Start-ups at tech incubator raise £40.2m
START-UPS at a Bristol Universityled tech incubator raised a combined £40.2 million in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic.
More than half of SETsquared Bristol’s 80 members secured funding last year in a record year for the Engine Shed-based accelerator.
The funding equates to more than 10 per cent of the total investment raised in the South West for the third year running.
Companies within SETsquared also created 225 new jobs in the region, generated £32 million in turnover revenues, and achieved record numbers for leadership diversity.
Investment successes in 2020 included digital eye care company OKKO Health, which raised £1.3 million from funding and a grant from Innovate UK to develop a new app which enables eye professionals to remotely monitor patients’ eye health.
OKKO Health co-founder and chief executive Dr Stephanie Campbell said: “Covid-19 has made the need more urgent to bring homemonitoring technology to ophthalmology. We were delighted to secure both investment and grant funding in 2020 to develop our product, secured with the support of the SETsquared team.”
Duel, which has developed tech to help brands drive word-of-mouth sales, also secured £1.8 million to develop its brand advocacy tools, advance its patented curation AI and hire more staff.
And GenomeKey, a company researching ways to diagnose and treat sepsis more quickly, raised £192,000 from 16 members of Bristol Private Equity Club.
Steve Edwards, centre director of SETsquared Bristol, said the results were a reminder of the strength of tech innovation in the South West and a testament to the work of its members.
“[It is] a sign of the consistency of the SETsquared Bristol programme,” he said. “We are also proud that we have done this the right way, with our focus on inclusion paying dividends through an incredible representation of women and black, Asian and minority ethnic founders.”