Press release
University businesses in contention at Converge
Published on 13 May 2022
Some of the University of Dundee’s brightest business minds are making a name for themselves in one of Scotland’s most prestigious competitions.
Three spinouts and five start-ups from the University have made the shortlist for the semi-finals of Converge 2022, Scotland’s largest company creation and enterprise programme for universities.
The Dundee cohort make up almost 10% of the semi-finalists across the four categories, with those shortlisted now due to attend several months of in-depth training sessions. The winners of the competitions will then be announced in November, where they will contest a prize fund in excess of £300,000.
“This is a fantastic achievement for our spinouts and start-ups,” said Dr David McBeth, Dundee’s Director of Research & Innovation Services (RIS).
“The University of Dundee is a dynamic, innovative environment and the performances of our companies in showpiece events such as Converge is a huge endorsement of our commitment to nurturing new businesses – which we support via our Centre for Entrepreneurship, as well as RIS Nurturing the entrepreneurial talent we have here on campus and commercialising Dundee’s world-leading research are both critical to our wider mission to transform lives around the world.
“I wish all of the businesses that have been shortlisted the very best of luck ahead of the next round of judging.”
Converge is made up of several different competitions for start-up and spinout businesses, founded by staff, students or graduates. The eight shortlisted companies from Dundee are:
Converge Challenge:
- Eye to the Future
- NeogeniCo
- RHAPSEDA
- Theo Health
Create Change Challenge:
- InGear Publishing
KickStart Challenge:
- AllSteady
- CoBAlt
- Inclusive Studio
The University of Dundee is already recognised as one of the best universities in the UK for producing successful spinouts. A recent survey by Octopus Ventures ranked Dundee top in Scotland and fifth in the UK for turning research into “world-changing companies,” which have raised £325.7 million over the past two decades.
Claudia Cavalluzzo, executive director at Converge, said, “I am continually amazed by the high quality of innovation emerging from Scottish universities, and this year is no different. I believe that this will be one of the most competitive years to date.”