Four of Bristol’s most innovative tech businesses are hoping for investment after taking part in a pitch event for £20m funding in London.
The annual Accelerating Growth Investment Showcase staged by the SETsquared incubator network was this year attended by around 150 investors, all eager to back high-growth businesses.
The four Bristol firms – Good Sixty, LettUs Grow, LuJam Security Ltd and Motion Impossible - are based at SETsquared’s incubator in the city’s Engine Shed hub.
SETsquared, which is backed by the universities of Bristol, Bath, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey, provides mentoring support and comprehensive pitch training to enable member firms to pitch to potential investors.
The Bristol firms were joined by 16 others from around the SETsquared network. All the firms also exhibited at the showcase, giving them the chance to talk to would-be backers face-to-face.
Andy Nancollis, CTO at Motion Impossible, which markets robotic dolly systems for VR filming, said: “We were very excited to be pitching at SETsquared’s Investment Showcase in London. The commercial support and advice that SETsquared has given us has been invaluable. We’re really hoping that the event will put us in contact with an investor who can help us to scale up our robotics business.”
Jack Farmer, founder and director at LettUs Grow, which provides irrigation and control technology for vertical farms, said: “It has been a positive day, we’ve met lots of interesting investors and potential collaborators. It has been fantastic to meet investors who can bring more than just funding, but also connections, mentorship and a shared vision.”
Among the potential investors in the audience was Davide Sangiovanni, founder of Graffiti Syndicate. He said: “I was very impressed with the quality and range of the investment opportunities on offer. The propositions put forward were well considered and the pitches were very high-quality. I will definitely be returning next year.”
Also flying the flag for Bristol innovation were Good Sixty, which connects people with the best independent food businesses in the city, and cyber security firm LuJam Security.
SETsquared Bristol centre director Emma Thorn said: “I am hugely proud of the success that businesses involved with SETsquared achieve on their pathway to growth. This year we have seen some extraordinary companies come forward with fantastic investment propositions.
“The investor community that we work with has turned out in significant numbers. This is a testament to the faith that they have in quality of the deal flow presented at SETsquared events. In 2016 businesses we supported raised £166.7m and I am confident after today, 2017 will also be a bumper year for the companies we have been working with.”
The 20 start-ups and scale-ups at the showcase, the 13th annual event of its kind staged by SETsquared, have developed technology in the sectors of advanced engineering, VR, retail, healthcare, robotics and cyber security.
They vied for investments of between £200,000 and £3m.
Over the past 15 years SETsquared – named by UBI Global as the world’s top university business incubator in the world – has helped more than 1,500 businesses raise £1.25bn in investment.
Pictured at the Accelerating Growth Investment Showcase, from left: Craig Harris and Andy Nancollis of Motion Impossible with Emma Thorn, SETsquared Bristol centre director
