Earlier this year it was announced that funding had been secured through the European Regional Development Fund for new business acceleration hubs. These have been set up through the University of Bath in connection with SETsquared, the world’s number one university business accelerator.

Part of the new hub is the Digital Innovation Business Acceleration Hub (DBAH) which will support 120 companies working on new technologies in the health, well-being and creative media sectors in the West of England. Interest and engagement from tech companies has been very positive since the announcement of the DBAH programme, which highlights the incredibly vibrant and growing number of new or growing tech companies in the region seeking business support.

The DBAH is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund to support start-up and existing high growth SMEs in Digital Innovation. The project will establish and scale-up small and medium enterprises (SMEs) over the next three years within the Social Care, Residential Care, Human Health and Wellbeing fields also Audience Engagement, Entertainment and Creative Media as well as ATR / VR and Immersive Technology. The aim is to help these businesses grow, innovate and establish lasting research partnerships with the University of Bath - offering its expertise and facilities to work with the businesses to undertake research, development and innovation, leading to the adoption and commercialisation of new products, services and technologies that will drive this sector’s growth and productivity.

To officially launch the programme, DBAH have joined forces with TechSPARK, the information hub for all things tech in Bristol, Bath and the West of England region, and will be running a BathSPARK event. The event will include a panel discussion alongside networking, drinks and nibbles. The evening is being supported by local recruitment firm FWD Thinking Recruitment, who help people forge careers in Marketing, Digital and Sales - their reputation and inside knowledge across the South West make them the perfect match-making go-to recruitment firm in this sector.

Garry Pratt, Entrepreneur in Residence who heads up the DBAH programme will compere the evening and three tech start up founders will discuss their journey and how they benefited from the support they received from the business accelerator, SETsquared.

The DBAH launch event will take place ahead of the week long celebration of digital technology - the Bath Digital Festival (23-27 October), on Thursday 18th October from 6pm to 8.30pm at the Bath Brew House. The event is free, but spaces are limited and tickets can be booked via the BathSPARK meet up group.

Talking about the Digital Innovation Hub, Garry Pratt says, “Our connections with the University of Bath SETsquared Innovation Centre has meant we have already been able to engage with over 20 tech start up companies from the region which is great and shows their is an appetite for the hub. The launch event will help cement our programme with key influencers in the tech industry and hopefully attract SMEs to the programme - the DBAH is a great opportunity and offers businesses fully funded bespoke support - our links with academics and researchers at the University of Bath can provide collaborative opportunities which is invaluable to any start up.”

Garry goes on to say, “I’m really looking forward to the launch event - we’ve three very interesting female entrepreneurs lined up for the panel discussion - who have all successfully launched their tech businesses, each with their own individual story. Its perfect timing too as there is a real digital buzz kicking off ahead of the very popular Bath Digital Festival - it’s a great time to be part of the thriving digital scene.”

Come to the launch party!

For more detail about the speakers and to secure your ticket to the event, sign up via the BathSpark meet up page here: https://www.meetup.com/BathSpark/events/254851483/

Launch event for exciting new Digital Innovation Business Acceleration Hub