Southampton: Tech start-ups bid for over £25m at SETsquared’s Accelerating Growth showcase

High-growth tech entrepreneurs, including six of Southampton’s most exciting start-up businesses, pitched for a share of more than £25 million backing when they came face-to-face with angel investors, venture capitalists, high-net-worth individuals and corporate investors at SETsquared’s annual Accelerating Growth Investment Showcase last week.

The start-ups presented their innovative products and services for a range of sectors, including medtech and social tech, smart cities and engineering, and digital and mobile. Each company sought financial backing from an audience of more than 200 investors and corporates at the event. Each company also exhibited at the event, with the founders available to meet investors throughout the day.

It was the 13th showcase organised by the world’s number one university business incubator, SETsquared, an enterprise partnership between the universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey which provides mentoring support and comprehensive pitch training for startups.

The Southampton companies pitching for investment were: 

• Dynamon, which is bringing actionable intelligence to the road transport industry that will reduce emissions and increase business margins;
• Fresh Relevance, which has developed a marketing hub for online retailers that increases sales through personalized customer experiences and real-time marketing tactics;
• SAL Scientific, which provides cell-biology research services and products designed to meet the challenges faced by the pharmaceutical industry with the rising cost of bringing new drugs to market;
• SEaB Energy, which has created localised small-scale waste-to-energy plants which convert organic waste into carbon-free heat and electricity, with water and nutrient-rich fertiliser as by-products;
• Grid Edge, which saves commercial building owners cash and carbon by adding intelligence to building energy control; and
• Utonomy, which has developed innovative technology to reduce the leakage of the harmful greenhouse-gas methane from distribution networks.

David Bream, SETsquared’s programme director in Southampton, said: “There is a real appetite among investors to partner with SETsquared’s high-growth-potential technology companies and their engaging pitches really created a buzz at the event. 

Michael Ruzic-Gauthier, investments associate at NetScientific, said: "I came to the showcase for two reasons: I was really interested to see the healthcare companies pitch and see what's happening in the industry, and I wanted to meet new contacts from the SETsquared partnership universities. I was really impressed by each of pitches I watched, and it was very helpful to have so many innovative new companies brought together in one room to speak to.”

Over the past 14 years SETsquared has helped more than 1,000 businesses raise over £1 billion in investment, as well as contributing over £3.8b in GVA (Gross Value Added) to the UK economy, and with £8.6b GVA estimated over the next decade. This achievement contributed to it being named by UBI Global as the top university business incubator in the world at the end of 2015.