Record number of investors join SETsquared’s flagship Investment Showcase online

With a 17-year track record, our annual Investment Showcase is a highlight of the events calendar and this year, for the first time ever, it was delivered entirely online and watched by over 240 investors.

From a 20-minute COVID-19 testing platform to a cloud-based HR platform that helps organisations increase hiring diversity to a nanotechnology-based solution for sustainable agriculture – 18 high-tech, high-growth start-ups from across SETsquared’s portfolio, took the mic and pitched for the investment they need in order to continue to grow and develop.

Each of the 18 start-up teams that pitched for investment all received mentoring and support in the run-up to the event to ensure their pitches were investor-ready and over £120m has been raised as a result of previous Investment Showcases.

Dr Jenny Bailey is Co-founder and CEO of Ferryx, which is developing bacterial products that prevent and treat gastrointestinal inflammation including inflammatory bowel disease, a condition which is suffered by 6.8m people worldwide, said: “This wasn’t just an opportunity to pitch, SETsquared provided a whole investment support package, made up of advice, mentoring and networking, which has been absolutely invaluable. We’re raising £270k in order to prepare for a proof-of-concept clinical trial and are already receiving follow-ups from investors which is hugely encouraging”.

46 companies from across our five Business Acceleration Centres applied to pitch at the showcase, with the final line-up selected following an online panel selection process.

Find out more about the companies that took part

Caroline Fleming, Chair of SETsquared’s Business Acceleration Group, said: “It’s encouraging to see so many of our start-ups continuing with their growth and development plans and innovating through this changing and challenging time. In a year of uncertainty, delay and cancellation, it’s more important than ever to keep this kind of event going. The high growth businesses which have pitched at this event are the businesses which will power our economy and their growth and development will underpin our recovery from the COVID pandemic.”

Investor Kerry Ritz, Great River Ventures, who joined the event said: “The virtual format works really well, for me, it’s so much better than a physical event. I’m interested in two types of businesses: those that help companies increase productivity or revenue by at least 10-20x— a significant order of magnitude; and companies in healthcare that enable early detection or prediction of diseases especially those that don’t require specialist equipment or care. There were a number of companies at this showcase that were of high quality, already have traction and are clearly destined to be successful companies, which was great to see.”

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