INSIGHTS / Blog

What do twerking, Adele and Leicester City football club have to do with SETsquared being ranked as the Global No 1 University Business Incubator?

Ali Amin, CCO & Co-founder of UBI Global recently joined us at our Global No1 Celebration dinner in London delivering an entertaining recap on how the history of SETsquared intertwines with that of UBI Global. Here he revisits the talk.

It has been amazing to see SETsquared going from strength to strength, having seen it recently crowned Global No 1 Business University Incubator for the third time. This is my look back in history on the evolution of UBI Global to include SETsquared’s rise to becoming global number one.

Starting in 2013, the year when Lance Armstrong is caught for doping. Obama is elected for a second term. Sony releases Playstation 4. Iron Man 3 hit’s the theatres. Twerking becomes a thing. And 150 programmes are assessed for the UBI Global benchmark and rankings, this is also the year we see an incubator from the UK called SETsquared Partnership end up as shared World #4 university business incubator.

A year on in 2014 the Ebola epidemic in West Africa begins. The 23rd winter Olympics are held in Sochi, Russia. Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disappears over the Gulf of Thailand. Scotland votes against independence from the UK and manspreading becomes a new English word. Alongside these, 400 programmes are assessed for the UBI Global benchmark and rankings with an incubator from the UK called SETsquared Partnership ending up as World #2 university business incubator.

2015 a year when a dress becomes viral but was it black and blue or white and gold? Same-sex marriage is legalised in the United States. The deadliest attack on French soil since WW2 where 130 people are killed in a horrendous mass shooting. Adele returns after having a baby and says…HELLO! Leicester City begins their incredible seasonal campaign and later wins the Premier League. 500 programmes are assessed for the UBI Global benchmark and rankings, and an incubator from the UK called SETsquared Partnership ends up as World #1 university business incubator.

Pan forward to the year of 2017. There’s a Brexit hangover and no deal in sight. The inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States. Prince Harry got engaged with Meghan Markle. SpaceX conducts first-ever re-flight of orbital class rocket. Dunkirk is released and wins three Oscars the following year. Plus 800 programmes are assessed for the UBI Global benchmark and rankings, and an incubator from the UK called SETsquared Partnership ends up as World #1 university business incubator.

And here we are its 2019 the year of the Pig. Brexit is still pending. Julian Assange is arrested in London after seven years at the Embassy of Equador. The Cricket World Cup is held in the UK and England wins the championship. Ariana Grande is crowned artist of the year. The World Incubation Summit is held in Doha, Qatar. This year 1600 programmes are assessed for the UBI Global benchmark and rankings, and an incubator from the UK called SETsquared Partnership ends up as World #1 university business incubator. For the third time!

As you can see the above timeline indicates the ground-breaking progression that UBI Global and the SETsquared Partnership have both undertaken over the past seven years. For UBI Global it has been incredible to see the growth of programmes seeking assessment increase ten-fold from 150 in 2013 to 1600 programmes in 2019. Furthermore, it has been remarkable that year on year the SETsquared Partnership have risen above the increase in competition to claim the top spot. An impressive feat – one we commend and congratulate you for.

Want to know more? Read our recent article on SETsquared being ranked global #1 university business incubator for third time.

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