SETsquared, the innovative business incubator partnership that includes the University of Bath, has been named as the joint best in Europe at helping fledgling tech firms meet their potential.
The accolade comes from the University Business Incubator (UBI) Index which also made it joint fourth best in the world, behind US institutions. It shares the best-in-Europe title with NDRC LaunchPad in the Republic of Ireland.
The index assessed 150 incubators in 22 countries across three assessment categories, 10 benchmark indexes and more than 50 performance indicators.
The only other British institution in the top 20 was the incubator run by the University of Oxford, at 19.
In the decade since its launch SETsquared, which includes the universities of Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey as well as Bath, has given birth to some 1,000 hi-tech start-ups.
SETsquared partnership director Graham Harrison added: “These successes, combined with the UBI Index ranking, are proof that our model works. We have been supporting the UK’s economic growth by championing these innovative start-ups for the last 10 years and, without question, we see the UK’s economy over the next decade being underpinned by the kind of hi-tech, start-up businesses we are nurturing.
“This is further proof that the UK is hot on the heels of the US in the way it is nurturing entrepreneurialism and lean start-ups. We do see the UK’s economic growth coming from the kind of companies within our incubator and this latest survey is evidence that we are going about developing them in the right way.”
SETsquared aims to raise the agenda for wider support for UK tech start-ups at an event in London this year. Its Accelerating Growth event, which marks its 10th anniversary, will provide an opportunity for key figures in UK business incubation to discuss what support UK technology start-ups need to achieve growth. Among those who will speak at the event will be Technology Strategy Board chief executive Iain Gray.
The event, on November 27, will feature live investor pitches and bring together some of SETsquared’s most successful companies over the past 10 years as well as some of its most exciting tech start-ups.
