INSIGHTS / News

Following a successful debut in 2023, SETsquared’s Investment Futures event returns on 19 November with a brand-new line-up of deep tech start-ups and spin-outs pitching for investment and a packed agenda of panels and roundtables designed to shape the future of the investment landscape.

From ‘Disruptive technologies – risky or fundable?’ and ‘How do we retain talent in the ecosystem?’ through to ‘Net Zero – what technology will get us there and is it getting funded?’ – investors are invited to come along and have their say through a series of interactive roundtable discussions.

Alongside the roundtable discussions, investors will have the opportunity to see quickfire pitches from 20 deep tech and science-based start-ups and spin-outs from across SETsquared’s portfolio. Representing key sectors such as space, FinTech, sustainable tech, EdTech, life sciences and health tech, these innovative start-ups and scale-ups are seeking investments to grow to the next level of between £250k – £10m. View the list of pitching companies

The Investment Futures event comes hot on the heels of SETsquared’s joint announcement of plans for a new £300m spin-out investment vehicle with QantX to catalyse the creation and growth of science and technology companies addressing global challenges.

Marty Reid, Executive Director, SETsquared says: “It’s fantastic to see another high-quality line-up of pitching companies for our Investment Futures event. Given our recent announcement of a spin-out investment vehicle, it’s encouraging that 30% of these ventures are spin-out companies. These are complemented by graduates of Innovate UK’s ICURe Programme, members of our world-leading Business Acceleration Centres and our specialist sector support programmes. So, investors can be assured of the quality of the investment opportunities they will see at the event. There will also be opportunities to discuss our plans for a new investment vehicle, which aims to open up significant co-investment opportunities, de-risk early-stage deep tech propositions for VC and Angel investment community, and increase the overall amount of capital available.”

To date, SETsquared has supported its member companies to raise in excess of £5bn in investment. Its six university partners – Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey – have a combined research portfolio of over £600m and together have created 230 spin-out companies.