INSIGHTS / News

• University partnership businesses raise £30m of investment in 12 months
• Head says figures prove incubator programmes are helping fuel the UK recovery

In the last 12 months alone businesses being incubated by the SETsquared Partnership have raised some £30m in investment.

SETsquared’s Partnership Director, Graham Harrison, shared the partnership’s latest success figures with MP David Willetts as he visited Innovate UK this week.

Mr Harrison said: “This is proof that there are opportunities for growth and investment in the UK, despite the widespread pessimism about access to finance. Businesses within our incubation centres, including university spin outs and start-up technology firms, have proven that the opportunities are there for the taking.”

Universities and Science Minister David Willetts said:

“It is great to see universities and businesses working together to secure additional private investment that will help to develop their innovative ideas. Many university spin out companies have really exciting futures and will play an important role in boosting the economy and keeping theUK at the front of the global race in technology and innovation.”

The £30m of investment secured by companies within the SETsquared business incubation programme comes from a range of sources, including angel investors, venture capitalists and government grants.

SETsquared attended Innovate UK alongside some of its incubated companies including Crowdcube, iGeolise, Magma Global and Thoughtified.

Overall SETsquared currently supports over 250 high-tech, high-growth potential start-ups across its five incubators. Around 15 per cent of those companies are spin outs from the universities and the rest businesses from the surrounding areas.

Companies within SETsquared’s incubators have a survival rate of 90 per cent after three years, substantially higher than the national average.

Mr Harrison concluded: “It goes to show the vital part business incubators like ourselves have to play in the recovery of the UK economy. Not only are we nurturing the kind of dynamic and innovative technology companies that will spearhead growth, but we are equipping them with the access to investment and survival rates that they need to flourish.”