Investment Futures

Two Catalyst alumni businesses, Nuonano and SOLead Energy, were selected to participate in the prestigious SETsquared Investment Futures event held at Codenode in London on 4 November.

This annual event brings together investors, founders, policymakers, and academics to explore the evolving landscape of investment in innovation across the UK. This year, it featured a panel discussion, critical challenge roundtables and keynotes from Professor Michele Barbour, Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor Enterprise & Innovation at the University of Bristol, and David Hourican, Chief Financial Officer for British Business Bank.

SOLead Energy and Nuonano were invited to pitch alongside nine other investment-ready start-ups and scale-ups. Both companies participated in Southampton Science Park’s business accelerator programme, Catalyst this spring to help equip them for meetings with investors and influencers.

Dr Mehrdad Alibouri is the founder of advanced materials specialist, Nuonano with a patented process to address a market need for high-quality, low-cost, sustainable graphene in lithium-ion battery production.  He said, “Investment Futures was an excellent opportunity to connect with investors and present Nuonano’s cutting-edge graphene technology. It was a valuable experience that provided great exposure and insightful feedback from the investment community. We’ve received tremendous support from both SETsquared and the Science Park throughout the programme, which has been instrumental in helping us progress our innovation.”

SOLead Energy is a University of Southampton spinout with a low cost, environmentally benign approach to energy storage, effective for integrating renewable technologies and securing energy supply. Cofounder and CEO Dr Ewan Fraser commented, “The SETsquared Investment Futures event was a fantastic opportunity for the SoLead team. It was great to hear from the keynote speakers on the investment landscape in the UK and how the area of university spinouts has formed and grown in recent years. For our company, there was real value in facilitating the almost non-stop meaningful conversations we had with investors and possible future partners throughout the day. We’re looking forward to the follow ups and seeing where these opportunities take us.”

Could your business be pitching at next year’s SETsquared Investment Futures? Research has shown that accelerated startups raise 44% more investment than non-accelerated peers and are more likely to survive and scale.

If you have an early stage business serious about growth, find out about Catalyst, the Central South’s leading business accelerator, which is now accepting applications for the next cohort commencing spring 2026.

Successful applicants benefit from one to one mentoring, workshops led by entrepreneurs and subject experts over an 18 week structured programme. They will cover how to: create a compelling value proposition and business plan, build and lead a team, protect and market the offering, raise finance and manage shareholders, negotiate and sell effectively, and more.