The University of Surrey is a founding partner of the SETsquared partnership. Together with the universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter & Southampton; SETsquared supports new business’ to boost the economy and aid in job creation. The SETsquared staff and business acceleration centres are funded by the High Education Initiative fund (HEIF) and their remit is to provide non-profit business support.

The SETsquared Incubator at Surrey offers affordable well maintained, supported office space as well as keen business advice for its members.  Members can be spin-outs or spin-ins from research conducted at the University of Surrey or independent start-ups and small & medium enterprises (SME’s) from the region.  SETsquared also works closely with the Technology Transfer team & the Student Enterprise initiatives at the University of Surrey.

The team at SETsquared Surrey is lead by Incubation Director, Sarah De’Lacy who is also Operations Manager of the Surrey Technology Centre, situated on the Surrey Research Park. Along side Sarah, Sophie Hill, Centre Manager; Ben Partridge, Entrepreneur in Residence; Joan Moore, Centre Administrator; all aid the member companies by providing business advice & supporting them as they grow.

Being part of SETsquared allows Start-up & SME’s to access a network of mentors who are seasoned entrepreneurs with valuable advice & experience that can benefit a company as it begins to grow and face new challenges. They also offer Investor Readiness Training to their members, as well as any company wishing to go forward to the University of Surrey’s Angel Club (Surrey 100 Club).  SETsquared also provides an annual Investor Event in London, where they will showcase their best 20 member companies to over 150 Venture Capitalists and High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI’s).

The members also benefit from being based within SETsquared’s shared office space, as they become a network for each other, by being a member, individuals have the ability to meet and potentially work collaboratively with other companies that they normally would not have met, creating mutually beneficial relationships.