The Somerset Innovation Hub is helping early-stage and scaling businesses across the county turn good ideas into commercially viable ones, at no cost to the business
For Somerset businesses trying to move a promising idea forward, whether that’s a new product, a new market or a rethink of how the business works, funding and time are often the two biggest barriers. The Somerset Innovation Hub exists to remove at least one of those obstacles, offering fully-funded, practical support to help businesses navigate exactly those challenges.
What the Hub does
The Somerset Innovation Hub is funded by Somerset Council and delivered by the University of Exeter’s SETsquared team, part of Exeter Innovation. Its focus is deliberately practical: supporting businesses where innovation meets the real-world realities of customers, markets, barriers to entry and funding, rather than innovation for its own sake.
That support takes several forms, including workshops, events, one-to-one advice and expert referrals, aimed at businesses developing new products or services, exploring new markets, building scale and resilience, or rethinking how they operate.
Recent sessions and support
Since January, the Hub has run a series of fully-funded talks and workshops covering investment strategy and investor readiness, turning innovative business ideas into a workable plan, managing and getting value from intellectual property, podcasting effectively for marketing and thought leadership, and using a structured, user-focused approach to turning AI ideas into practical solutions.
Alongside these sessions, the Hub’s lead, Alex Spalding, has been working directly with businesses on real commercial challenges. Recent examples include helping a deep-tech recycling business identify realistic early markets, supporting a sustainable materials company to sequence pilots and partnerships before scaling, guiding an environmental compliance start-up through funding options and first commercial negotiations, and helping an online marketplace founder test demand before building technology. Across all of this, the consistent emphasis is on reducing risk, testing assumptions and building credible foundations before businesses commit to bigger investments of time or money.
Why it matters for Somerset businesses
For founders and business owners, that kind of independent, expert input can be hard to access, and expensive to buy in, at exactly the stage when it’s needed most. Because the Hub is fully funded, businesses can get that support without it adding to their costs, while also connecting with other founders to share experience and access further expert help where needed.
Get involved
Somerset businesses interested in support, a referral, or simply a conversation about their next step are encouraged to get in touch directly.
Contact Alex Spalding, Innovation Support Manager, at a.spalding4@exeter.ac.uk or via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/somerset-innovation-hub
