons, Entrepreneur in Residence at SETsquared Bristol, reflects on the best way to improve the odds of getting investment for your tech business. “No matter how ‘investor ready’ you may be, if the investor is not ‘ready’ for you, then your business will not secure the investment it desires.” “How do I make my business…

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Quantum business competition winners join SETsquared Bristol

Quantum business competition winners join SETsquared Bristol

Five quantum scientists have each been awarded 12 months of incubation support at SETsquared Bristol, plus financial support totalling £100,000 thanks to EPSRC skills funding awarded to the University of Bristol’s Quantum Engineering Centre for Doctoral Training.   The scientists took part in Compass, an intensive training course delivered by SETsquared Bristol, to assess the…

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Climatetech spotlight: Fathom

Four founders of Fathom smiling, wearing business casual attire

Fathom, a global leader in flood and climate risk, has recently announced its significant acquisition to Swiss Re. We had a chat with Co-founder, Dr Andrew Smith, to hear his story… Fathom at a glance: Start date: Incorporated 2013 Market sector: Insurance/Climatetech Location: Bristol/London Number of employees: 55 Amount of funding raised: £5m seed funding Company growth…

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Cell technology spinout Impulsonics closes £450k funding

Impulsonics founders at NEC competition

Impulsonics has closed its first funding round to advance the development of its unique biotech automation platform and begin customer trials. Impulsonics is an award-winning cell technology spinout from the University of Bristol’s Ultrasonics and Non-Destructive Testing Research Group, building on over a decade of deep research and leveraging world-leading expertise in acoustics. The company…

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Call out for women founders looking for business support 

Enterprising Women 3.0 group

We’re thrilled to launch Enterprising Women 4.0, our free business support programme for aspiring women founders, kindly funded by NatWest. Enterprising Women is open to early-stage founders in the UK who identify as women or non-binary assigned female at birth with tech, tech-enabled or non-tech startups, business ideas or side hustles. Over the course of…

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Battery development startup Celltris receives £0.8 million investment

Celltris team - six people in manufacturing space smiling wearing black Celltris jumpers

Bristol-based battery startup, Celltris has received a substantial boost in investment towards its mission to eliminate wasted internal space in lithium-ion cells, the rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles. The company has announced the closure of a £0.8m combined equity and grant investment round which was led by QantX and supported in partnership with UKRI’s…

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