INSIGHTS / Blog

(Image shows the team at Naturbeads, one of the companies pitching at the Summer Investment Showcase)

SETsquared’s Investment Programme Manager, Chris Hill, gives us his insights into the Summer investment showcase taking place on 20 June, as well as highlighting a selection of the exciting ventures which will be pitching this year.

This year we’re adding an exciting new event to our investment calendar with a new Summer Investment Showcase, hosted at the Global Corporate Venturing (GCV) Symposium on 20 June.

As Europe’s leading corporate venturing and innovation event, the GCV Symposium provides the ideal platform for the start-ups we support to connect with corporate venturers, as well as venture capitalists and angels.

The line-up of pitching companies, which we select from across SETsquared’s Acceleration Centres and programmes, is once again of the highest quality. We’ve curated a cohort of 20 innovation-rich, high-growth start-ups, spin-outs and scale-ups, all of which are seeking investments of £500k and above.

See the full list of pitching companies

 

It’s really encouraging to see a large number of companies on the line-up that are developing sustainable technologies that will contribute to NetZero.

With just 27 years to become a NetZero economy, private investment will be crucial to delivering the technology and innovation needed to achieve this.

In its Mobilising Green Investment: 2023 Green Finance Strategy, the UK Government estimated that in 2022 alone, £23bn of new low-carbon investment was delivered in the UK – ranging from renewables, hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, nuclear, sustainable materials, energy storage, electrified transport, to clean heat.

Impact investing is growing globally, and sustainable tech is one of the hottest investment sectors at the moment. It’s great, therefore to see such a strong show of sustainable start-ups at this event.

Of course, other sectors are represented at the event – we’ve also got FinTech, AgeTech, cyber and, as always, a strong representation of health technologies.

Whatever their sector, it’s critically important for any tech venture seeking investment to be able to articulate and benchmark its environmental impact. In its Reimagining Industry Futures Study, Ernst & Young found that 76% of investors cited environmental, social and governance (ESG) as leading or important considerations for emerging tech investment.

That’s why this is a key part of the investor readiness training that we provide in the lead-up to the showcase, to ensure that founders have positioned their strategy in alignment with sustainability and social value trends.

Here’s a sneak peek at a handful of the sustainable ventures which will be pitching at this year’s event:

 

envoPAP makes innovative packaging and paper that’s kind to the planet. Its production process has a significantly smaller environmental footprint than traditional packaging and paper products because we use renewable sources like agro-fibres as raw material instead of virgin fibres and fuel-based materials, like plastic.

 

 

 

 

Our Rainwater provides water companies with a software-as-a-service digital platform to facilitate the adoption of rainwater management systems in target locations to reduce surface water flooding and sewer spills into our waterways.

 

 

 

 

Verv is an AI company on a mission to reduce the 4.5% of the world’s energy wasted on air conditioning whilst in parallel lowering repair and maintenance costs of the air conditioner through predictive maintenance and real-time energy/carbon/cost wastage monitoring, accelerating the next generation of smart, sustainable ESG ready buildings.

 

 

 

 

Natural Building Systems has created an award-winning carbon-negative and bio-based modular system, marking a major step forward in sustainable construction.

 

 

 

 

Naturbeads develop a sustainable alternative to micro-plastic beads made from biodegradable cellulose. The spinout from the University of Bath has created a range of biodegradable products that can be used in cosmetics, paints, coatings, additives for the oil and gas industry, packaging and composites.

 

 

We encourage investors in our network (and any investors new to SETsquared!) to register for what’s shaping up as a highlight of the investment calendar.

By registering, you can attend the GCV Symposium until lunchtime on the day of the Investment Showcase on 20 June free of charge. If you are interested in attending the rest of the Global Corporate Venturing Symposium on 21 and 22 June, we can provide a 50% discount on the ticket price.

Register for the Investment Showcase