Since April 2021, the SETsquared Exeter Business Accelerator has delivered the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) University of Exeter Enterprise Zone (UEEZ) project. The UEEZ project has allowed the Accelerator to increase the scale and scope of its operations, supporting the ability of the SETsquared Exeter team to build relationships with innovation centres, incubators and co-working spaces across Devon and enabling founders from across the County to access the high growth support from where they live, delivering local impact.
The UEEZ project has also allowed the SETsquared Exeter team to deliver the Discovery Room events series. We have hosted 16 network meetings and conferences at venues across Devon that brought together more than 71 guest speakers and over 500 attendees to build connections between business and academia on subjects from AgriTech and AI to Quantum Computing and Net Zero.
Through our Entrepreneurs Workout and Innovation Discovery Studio programmes, we have helped founders better understand the problems they are trying to solve and develop business models that add value.
We have worked with over 100 new members, creating 20 new products and 26 new jobs. Our Interim Executive grant scheme has created a new network of regionally based, experienced entrepreneurs and business people who are motivated to help build the regional economy by working with our members, and we have awarded over £20K in grant funding to allow them to do just that. As a result of the growth in support services that the UEEZ project has enabled, SETsquared Exeter Businesses have secured an estimated total of £5.7m in grants and investment that will allow further growth and positive impact to be felt locally.
The impact of the UEEZ project will continue to be felt after the funding period. The SETsquared Exeter Business Accelerator will continue to operate from the Exeter Science Park Centre, providing world-class support that helps high-growth business owners to achieve their goals. The relationships and networks the ERDF funding has initiated will endure, providing mutually valuable connections across the County and beyond, allowing founders from any part of Devon to connect to the programmes, services and people that help turn innovation into thriving business and driving economic growth within our regions and across the UK.
“We have worked with over 100 new members, creating 20 new products and 26 new jobs.”