Surrey accelerates $2.9m program

Surrey University today announced an accelerator program that will support more than 360 entrepreneurs thanks to £2.4m ($2.9m) in capital provided by the EU’s European Regional Development Fund.

The three-year initiative will be delivered through SetSquared, the collaboration between Surrey, Bath, Bristol, Exeter and Southampton. A range of local private and public partners are also supporting the program.

It is further bolstered by private-public local enterprise partnership Enterprise M3, which works to promote economic growth in Surrey and Hampshire.

The program will be run from hubs in Basingstoke, Guildford, Woking and Farnborough – cities within Enterprise M3’s remit.

SetSquared, the world’s leading university business incubator according to UBI Index, already operates in Basingstoke and Guildford, and will now expand to Woking through a partnership with Tannery Studios Innovation Centre for Creative Industries.

SetSquared plans on expanding to Farnborough before the end of the year.

The program will offer training, access to mentors, venture capital investors and specialist services through Surrey University’s 5G Innovation Centre. It will be officially launched at Enterprise M3’s annual conference on November 16.

Entrepreneurs and startups from the digital sector can register their interest through an online form on SetSquared’s website.

Simon Bond, innovation director at SetSquared, said: “This partnership is vitally important for linking up the incredible research that is being done in the area, with facilities such as Surrey University’s 5G Innovation Centre, and early-stage companies.

“The additional growth hubs will deliver a very real impact to the EM3 area, which is already becoming a leading hub of digital research and innovation in the UK.

“We are proud to have played our part in this exciting new collaboration. Our innovation hub in Basingstoke opened at the end of 2014 and has already seen investment success for the companies. It is fast becoming apparent that to be a part of the digital economy, you definitely need to be based in this area.”