Scaleup programmes
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SETsquared Scale-Up Programme
Infrastructure
Impact for scaleups
600+
active SETsquared Innovation Platform users
£57m
GVA between 2018 - 2023
£7.5 : £1
ROI
£72m
collaborative R&D funding
62%
of participating scaleups collaborated with an academic from a SETsquared university
Key sectors
SETsquared is a university-business network comprising six UK universities – Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey. Its Scale-Up support, endorsed by the ScaleUp Institute in 2023, has been restructured into a series of sector-focused programmes that address common scaling challenges, including access to research collaboration, public funding, and private investment. These programmes are accessed through the SETsquared Innovation Platform, which currently has over 600 active users, and support businesses operating in areas such as clean growth, health, sustainable transport, and telecoms. The sectoral focus ensures that SETsquared’s current programmes are aligned to national innovation and growth priorities.
The programme’s model retains the structure of the original Scale-Up Programme, offering three primary strands of support: general business development through activities such as innovation and impact ‘workouts’; support for developing collaborative R&D bids with academic partners; and investment readiness assistance to enable access to private capital. This approach embeds the successful approach developed through the Scale-Up Programme, while adapting to national priorities and future-facing innovation funding streams.
Complementing this sectoral approach, SETsquared has also implemented measures to strengthen research commercialisation. Its Executives into Business (EIB) programme placed ten experienced executives into spinout ventures, bringing essential commercial leadership into emerging businesses. Insights from EIB have been embedded in Impact-IP, a follow-on programme focused on streamlining technology transfer, standardising legal and commercial frameworks, and building commercial readiness among early-career researchers and Entrepreneurs in Residence—further accelerating the route to market for academic innovation.
An independent evaluation published in September 2023 reported that programme participants experienced an average annual growth of 20% in turnover and employment. Companies involved in the programme secured £713 million in private investment and £72 million in collaborative R&D funding, with 62% engaging in academic collaborations with SETsquared institutions. Since 2018, participants have contributed £57 million in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy, representing a £7.50 return for every £1 of Connecting Capability Fund (CCF) investment. These businesses are projected to contribute £1.3 billion in GVA by 2030. The current programme structure is based on the outcomes of this evaluation and continues to reflect the priorities identified through that delivery.
