INSIGHTS / News

Rosie Bennett will be joining the SETsquared Partnership in February as its Interim Executive Director

Well known to many across the start-up and investment ecosystem, Rosie brings a wealth of experience in innovation, entrepreneurship and venture support. She has previously worked as SETsquared’s Investment Manager and Centre Director at SETsquared Bath, and most recently at Bristol Innovations as Innovation Lead, where she focused on developing business support programmes and enterprise partnerships. Rosie has also held strategic roles in some of the region’s prominent scaling companies, including EarSwitch, Kelpi and Mystic AI.

Rosie takes the helm from Marty Reid, who has been SETsquared’s Executive Director since 2022 and is now taking up the role of Director of Innovation at the University of Bristol.

Of her appointment, Rosie said: “I’m excited to be going back to SETsquared at such an important moment for the Partnership. SETsquared plays a vital role in supporting ambitious founders and connecting universities, investors and industry. I’m really looking forward to working with the team and partners to build on the strong foundations already in place, and to help the emerging ventures from our university ecosystems scale and succeed.”

As Interim Executive Director, Rosie will lead the Partnership’s strategic direction and day-to-day operations. Her focus will be on maintaining momentum across SETsquared’s programmes, taking forward the deep tech start-up and spin-out investment vehicle with QantX, strengthening collaborations, and ensuring founders continue to receive world-class support as they grow their businesses.

Huge thanks go to Marty Reid, who has led the Partnership for the last three years. During his tenure, Marty spearheaded key initiatives to strengthen cross-university collaboration, deepen engagement with investors and corporate partners, and further enhance SETsquared’s reputation as a leading accelerator for university-linked start-ups. His leadership has helped position the Partnership for its next phase of growth, and we wish him every success in his new role at the University of Bristol.