Three of Bath’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 three Bath firms – Jook, Living Map and Ordoo - are based at SETsquared’s innovation centre in the city.
SETsquared, which is backed by the universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey, provides mentoring support and comprehensive pitch training to enable member firms to pitch to potential investors.
The three Bath firms were joined by 17 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.
Tom Dewhurst, founder of Ordoo, an app to pre-order food and drink, said: “SETsquared put a lot of effort into the event and I was impressed by the number of relevant investors that I met. We hope the hard work will pay off.”
Ordoo recently came 10th in a unique list of the South West’s 25 most disruptive firms.
Also flying the flag for Bath innovation were Jook and Living Map.
Jook has developed the world’s first – and only – peer-to-peer fashion and beauty marketplace where users can buy outfits they love on Instagram, meaning they are only three taps from inspiration to purchase
Living Map was founded by Tim Fendley in 2010 as a research and development arm of his other company, urban design consultancy Applied Wayfinding.
After five years working on and refining prototypes of digital map applications it officially launched its platform and over the past 12 months has grown significantly, expanding its multidisciplinary team from six people to 30 and landing prestigious customers such as Heathrow Airport, the MET Museum and the cities of Cleveland and Vancouver.
SETsquared Bath centre director Rosie Bennett 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.
Bath MP Wera Hobhouse, who attended the showcase, said: “The partnership between technology companies, universities and investors is a great way to grow the economy in the South. The companies based in Bath have a fantastic opportunity to be part of this exciting project.”
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: SETsquared Bath centre director Rosie Bennett, Bath MP Wera Hobhouse, and Jake Ronay of Living Map
