As another fantastic year draws to a close, join us on a brief journey looking back at our leading entrepreneurial campus in action!
January
The year started off strong for our supported companies with three tv appearances. Robbie MacIsaac, Product Design Engineering graduate and former Inspire accelerator participant, appeared on BBC’s Dragon’s Den with his invention, the FLUX Blowpipe, a device which aims to prevent respiratory issues for bagpipers. Although he didn’t receive investment, this was due to the judges believing that he didn’t need their help as he’s doing so well already!
Fergal Mackie, Product Design Engineering graduate and co-founder of Metacarpal – also a former Inspire accelerator participant – appeared live on BBC Breakfast to discuss the company winning the Innovate UK National Young Innovators Award. Fergal worked with fellow Strathclyder James Swinburne to develop a cutting-edge and affordable user-friendly prosthetic hand which aims to transform the lives of people with hand loss.
Finally, Strathclyde alumni company Hindsight was featured on ITV’s This Morning to showcase their rear-view cycling glasses as one of the show’s ‘best fitness gadgets for 2023’! The company has been supported by investment from the Strathclyde Inspire Entrepreneurship Fund (SIEF).
February
During Global Diversity Awareness month our Engage with Inspire panel discussion provided various perspectives around Diversity & Inclusion, which proved popular with attendees from across our staff, student and alumni communities. Our panelists Bayile Adeoti, Founder of Dechomai Ltd (Stimulating Entrepreneurship amongst Ethnic Minority communities), Thiago Carmo, MD at Passion4Social CIC (Diversity, Accessibility, and Inclusion), and Gavin Neate, Founder of WelcoMe (Empowering disabled people to directly influence the service they receive) all have a passion for making a difference and have carved out their own path, focusing on others by creating solutions that make a big impact!
Fitting with this theme, our Inspiring Conversations podcast guest for February was Angela Prentner-Smith, Founder and Managing Director of This is Milk, a digital consultancy, training and technology company with a focus on inclusion. Angela is a vocal advocate of equities, particularly relating to gender roles, neurodiversity and human-centred business practices, and spoke openly about her experience as a neurodiverse female. She shared what led her to become her own boss, her personal experience of gender bias, and reflected on her career journey to date. The podcast episode also covers what it means to be neurodivergent, where to get support, and what companies can do to attract more diverse thought leaders into their organisations.
March
This year's International Women's Day took place on March 8th and centered around the theme #EmbraceEquity, focusing on why gender equity needs to be part of every society's DNA. Our focus specifically was on the importance of fostering inclusivity within the entrepreneurial landscape.
To discuss these themes, Professor Eleanor Shaw OBE wrote a blog for Inspire providing an overview of the independent review into women in entrepreneurship in Scotland, 'Pathways: A new approach for women in entrepreneurship'. In this blog, she reflected on the data and recommendations provided in the review, and highlighted the need to do more, collaborate more, and engage in wider data analysis to truly ensure that we #EmbraceEquity for all of Scotland’s entrepreneurs.
Dr Poonam Malik, who Heads Investments at the University of Strathclyde, also provided a blog which shared her experience and thoughts on being a woman in STEM. She reflected on the work being undertaken to address gender inequality within the sector here in Scotland, posing the question, what impact that more female scientists can have on the development of innovation?
April
The second Glasgow Tech Fest took place in April and saw more than 300 delegates gather to share ideas around growing the city’s burgeoning technology sector. Members of the tech community attended the event organised by Glasgow City Innovation District and held in Strathclyde’s Technology & Innovation Centre.
The event focused on five key themes: impactful innovation, market dynamics, ecosystem development, commercial strategies, and growth leadership. The packed agenda saw speakers including TV presenter and journalist Spencer Kelly; Bayile Adeoti, Founder of Dechomai and President of Scottish Women in Business; Alison Porter, Portfolio Manager at Janus Henderson Global Investors; Dominic McGregor, co-founder of Social Chain and founder of Fearless Adventures; and Professor Janice Kirkpatrick OBE, Creative Director of Graven share insights on successful innovation and collaboration.
Glasgow Tech Fest will return in 2024 on 16th May – add it to your calendar!
May
The May Inspire100 event took place in the Technology and Innovation Centre and was near capacity, with a record audience for an in-person event post-pandemic!
Three entrepreneurial teams won a share of £17,500 funding. Claymore Surgical, led by Scott Black, which designs novel medical and surgical devices relating to paediatric airway maintenance, was awarded £7,500 funding from Santander Universities. Surfteic, led by Susan and Mark Hamilton, which produces an innovative sustainable new product to replace conventional surfactants with effective bio-based alternatives; and Happy Leaf, led by Amy Roberts and Iain Quinn, which is developing an all-in-one smart sensor and app solution which monitors the health of a plant through a soil sensor, were both awarded £5,000 each from the Stephen Young Emerging Entrepreneurs Awards.
The winning Outstanding Business Idea Research Papers were also announced, each receiving £75,000 as part of the Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Awards. Dr Momchil Vasilev, a Research Associate in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering and Professors Karen Faulds and Duncan Graham of the Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry received the awards.
