Enterprise partnership
The SETsquared Partnership of the Universities of Bristol, Bath, Southampton and Surrey was successful in winning £12.9 million in the second bidding round of the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s (HEFCE) Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF2), the largest award made under this Fund. This covers the period August 2004 to July 2006 and funds the majority of enterprise posts and support at the University of Bristol.
The University sees this partnership as an opportunity to help develop the university profile in the south of England. In the words of the Vice Chancellor, ‘this is the closest and broadest collaboration that the University of Bristol is participating in’. This long term partnership builds on relationships developed over a number of years through multimillion pound collaborations such as the Wessex Enterprise Centre (developing enterprise education), the Sulis Seedcorn Investment Fund which invests in spinout companies and SETsquared, a large programme supporting new technology companies through incubation and mentoring services.
The Wessex Enterprise Centre
The Wessex Enterprise Centre (WEC) is a partnership between the Universities of Bristol, Bath and Southampton, led by the University of Bristol. WEC's aim is to equip future entrepreneurs with the inspiration and skills to create and grow new businesses by delivering high quality enterprise programmes and materials for students, staff and business people.
Wyvern Seedcorn Fund
With our University partners at Southampton (The Wyvern Seedcorn Fund), we share funding for seedcorn investment for our University start up businesses with a fund of £9 million managed by investment managers Quester.
SETsquared
The SETsquared partnership provides business "hatchery" space and related support at the four universities, with start-up space for high-tech, high growth companies who are developing their business concept.