News / Tech
Uni incubator and regional investor unveil £300m investment boost for tech spinouts
The incubator, SETsquared and QantX, a leading regional investment firm have unveiled plans for a new £300m investment vehicle aimed at accelerating the creation and growth of science and technology companies tackling global challenges.
The plans were unveiled at the Health & Life Science Summit, which took place on Friday, October 11 at City Hall as part of Bristol Technology Festival which returned for its sixth year.
Organised by techSPARK as the ‘largest regional tech festival’, Bristol Tech Fest featured a weekful of events at multiple venues across the city.
The Friday’s event welcomed professor Patrick Vallance, minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation, as the keynote speaker alongside Darren Jones MP, professor Michele Barbour, associate pro vice-chancellor at University of Bristol and Dr Penny Dash, chair of the North West London Integrated Care Board.
“The UK is home to brilliant innovators and this investment vehicle will help turn great ideas into thriving companies that create high-skilled jobs and exciting new products,” said science minister Patrick Vallance – photo: Julian Preece
The announcement was made by Richard Olver, chair of QantX. This new investment vehicle is set to revolutionise early-stage patient capital, providing much-needed expertise and support to university spin-outs and startups in the region. These companies are working on impactful areas such as sustainability, clean energy, and transformative healthcare.
The SETsquared Partnership, comprising six universities – Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Southampton, and Surrey, boasts a research portfolio exceeding £600m and has produced over 230 spin-out companies.
Despite this success, regional growth and productivity are hindered by significant imbalances in equity funding across the UK, with startups in the region raising on average five times less at early stages than those in the ‘Golden Triangle’ (universities and research institutions located in the cities of Oxford, Cambridge and London)
Richard Olver, chair of QantX, a regional tech investor unveiled the new £300m investment vehicle at Bristol Tech Festival – photo: Julian Preece
One of the key points Lord Vallance, an expert in the Life Sciences sector, highlighted was the migration of promising startups which began their life in the region to other parts of the world in search of investment opportunities in order to expand.
Minister Vallance said: “The UK is home to brilliant innovators and this investment vehicle that brings together six universities with QantX will help turn great ideas into thriving companies that create high-skilled jobs and exciting new products.
“As we prepare for next week’s UK-hosted International Investment Summit, the government is clear that the UK is open for business. Partnerships like this are vital for growing the economy, boosting opportunities, and ultimately improving lives.”
Darren Jones MP, chief secretary to the treasury in the current government and member of parliament for Bristol North West pointed out that the region has not reached its potential – photo: Julian Preece
The new investment vehicle aims to address these disparities by opening up significant co-investment opportunities, de-risking early-stage deep tech propositions for the VC (Venture Capital) and Angel investment community and increasing the overall amount of capital available. Investors are encouraged to get involved and help shape the next steps of this initiative.
QantX is dedicated to bringing economic success to the region by increasing the number of spin-outs, protecting intellectual property, and creating long-term impact. It boasts a proven track record of supporting ambitious science and technology founders, including award-winning teams at Senisca, Ensilitech, iFAST Diagnostics, and Neuronostics.
Bristol Tech Festival, organised by techSPARK brought together academics, experts, stakeholders and startups – photo: Julian Preece
SETsquared is recognised as one of the UK’s most successful innovation partnerships, recently ranked by the Financial Times and Sifted as one of the top three start-up hubs in Europe. The incubator, which celebrated its 20th anniversary recently, has supported some 5000 entrepreneurs so far in the tech sector and helped businesses raise over £5bn in investment and funding.
The partnership has worked with over 400 ventures per year in critical technologies such as AI, engineering biology, semiconductors, and quantum, securing over £5bn in investment and creating over 15,000 jobs since 2002.
Richard Haycock, co-founder and chief executive of QantX, said: “While the UK ranks fourth globally in cutting-edge research and innovation, we’ve often struggled to commercialise these breakthroughs. Our partnership with the SETsquared Universities aims to change this in the South and South West.
“By connecting visionary founders with risk capital and expertise in transformative fields, we’re cultivating a thriving innovation ecosystem that will accelerate economic growth, create high-skilled jobs, and deliver returns for our investors.”
“I think we need to get the startups to come to the universities and see what the universities have to offer,” said professor Richard Martin, associate pro vice chancellor at the University of Bristol – photo: Milan Perera
Professor Richard Martin, associate pro vice chancellor at the University of Bristol and professor of clinical epidemiology at the Bristol Medical School, welcomed the funding boost.
Speaking to Bristol24/7, Martin said: “So my main role is to try and get the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at the University of Bristol, get their researchers to think much more about how they can translate their discoveries into technology that can then be used to improve population health.
“I think we need to get the startups to come to the universities and see what the universities have to offer. But we also need to get our researchers, many of whom are interested in the discovery, but they’re not so much interested in linking in with the commercial sector. So, it’s about getting the two to come together.”
Darren Jones MP, chief secretary to the treasury in the current government and member of parliament for Bristol North West pointed out that the region has not reached its potential.
He said: “Our region has always been a significant contributor to the national growth, but in comparison to other sectors in Europe, we are not going to have full potential. So the question we have to answer is, how can we go further, and how can we go faster?”
Health & Life Science Summit of Bristol Technology Festival was held at City Hall – photo: Julian Preece
Marty Reid, executive director of SETsquared, said: “The potential scale and quality of science and technology companies emerging from the SETsquared University clusters is a match for any ecosystem.
“This new investment vehicle could be a vital step forward in addressing funding gaps and inspiring a new generation of talent to shape the industries of tomorrow. We are delighted to formalise our collaboration with QantX and look forward to engaging with the broader investor community and stakeholders as we move forward.”
Rick Chapman, entrepreneur in residence at SETsquared addressing Tech Xpo in September marking the 20-year legacy of the incubator – photo: Milan Perera
To learn more about SETsquared, visit www.setsquared.co.uk
Main photo: Julian Preece
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