SETsquared supported companies use advanced technologies, deep science and university originated IP, to create products and services which will transform and save lives and help the world achieve Net-Zero. There are many individual founder stories of how SETsquared support has beenvital in taking these innovations to market, where the social, economic, and environmental impact can be fully realised. Dr Shakar Jafari is the Founder and CTO of TrueInvivo which is revolutionising the success of radiotherapy treatments through its use of specially designed micro silica beads - DOSEmapper™ technology - that can measure the exact dose of radiation a patient receives. The many advantages of this include better targeting of cancers, high confidence in dose accuracy, and a significant reduction in the damage to healthy tissue around the cancer. Dr Jafari developed her innovation after the sad loss of her father to cancer and through working in a radiation department and realising that radiation detectors used all had their limitations. As an Early Career Researcher at the University of Surrey, she took part in multiple SETsquared programmes including ICURe and she credits this programme with helping her change her mindset from a clinical researcher into an innovator and kick-started her entrepreneurial career. She has since received support to raise investment from the SETsquared Surrey Acceleration Centre and has showcased at multiple SETsquared Investment Showcases enabling them to meet 100s of investors. DOSEmapper will soon be available commercially and is set to transform radiation treatment for millions of patients worldwide.

Power of Collaboration: Over the last 20 years SETsquared has grown from a partnership of 4 universities to a partnership of 6 – the collective power of this ecosystem is compelling to entrepreneurs, investors, and funders. However, it is also a complex organisation to manage – all universities naturally compete for funding and talent. SETsquared has learnt to set agreed goals for the partnership, openly share best practices between the partners and reward collaborative behaviour. The result has been to establish a culture where collaboration is the logical choice – this
has been the key to our long-standing and successful partnership.

Entrepreneurs as Advocates: SETsquared has always managed its ecosystem as a membership organisation. Entrepreneurs, start-ups & scale-ups join SETsquared programmes and identify with SETsquared as members during the critical formative phase of their enterprise. This period is often the most vivid (and sometimes the happiest!) of their entrepreneurial journey and we have found that many founders have such a positive experience of their ‘time with SETsquared’ that they are willing to ‘give back’ later on as mentors, advisers, investors, and advocates. There is nothing as powerful as the voice of entrepreneurs who have experienced SETsquared advocating the network.

SETsquared has set a 10-year mission to accelerate the growth of the ecosystem of support and infrastructure for high-tech, high-growth enterprises to deliver impact and income, develop entrepreneurial talent and reputational value for the SETsquared Partners and support their regional
economies. Our principal objectives are:

• To double the number of high-tech, high-growth enterprises in our ecosystem that have spun-out of or are connected to the SETsquared Partners to 1,000 companies.
• To leverage the power of the SETsquared Partners’ collaboration to secure Government & private sector investment for our ecosystem (eg by aggregating deal & talent flow) and raise a £100m investment fund.
• To advocate our ecosystem and promote its development, its world-class reputation and the critical contribution made to it by the SETsquared Partners. By 2032 we will build an ecosystem that strategically invests in itself to deliver impact, income & reputational value for partner universities and become an economic powerhouse for our region, an Asset Manager of companies that commercialise SETsquared’s university partner research and a catalyst for innovation culture, at scale, across SETsquared Campuses.