Edinburgh entrepreneurs’ SMART success leads to job creation
Seven entrepreneurs from the University of Edinburgh have raised almost £900,000 to develop their research into commercially viable businesses – with around £625,000 of the funding coming from Scottish Enterprise’s SMART: SCOTLAND Awards.
From being able to transform a voice into monster sounds in real time, or revolutionising computer game sound for virtual reality to finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease, all the entrepreneurs have been awarded a Scottish Enterprise SMART: SCOTLAND Award after highlighting how their projects, which display an advance in technological innovation.
The companies that have received funding from Scottish Enterprise are Two Big Ears, Krotos, ShotScope Technologies, Kajeka, Particle Analytics, Pling and Parkure.
The SMART: SCOTLAND Award programme can provide funding of up to £100,000 for technical and commercial feasibility studies, and up to £600,000 for research and development projects that aim to develop a pre-commercialisation prototype of a new product or process.
Michael Cannon, SMART: SCOTLAND director, Scottish Enterprise said:
“Scottish Enterprise is delighted to assist each of these companies. We hope this will be the first step on the path to sustainable growth for the companies and we look forward to further supporting them as they grow and develop.”
The University supports around 30 start-ups annually through LAUNCH.ed, an award-winning information, advice and mentoring service established by Edinburgh Research and Innovation (ERI), the commercialisation arm of the University.
Grant Wheeler, ERI’s Head of Company Formation, welcomed the news, saying:
“The companies granted SMART: SCOTLAND Awards in this round represent seven of 13 University of Edinburgh projects supported this year. The University of Edinburgh has a long history of securing SMART: SCOTLAND Awards through this scheme, however this is the largest number of successful awards we’ve had in any one year.”
“As a result of these SMART: SCOTLAND Awards, six jobs will be secured and a further 13 new ones created. So not only will this provide a boost to the future growth of the businesses, it is also helping our economy,” concluded Grant Wheeler.
