INSIGHTS / Blog

(Image: Actuation Lab created 12 new jobs last year for those in the region)

Of the 300 new jobs created, 200 of them were in the South West region.

Member companies of SETsquared Bristol were responsible for the creation of more than 300 new roles in 2023. The Bristol-based incubator supports the growth of over 100 technology start-ups, helping them move from the ideation phase into commercial viability. Now, those companies have been giving back with the creation of new roles, whilst also generating over £35m in revenues and raising a combined £50m in funding.

The sectors with the highest number of jobs created were fintech, healthtech and engineering.

Loqbox, a wellbeing business focused on financial health, created 17 new jobs. With a bigger team, it has achieved significant growth, helping 2 million people to date to access a richer life by building their credit scores and growing their savings.

Healthtech startup getUBetter created 12 new jobs to advance its digital self-management support platform for musculoskeletal injuries and women’s pelvic health. Its app is now used in over a third of NHS England.

University of Bristol spinout, Actuation Lab, created 10 new jobs. Last year, the R&D startup was awarded £3.5 million from the Department for Energy Security and Zero’s Net Zero to support the development of its novel gas valve, designed to prevent gas leakage and enable the scaling of hydrogen as a clean energy source in the industrial and aerospace sectors.

Simon Bates, Actuation Lab’s CEO, said: “In 2022, our team worked incredibly hard to secure development contracts, grants and investment to develop key components for the hydrogen supply chain. When they came to fruition, we needed to rapidly expand our team in 2023. Having a strong connection to SETsquared and the University of Bristol has helped us find a group of incredibly motivated team members from operations to engineering.”

SETsquared Bristol is a dedicated advocate of diversity in tech, with specific programmes, initiatives and events to encourage under-represented and minoritised groups into tech entrepreneurship.  These include its Enterprising Women programme, fully funded by NatWest, and inclusivity HR training for its companies, delivered by Babbasa.

Its work towards gender parity is paying off, with 49% of the incubator’s companies in 2023 being led by a women founder or C-Suite member. Furthermore, 25% of the total investment raises in 2023 came from its women-led companies.

Kimberley Brook, Director at SETsquared Bristol, said: “We’re thrilled to see the impact our companies are having on creation of new jobs for the region and wider, and the breadth of diverse founders finding success in our incubation programmes. We look forward to building on this for 2024.”