Inside Innovation
Scotland’s world-class universities are the birthplace for some of our most successful businesses with recent examples including Exscientia, Fixed Phage and Current Health.
To see this innovation pipeline in action, we bring the very best emerging ideas from our academic sector and showcase them at our annual pitching event, Inside Innovation. Representing universities up and down the land, and featuring semi-finalists in our Converge, Create Change and Net Zero Challenge categories, this is your chance to see new products and solutions with the power to transform lives, the planet and our economy as we emerge from lockdown.
Digital Showcase
Simply click on the challenge buttons below to access participant profiles including a 1-minute pitch video and business summary.
The Challenges
Partners
Cisco
Cisco helps seize the opportunities of tomorrow by proving that amazing things can happen when you connect the unconnected. An integral part of our DNA is creating long-lasting customer partnerships, working together to identify our customers' needs and provide solutions that fuel their success.
Nearly every Internet connection in the UK touches Cisco technology and we're investing in projects across Scotland to support innovation, from smart cities to transport, healthcare and manufacturing, to cyber-security and digital skills.
Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland is a UK-based banking and financial services company, headquartered in Edinburgh. Royal Bank of Scotland has paved the way in banking since it was established nearly 300 years ago. From the world’s first overdraft, and the first house purchase loan by a UK bank, to the first fully-fledged internet banking service, the bank has a history of using innovation to make banking easier for our customers.
Royal Bank launched its first mobile bank in 1946 and now has 20 mobile banks serving nearly 400 communities across Scotland. Royal Bank of Scotland has over two million customers in Scotland today, with over 120,000 business customers. These relationships are now enhanced by our Enterprise team who offer face to face support to customers the length and breadth of the country.
SIS Ventures
SIS Ventures, Scotland’s leading impact investor, works with entrepreneurs committed to bringing positive change for the people and planet.
SIS Ventures is part of the Social Investment Scotland group, which has been providing impact-aligned investment and support for over two decades and deployed over £120m in 500+ social enterprises and mission-led businesses across the UK.
SIS Ventures is Converge’s strategic partner for Impact, helping us and the companies coming through the programme to embed environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles in their operating standards. By focussing on diversity and profit with purpose, together we will shape a more vibrant and cohesive economy and support greater social change.
SSE
We are a leading generator of renewable electricity and one of the largest electricity network companies in the UK.
We develop, own and operate low carbon infrastructure to support the zero-carbon transition. This includes onshore and offshore wind, hydro power, electricity transmission and distribution grids, and efficient gas-fired generation, alongside providing energy products and services for businesses, and we have interests across Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Japan, Spain, Portugal, Denmark and Poland.
Our twin focus of practicality and inspiration is a strategy that has seen us through more than 70 years.
We are UK listed, employing 10,000 talented and skilled people and are real Living Wage and Fair Tax Mark accredited.
Because we’re SSE, and we’re for a better world of energy – for everyone.
BeyondHR
BeyondHR is a progressive, independently-owned HR consultancy firm that helps organisations recruit, manage and safeguard their staff. We work for a range of start-ups, SMEs and larger corporates across Northern Ireland, Scotland and England, and our HR consultancy team boasts some of the most experienced consultants in the HR industry.
We are proud to be the chosen HR partner for over 400 start-ups and SMEs across Scotland and Northern Ireland providing a full range of HR support services.
We work across all industries and are respected for our pragmatic stance to problem solving and ensuring that we make the lives of our clients pain free by taking the stress out of HR issues while ensuring the best outcomes for their businesses.
CT
The team at CT has an unrivalled knowledge of the Scottish investment and startup market. Our collaborative approach has a direct, positive impact on our clients – our award-winning team has a genuine interest in their growth ambitions.
From our market leading Entrepreneurial Tax team that offer advice on Enterprise Investment Schemes (EIS), Seed Enterprise Investment Schemes (SEIS), Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) share schemes and Research & Development (R&D) Tax Relief, through to our digital solutions focused accounts team, we are here every step of the way to provide clients with honest advice and tech-savvy solutions.
CPI
Enterprises is the private investor engagement and ventures arm of CPI, a leading independent technology innovation centre and a founding member of the UK Government’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult.
Enterprises stimulates impactful investment into early-stage deep tech companies, leveraging our world-class technical expertise, facilities and innovation network to benefit both investors and companies alike.
HLK
HLK is one of the largest independent IP firms in Europe and works with visionaries, innovators and businesses, helping them to get the most out of their intellectual property and safeguard their inventions, creative designs, brand identities and other innovations.
Providing services that span the whole spectrum of the IP rights life cycle, from strategy through to filing and all the way through to litigation, HLK is privileged to work with some of the world’s most exciting and forward-looking businesses that are at the forefront of innovation and product development in their various spheres. The firm has clients in over 50 countries, including the UK, US, China, Japan and all major European countries.
As well as large corporate entities, the firm’s clients include universities, research institutes, SMEs and early-stage businesses across all sectors, all serviced from our offices in Glasgow, London, Munich, Bristol, Leeds, and Guangzhou (China).
HLK is a global cooperation combining Haseltine Lake Kempner LLP and HL Kempner Partnerschaft mbB.
i4 Product Design
i4 Product Design is an employee-owned company with a 20 year track record of working with start-ups and multinationals to deliver commercially successful products.
Clients utilise the i4PD team to accelerate challenging roadmaps and/or innovate a way past technical challenges. The i4PD team achieve this by augmenting the size and capabilities of a client’s internal team.
Our experienced engineers and creative design team work in partnership with clients throughout the product design and development process to ensure their products aren’t just beautiful, they’re brilliant too.
MBM Commercial
MBM Commercial is an award-winning commercial law firm that helps entrepreneurial businesses.
Many of our clients are going through significant growth, either by investment, acquisition or by international expansion. We are committed to helping our clients succeed and always aim to help make connections and add value wherever possible. The work that we do spans all sectors, and we are proud to represent many exciting businesses, ranging from small start-ups to large companies.
The firm provides a full range of commercial legal services, including corporate finance, commercial contracts, insolvency/restructuring, commercial property, dispute resolution, employment/HR and company administration.