Two of Bristol’s most-exciting tech innovators are to bid for funding worth £30m in front of an audience made up of some of the UK’s top investors.
The firms, based in the city’s SETsquared innovation incubator, will take part in the real-life Dragon’s Den-style showcase at The Shard in London next Wednesday. 
Ultrahaptics, which is developing technology that uses ultrasound to create the feeling of touch in mid-air, and VUiN, a video-on-demand service for Bollywood movies, will be among more than 20 SETsquared tech start-ups at the event on the 22nd floor of the iconic skyscraper, Europe’s tallest building.
Each business will have just 10 minutes to pitch to the likes of Mercia Fund Management and Eden Ventures.
The event, called Accelerating Growth and now in its 11th year, is organised by SETsquared, the business incubation programme run by a partnership of the universities of Bristol, Bath, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey.
SETsquared businesses have raised some £60m in investment over the past year, a 100% increase on 2013. Accelerating Growth, which is support by leading intellectual property firm Mathys & Squire, aims to boost that figure by putting start-ups face-to-face with angel investors, venture capitalists, high net worth individuals and self-certified sophisticated investors.
SETsquared innovation director Simon Bond said: “The fact that businesses within our incubator have doubled the amount of funding they have raised in the last year proves there is real appetite for investors to partner with high growth potential technology companies. This positive outlook has created a real buzz around our event and we are hoping to add significantly to the amount we have helped our companies raise at Accelerating Growth.”
Over the past 12 years SETsquared has helped more than 1,000 businesses raise over £1bn in investment, figures that have contributed to it being named by the UBI as the top university business incubator in Europe and number two in the world.
Among the SETsquared companies to receive substantial investment in the past year is Bristol-based retail management software business Brightpearl, which secured a $10m funding injection led by new investor MMC Ventures, alongside participation from Quayle Munro and existing investors Eden Ventures and Notion Capital. The money has allowed the company to invest in its product and expand sales.
The two Bristol businesses taking part in Accelerating Growth are:
Ultrahaptics
Ultrahaptics is the world’s leading touchless haptics company. Their unique technology brings the sense of touch to gesture control, creating the magical experience of feeling without touching.
www.ultrahaptics.com
VUiN
VUiN is a video on demand service which offers an easier solution to watch Indian movies at your convenience. VUiN has already built strong strategic relationship with movie distributors in the UK and India. VUiN operates its own Content Delivery Platform where by reducing the cost per stream which enables VUiN to provide a unique Revenue share proposition to the distributors. VUiN also offers cine news, galleries, trailers and short films that can be accessed on various internet‐enabled devices including computers, mobile phones, tablets and smart‐televisions.
