• Swindon & Wiltshire Tech
• Tuesday December 19 2023
• Author Name: Peter Davison

US venture capital firm visits Bristol on first stop of regional UK tour

California-based venture capital firm Andreeseen Horowitz has visited Bristol on the first stop of a regional UK tour to meet business figures from the city’s thriving tech scene.

Three senior partners from the firm made the trip over to Bristol, making the 100-mile trip straight off the plane from Heathrow, accompanied by shadow chief secretary to the treasury and Bristol North West MP Darren Jones.

The delegation was hosted by techSPARK, the not-for-profit dedicated to supporting the South West technology cluster, and who curated the itinerary consisting of discussions, tours, and lunches with some of the region’s tech leaders.

To start their visit, techSPARK led a roundtable discussion with local ecosystem leaders from SETSquared, WECA, Futurespace, Business West, and Engine Shed who also hosted the event.

This was followed by a Founders Roundtable, led by SETsquared, where the investors were able to meet early-stage founders.

South West business owners included Alisdair Price (Siloton), Silas Adekunle (Reach Industries), Tom Wallace-Smith (Astral Systems), Mike MacKay (Drift Energy), Neciah Dorh (FluoretiQ), and Rony Seamons (Icomat).

The party then made their way to Science Creates, for a tour and conversation with founder of Science Creates deep tech ecosystem, Harry Destecroix, and deep tech VC SCVC partner, John Williams.

This was followed by a lunch hosted at the offices of law firm TLT in central Bristol, where the group discussed the investment opportunities and ground-breaking innovation happening throughout the city and wider region.

Local businesses in attendance for the lunch and discussion were: Open Bionics, Kelpi, Tumelo, Okko Health, XpertHR, Mystic AI, IncluedAI, Virti, Matter, Emm, TLT, KETS Quantum, Forgerock, Perceptual Robotics.

Ben Shorrock, managing director at techSPARK said: “To have the partners from Andreeseen Horowitz visit our city and see and hear of the incredible work being done by local businesses was fantastic.

“The South West has a growing reputation as tech hub both nationally and internationally, and this visit further solidifies the region’s rightful reputation as leading tech hub.”

The day was rounded off with a further roundtable discussion focusing on the future of tech community, and was hosted at the offices of techSPARK, with senior figures from MyWorld, Projekt, UWE, and SETSquared.

Sriram Krishnan, general partner at Andreeseen Horowtiz, said the delegation was “blown away by the energy and expertise of the many amazing founders in Bristol” and said their visit to Bristol was a “true highlight” of their UK tour.