Bristol tech businesses are to have access to a £10m specialist investment fund launched in the city this week. Great Western Ventures will back small, fast-growth tech firms with seed funding – so plugging a widely acknowledged gap in the city’s otherwise high-quality business support ‘eco-system’. The fund, backed...
SETsquared, the University of Bristol-backed innovation partnership, has been named as the best in the world after creating 9,000 jobs and contributing £3.8bn to the UK economy. From its launch 13 years ago, SETsquared – which has its Bristol base at the city’s Engine Shed innovation hub – has...
Bristol-based specialist software firm BOXARR, which works with global aerospace and defence groups, is to significantly accelerate its growth plans after receiving investment of £2m. The funding will allow the firm, the world’s leading provider of Interdependent Systems Management (ISM) software, to extend its geographical reach and advance its...
A London-based venture capital firm is highlighting Bristol as one of Europe’s most attractive places for investment in start-up companies. Since its launch just over a year ago, Downing Ventures has invested almost a third of its entire portfolio in start-ups based in the Bristol area. Its investments include...
SETsquared, the University of Bristol-backed innovation partnership, has been named the best in Europe at helping new businesses for the third year running. The recognition came in the University Business Incubator (UBI) Index, which ranks Europe’s best performing university business incubators. SETsquared, a partnership of the universities of Bristol,...
Bristol software development consultancy Scott Logic has celebrated its 10 anniversary having gone from a start-up with three staff to a headcount of more than 180 across four offices. The firm was founded in 2005 by managing director Gary Scott after a successful IT career in investment banking. His...
Three innovative Bristol tech start-ups will be showcasing their businesses at St James’s Palace in London as part of Pitch@Palace, an initiative founded by HRH The Duke of York, who was in the city this week to meet fledgling firms taking part in the challenge. Wriggle, YellowDog and Altitude...
Smart parcel delivery box company Pelipod has relocated from London to Bristol and become a member of the SETsquared business incubation programme. Founded in 2013, Pelipod has created a connected, secure, unattended parcel box that uses machine-to-machine communications to transmit secure codes for parcel and user access; allowing both...
Opposable Games, the Bristol-based computer games developer and organiser of the UK’s largest virtual reality (VR) conference, has launched a new company focused on this growing area of technology. Based in the Bristol Games Hub in Stokes Croft, Opposable Games have been developing VR experiences into its own games...
Accountancy and investment management group Smith & Williamson has launched a free tax calculator to enable businesses to work out how much tax they could be saving on their research and development (R&D) costs. The online tool has been set up in the light of research suggesting that thousands...
Bristol robotics firm Reach, formed by young entrepreneur Silas Adekunle, is to join the US-based Qualcomm Robotics Accelerator to support it in launching its Mecha Monsters robot gaming system. The San Diego-based unit, which is backed by Techstars, has a mission to help the world’s most-promising robotics start-ups take...
American supercomputer giant Cray has opened its new European, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) headquarters in Bristol – strengthening the city’s reputation as a hotbed for IT innovation. A global leader in supercomputing, Cray is behind the Met Office’s new £97m supercomputer in Exeter – set to be one...
The South West’s biggest free business event gets underway today with organisers saying it looks set to be a flyaway success. Up to 3,000 delegates are expected to attend the Business Showcase South West 2015, which returns to returns to Bristol’s Colston Hall today and tomorrow. Star attractions include...
