Innovative tech businesses from across the South came together in London to pitch for £20m investment to an audience of 150 investors at SETsquared’s annual Accelerating Growth Investment Showcase.
The companies pitching included Good Sixty, LettUs Grow, LuJam Security Ltd and Motion Impossible from Bristol.
Emma Thorn, centre director at business incubation network SETsquared in Bristol 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.”
20 of the UK’s most exciting start-ups and scale-ups were at the showcase vying for investments of between £200k and £3m from an audience of more than 150 investors and corporates on 5th December 2017.
The businesses pitching at the event have developed technology in the sectors of advanced engineering, VR, retail, healthcare, robotics and cyber security.
Andy Nancollis, CTO at Motion Impossible, who market robotic dolly systems for VR filming, said: “We’re very excited to be pitching today 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, who provide irrigation and control tech solutions 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.”
Davide Sangiovanni, founder of Graffiti Syndicate, 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.”
Over the last 15 years SETsquared has helped more than 1,500 businesses raise over £1.25bn in investment, as well as contributing over £3.8bn in GVA (Gross Value Added) to the UK economy with £8.6bn GVA estimated over the next decade – figures that contributed to it being named by UBI Global as the top university business incubator in the world.