An international ranking placed the incubator as second in the world when compared with more than 800 from 60 countries.

The SETsquared incubator is a collaboration between the universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey. It works to grow technology start-up companies in centres based at each of the institutions.

SETsquared has worked with more than 1,000 early stage companies and raised over ?1 billion of investment in 11 years.

Successful products of companies that have worked with the incubator include kits used to detect swine flu, microchips that speed up internet connections and a security system that guards against terrorism.

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Co-founder and director of research at the University Business Incubator Index, Dhruv Bhatli, said that it ¡°beat numerous business incubators based at top universities¡±.

He added: ¡°It is an outstanding business incubator that provides exceptional quality to its client companies and produces growth companies and high economic impact.¡±

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Simon Bond, innovation director of SETsquared, said: ¡°The high ranking also comes with responsibility ¨C the UBI Index highlights that Europe¡¯s university business incubators have to work more effectively in order to compete on the world stage.¡±

He added: ¡°SETsquared must now reach out to like-minded organisations to form partnerships and collaborations that add value for our entrepreneurs and client businesses.¡±

holly.else@tsleducation.com