KickStart 2019 Finalists Revealed!

Ten finalists are now through to the next stage of KickStart 2019, an early-stage entrepreneurial competition open to staff, students and recent graduates across Scotland’s Universities and Research Institutes.

Part of the Converge Programme, and sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland, a £10,000 cash prize now awaits the winner with £5,000 awarded to the runner-up. 

The ten entrepreneurs were selected from a shortlist of 33 semi-finalists by our judging panel which included Nick Fannin, Head of Bright Red Triangle at Edinburgh Napier University, Marion Anderson, Enterprise Manager at the University of Glasgow and Colin MacEwan, Director of Commercialisation & Innovation at SRUC.

Six of this year’s shortlisted projects are female-led with strong representation from the life sciences and creative industries. They include Elisabeth Feldstein from the University of Edinburgh with Augment Bionics, a student-led project looking to create highly functional and affordable, 3D printed prosthetic arms. 

Charlotte McKechnie from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland also made it to the shortlist with Opera Eos, a new theatrical company bringing new and forgotten operas and theatre pieces from female creators from around the world to audiences in the UK.

The ten finalists are drawn from a wide range of institutions including The Glasgow School of Art, the University of Strathclyde, the University of Edinburgh, SRUC, The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Heriot-Watt University.

This year’s winner and runner-up will be announced at the KickStart Awards on Thursday 14 March 2019 at the Royal Bank of Scotland Open Experience in Edinburgh.  The event, attended by representatives from Higher Education, the investment community and Scotland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, will also feature a live pitching competition from our ten finalists with a prize awarded to the best pitch.

The finalists are: