INSIGHTS / News

From left to right: Rosie Bennett; Centre Directer SETsquared Bath, Dr Heather Sanders; Secure Jarvests

UK entrepreneurs behind high-growth potential technology companies, including Bath-based Secure Harvests, gathered in London yesterday to pitch for a combined £18m to an audience of investors at SETsquared’s annual Accelerating Growth Investment Showcase.

Running for the past 14 years, SETsquared’s Investment Showcase has become a huge success; attracting hundreds of investors, seasoned entrepreneurs, corporate investors and VCs, all looking to invest in companies with the potential to become the tech giants of tomorrow.

The 20 start-ups pitching for investment have all received mentoring and support from SETsquared, and were seeking financial backing, ranging between £150k and £5m, from an audience of more than 100 investors and corporates. Already, the total raised by companies who have previously participated exceeds £100m.

Of the 20 companies that participated this year, eight have female founders, the largest number in the event’s history.

Heather Sanders, director of Secure Harvests, a crop development company that use advanced biotech to produce innovative new crop varieties, said:

“It’s been a fantastic day. We’ve met some interesting people and had some exciting conversations. If we are successful in raising the £150k we are pitching for today, we will use it to complete our early stage technical work and expand our offerings.”

Rosie Bennett, centre director for SETsquared Bath, added:

“We work with some amazing entrepreneurs and start-ups and this event is our way of getting them in front of investors and business experts who could really help to develop these ventures and take them forward.”

“The companies participating this year have all put a tremendous amount of effort into getting their businesses investment ready and their pitches attractive to potential investors.”

Over the last 18 years, SETsquared has helped more than 3,500 businesses raise over £1.5bn in investment, as well as contributing over £8.6bn in GVA (Gross Value Added) to the UK economy rising to £26.9bn by 2030 – figures that contributed to it being named by UBI Global as the top university business incubator in the world in 2015 and 2018.