October 13th 2011 - At the eighth annual SETsquared Partnership Investment Showcase, innovations from across many technology sectors were demonstrated by eighteen high-tech early stage UK companies.

The Investment Showcase was held at 1 Great George Street, London on October 12th, and attracted over 120 venture capitalists, angel investors and high net-worth individuals, the largest draw of investors for an event of this type in the UK. Graham Harrison, Partnership Director of SETsquared hosted the event.

Peter Davies, director, YFM Equity Partners said: "We are a significant investor in a number of SETsquared companies with the leading three now in the process of bringing step-change technologies into their respective global markets. The SETsquared showcase provides the opportunity to meet a high quality portfolio of early-stage companies, as well as networking with other UK investors."

The showcasing companies were excited by the opportunity and the investors they met. Mike Baker, CEO, Xsilon said: “The support of SETsquared is phenomenal – we would not have got to where we are now without them.” Sandra Sassow, CEO, SEaB Energy said: “SETsquared is helping our exposure, and bringing credibility to our offering by backing us in the investment market – which is particularly helpful in this economic climate.”

Graham Harrison said: “As in previous years, the Investment Showcase has given us a platform to put together some of the UK’s best early-stage high-tech companies with a very large group of potential investors. This is a golden opportunity for the companies to showcase their offer to so many investors at one time. Helping support new businesses and giving them the ability to accelerate their growth is what SETsquared does so well.”

The businesses were pitching for investment of between £150,000 and £4 million each. Over the past seven years participants have raised over £100 million in investment, with £9m raised from last year’s event alone.

The SETsquared Partnership combines the resources of the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter Southampton and Surrey to incubate early-stage technology businesses.

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Notes to Editors:

Companies at the Investment Showcase:
• Alloy RFID Solutions - Our community loyalty solution which uses one loyalty card to serve all participating retailers in a local community provides a potential 150,000 SME high street retailers in the UK with the customer data and insight that an effective loyalty programme brings at a price they can afford.

• Attomarker - Postoperative patient recovery monitoring system based on biochemical readings that ensures patients are released at the right time, thereby freeing up bed occupancy and other resources.

• Azurtane - Real-time measurements of gas emissions, and energy consumption; targeted at the operators of the merchant marine fleet of 85,000 vessels globally. It provides assurance of compliance with emission regulations and enables monitoring, in real time, the effectiveness of strategies to reduce fuel consumption and curtail the annual merchant marine fuel bill which currently exceeds £180bn pa.

• Bamboo Innovations - Improving financial confidence by combining online education with a 3D city regeneration game. Delivering independent, engaging and easily accessible games based learning for an essential life skill – personal financial education.

• Blu-Wireless Technology - BWT is a fabless semiconductor company developing low cost multi-Gigabit WiFi products set to become a core component of all tomorrow’s consumer electronics devices.

• Calvium - SaaS mobile phone app development tool for digital media companies to cost-effectively design and build their own mobile apps.

• dpcloud - A browser-based application for recording, tagging and publishing live video and video presentations with sync'd media like PowerPoint and social media (Twitter). Ideal for the eLearning industry, valued over $48bn.

• iGeolise - This company has created and launched an application that will allow users of any website, mobile or digital application to search for content they can reach within the time they have available. It's called Travel Time, because minutes mean more than miles.
• ImobiGo - Enables pubs, clubs, bars, restaurants and similar venues to increase sales by accurately measuring and rewarding customer loyalty.

• IPROS CUBE - IPROS CUBE is a comprehensive business performance improvement platform, with an attractive cost model based on the Internet “cloud” and an integrated information delivery capability to enable businesses to rapidly optimise their operations processes and improve profitability.

• Kraft Maus - Integrates off-grid, hybrid renewable energy systems to deliver instant and continuous AC and DC power, in static, mobile and portable configurations

• Locale - Award winning company’s new service Locale, allows SMEs to launch foreign-language versions of their e-commerce web sites for 20% of the current cost. In 2010 the worldwide spend on software and website localisation was $3bn.

• SEaB Energy - Onsite containerised energy from waste solution: MUCKBUSTER™ converts food and organic waste into energy, reducing power bills, creating bi-product income, whilst helping to divert waste from landfill.

• SOFANT Technologies - A smart antenna for smart phones that increases signal strength and reduces transmitted power by up to 90%. It increases battery life and reduces the number of internal antennas required.

• Stratus Transport Connections - An online exchange for the road freight industry that enables prime contractors and independent hauliers to collaborate efficiently.

• TISICS - A lightweight composite material that is an alternative to high strength steel for aerospace. Lighter means cheaper, cleaner flying; lower CO2 emissions, lower fuel consumption and less carbon tax.

• TopicLogic - Provides a new and incredibly easy way for people to find, share and manage their files and email attachments wherever they are - replacing folders and enhancing search.

• Xsilon - Unlike traditional smart metering that measures the whole house, this monitor fits into a 13A plug and measures energy used by individual appliances. This allows appliances to be controlled, enabling consumers to take advantage of new time-related tariffs from the energy suppliers.

For more information on the Investment Showcase go to http://www.setsquared.co.uk/partnership/investment-showcase/investment-showcase-2011

About the SETsquared Partnership www.setsquared.co.uk
www.twitter.com/setsquared
The SETsquared Partnership is the enterprise collaboration of the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey. Together, the universities employ 7,400 academic staff; and earn nearly 10% of the UK’s higher education research budget.
The partnership has a 10-year track record of supporting companies through its business acceleration centres, which provide access to industry specialists, investors and experienced entrepreneurs. SETsquared currently supports over 250 early stage high-tech, high growth potential businesses, and 90% of its incubated companies are still in business three years on. In the past five years, nearly £0.75bn in investment funding has been raised by spin outs and incubated companies.
SETsquared supports student enterprise including an annual showcase and a global scholars program. It provides opportunities for industry to access academic ideas with commercial potential and seeks to promote the impact, economically and socially, of its institutions’ research and enterprise activities.

Further information:
Nick Daines,
Lumen PR
Email: nick[at]lumenpr[dot]com,
Tel: 0115 8412109
Mobile: 07958 534731

Distributed on behalf of SETsquared by NeonDrum news distribution service (http://www.neondrum.com)