Businesses supported by the University of Exeter have raised £10.3m investment despite the global pandemic
SETsquared has released data which shows that companies supported by the University of Exeter, including SETsquared Exeter, have raised £10.3m worth of investment from private and public sources in 2020.
This is also reflected in the national picture whereby SETsquared member companies raised a record level of investment totalling £616m, which represents a 40% increase on 2019.
These companies will have received support through a range of different programmes including through the SETsquared Exeter Business Acceleration Centre, ICURe innovation to commercialisation programme, research commercialisation services and student enterprise support.
“The record-setting £616m raise reflects the hard work of hundreds of committed founders and innovators across the SETsquared ecosystem who are developing technologies which will transform the future, from the way we live, travel and learn to the way we care for each other and our environment,” said Simon Bond, Innovation Director at SETsquared.
“It shows that even during a global pandemic, strong ventures with good university connections, ambitious teams and the right support, will continue to raise investment.”
SETsquared Exeter member Rolemapper is an AI-powered intelligent job design platform which automates and transforms how organisations design and manage job descriptions to hire, retain and grow an inclusive and diverse workforce.
The company raised in 2020 to drive accelerated growth of new customers and revenue, through increased sales and marketing resource, as well as rapid tech development.
Sara Hill, Founder and CEO, Rolemapper, said: "We've had so much great support from SETsquared. They've helped us shape and focus our business priorities and enabled us to accelerate our lead generation and marketing activities. It's been a great runway for us to grow the business”.
SETsquared, the global no. 1 university business incubator and enterprise partnership of research-intensive universities Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey, supports tech-based businesses from start-up to scale-up with a range of specialist programmes to help companies grow and raise investment.
For more information about SETsquared Exeter visit: https://setsquared.exeter.ac.uk
