Anna-Lisa Wesley: Founder folklore and fairytales – tech desperately needs new material

Anna-Lisa Wesley wearing blue top in front of grey background

Anna-Lisa Wesley, Entrepreneur in Residence at SETsquared Bristol, reflects on the power of storytelling and needing new founder stories for our time. “Working in tech right now, we need some new heroes, heroines, new plots, new tools, new lessons. We desperately need new material.” Microsoft, Google, LinkedIn… these business stories, the founders that sit behind them and…

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Welcome to Rosie Bennett as our new Innovation Lead for Bristol Innovations

Rosie Bennett, Innovation Lead at Bristol Innovations

We are delighted to announce that Rosie Bennett joins the Bristol Innovations team as Innovation Lead. Rosie Bennett’s brief is across Bristol Innovations’ portfolio of incubators, innovation hubs and networks; SETsquared Bristol, Engine Shed, the Quantum Technologies Innovation Centre, Quantum Frontier, and the University of Bristol’s joint venture with Science Creates.  As Innovation Lead, Rosie…

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Advanced materials noise management startup wins Tech-Xpo award 

Gianluca, Metasonixx CEO with Best Elevator Pitch award at Tech-Xpo 2024.

A startup that engineers advanced materials for sound and noise management won Best Elevator Pitch at our Tech-Xpo 2024 Showcase. Gianluca Memoli, CEO of Metasonixx, delivered part of his winning pitch in song to demonstrate how the company’s patented technology has re-engineered everyday materials into innovative products that can manage noise and ventilation in the…

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Healthtech spotlight: SoleSense

Caz Icke, CEO and Founder of SoleSense - wiinner of Tech-Xpo 2023

A year on from SoleSense’s Best Elevator Pitch award at our flagship Tech-Xpo showcase, we had a chat with Founder and CEO, Caz Icke, to hear her story. SoleSense at a glance: Market sector: Healthtech Location: Bristol Number of employees: 3 Company growth status: Pre-seed Let’s start with SoleSense’s elevator pitch SoleSense is a wearable digital system…

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Tech-Xpo celebrates 20 years shining a light on trailblazing tech 

Tech-Xpo 2024 logo on rainbow background with strapline: Celebrating 20 Years

We’re thrilled to be celebrating 20 years of Tech-Xpo, our flagship pitch, demo and connect showcase, this autumn. Sixteen startups will promote their innovative technologies to an audience of over 150 business leaders and investors on Wednesday 25 September at the iconic Goldney Hall in Bristol, the venue which first hosted Tech-Xpo two decades ago. Eight of the 16…

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SETsquared Bristol companies shine at The SPARKies 2024

John Terry of Neuronostics with award at The SPARKies awards 2024

The recent SPARKies Awards night, hosted at Central Warehouse in the heart of Bristol, brought together the region’s tech and digital leaders to celebrate excellence in the West. SETsquared member companies from across the South West were recognised for their achievements in various sectors, including biotech, createch, sustainability, and cyber. Out of 14 award categories,…

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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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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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