INSIGHTS / News

Where: Fieldfisher, Riverbank House, London
When: May 20 from 2-7.30pm
Contact: [email protected]

Twenty of the UK’s most exciting technology start-ups are set to showcase to big name corporates including Barclays, Unilever and Intel for the chance to have their product adopted by the business giants.

As well as exhibiting, the start-ups will also have the chance to pitch for five minutes each to explain how their technology will help corporates develop and boost business.

The event, the Open Innovation Showcase, is organised by SETsquared, a business incubation programme run by a partnership of the universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey and 2015 marks the 12^th year of its existence. The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is the latest result of SETsquared’s Open Innovation Programme.

The aim of the programme is to broker mutually beneficial partnerships, with the corporates finding new technologies and products while the start-ups get the chance to seal deals with business giants that they would never normally be able to access.

The results also provide a boost for the economy as big corporates get value straight out of university research bases and bring products and technologies to market faster.

Among the businesses showcasing this month are:

• RazorSecure – which can detect hacking and system breaches in minutes, rather than the usual months
• Living Systems Technology – which provides low cost ethical solutions for scientists looking for an alternative to animal testing
• Invivo Dosimetry – which has developed a system to measure how much radiation the body receives during radiotherapy by placing the measurement device inside the body
• iGeolise Ltd – which analyses location in minutes instead of miles to improve business decision-making and boost conversion rates

Six of the start-ups at the showcase have come from the ICURe programme, which is funded by SETsquared in partnership with the Higher Education Funding Council for England and Innovate UK. ICURe is a multi-million pound pilot programme giving early career researchers at the five SETsquared universities access to up to £50,000 each to explore the market potential of their ideas, technologies and products.

Simon Bond, Innovation Director at SETsquared, said: “The Open Innovation Showcase provides a vital link for many start-ups, as talking to companies at an early stage means the products can be refined for use and the wider market. It’s exactly what the UK economy needs, as it helps big businesses streamline and innovate by working with universities, SMEs and start-ups.”

Among the success stories so far is Ripjar, which has its advanced social media analysis software being used by a large banking corporate as a direct result of SETsquared’s Open Innovation Programme.

Tom Griffin, CEO of Ripjar, said: “The Open Innovation Programme enabled Ripjar to form a close relationship with a global institution, which would otherwise have not been possible. We have now developed a collaborative partnership and have adapted our solution and business to meets their requirements.”

Over the last 12 years SETsquared has helped over 1,000 businesses raise over £1bn in investment, figures that have contributed to it being named by the UBI as the top university business incubator in Europe and number two in the world.