June
The University of Strathclyde was delighted to be named European Entrepreneurial University of the Year 2023 at the Triple E Awards which took place in Barcelona, Spain, in June, highlighting Strathclyde’s position as the leading entrepreneurial campus in Scotland. The University scooped the title for Strathclyde Inspire’s sector-leading ‘Entrepreneurship for All’ approach which offers all students, staff and alumni the opportunity to develop an entrepreneurial mindset through 1-2-1 support and a diverse range of training, funding and workshops. Three colleagues from Strathclyde attended the 2023 ACEEU Forum and Triple Helix Conference, which is organised by the Accreditation Council for Entrepreneurial and Engaged Universities (ACCEU).
The Scottish EDGE Round 21 Awards took place in June, which saw wins for three Inspire-supported companies. Fitabeo Therapeutics was awarded £100k, while Silver Lion Innovations took home £80k and FSB Mobility £10k in the Young EDGE category.
July
In July we extended our support for start-ups by launching our Summer Founder Fellowship programme. This supports five early-stage entrepreneurs with grant funding to cover their personal expenses for a three-month period between June - September (£4.5k), plus a £3k grant to be put towards the development of their business idea.
This year’s Founder Fellows were Mark Smith, Daniel Brown, Seumas MacKay, Rowan Cunningham, and Wai Chan. This funding enables the Founder Fellows to spend the majority of their time developing their business while proactively engaging with our Start Up Team to drive forward the testing and development of their idea, while having a regular presence in the Inspire Hub.
August
The Inspire team expanded significantly over the Summer months, and by August we had four new members! Georgia Cook joined as the Entrepreneurship For All Administrator, Katy McNair as Project Manager for Entrepreneurship For All, Katie Woods as Ecosystem Development Executive, Madeline Wardrop as Communications Executive, and Thomas Devaney (who is based in the Careers department a few days a week) as Entrepreneurship and Employability Lead. We gave them a warm welcome at our August ‘Let’s Get Talking’ event, where they each introduced themselves to the wider Innovation and Industry Engagement Directorate and our supported entrepreneurs. Later in the year we also welcomed some additional new members – Lindsey Shields and Darran Gardner, both Industry Engagement and Commercialisation Managers, and Giovanna Cucchi, Fintech High Growth Advisor.
In other news, an inspire-supported company secured the largest investment of the year by any of our spin-outs. Food tech company ENOUGH raised a massive €40M funding at Series C in August, which brings its total capital raised to date to over €95 million ($103 million). The company creates a sustainable mycoprotein called Abunda, which has a meaty texture and is high in protein and fiber, which can then be used to make plant-based meat, fish and dairy products. The new investment will enable the company to scale up capacity at its factory and grow its teams across its offices in Glasgow, London and Sas van Gent. Check out our case study on the company.
September
September saw the beginning of the new academic year, and the annual Fresher’s Fair. Inspire hosted a stall at the two-day event, where we shouted about Inspire to all the new students. We spread the word about what we do and how entrepreneurship can benefit them regardless of faculty or course, and we even let them spin our colourful wheel for the chance to win a range of prizes!
We used the opportunity to spread the word about the first cohort of the Exploring Entrepreneurship Challenge running in 2023/24, which was open for applications until the end of September. The first stage of the Challenge – the online learning toolkit – launched with 125 participants. Through a variety of other online and in-person events, the participants then went on to form teams and learn about the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Following input from experts and mentors, the teams were able to create pitches for their ideas, with the three judged the most promising now preparing to compete for a share of £2,000 in the grand final, which will take place in March 2024.
October
October was a busy month for events, kicking off with ‘Unveiling Entrepreneurship’ which took place at the Inspire Hub where Peter Proud – founder of tech company Forrit and Strathclyde Entrepreneur in Residence – and Scott Black – Founder of Inspire-supported start-up Claymore Surgical – joined us for a fireside chat. Both founders chatted about their very different journeys into entrepreneurship and highlighted how it's not a straight road to success! They shared why they thought adopting an entrepreneurial mindset is beneficial for students across all faculties, followed by a Q&A from the student audience. They each let the audience know a ‘fun fact’ about themselves – Peter shared that his original career plan was to become a fighter pilot, but his legs were too long as he wouldn’t be able to eject himself! Scott’s fun fact was that he fell down a mountain while hiking and broke his arm, resulting in a month of bed rest in which he worked 100% on his business, which propelled him to where he is now.
We also collaborated with external organisations - Techscaler X Code Base and AccelerateHER to deliver an event in the Hub, which focused on accelerating the growth, visibility, and backing of talented female business founders and leaders. This event included a fireside chat with accelerator entrepreneur Jenna Matheson, who described the event as being in a room with others who genuinely have your back and hold space for reflection and storytelling.
November
November was a month of celebrating success, kicking off with our bi-annual Inspire 100 event which saw six Strathclyde-led companies pitch their businesses to an audience of entrepreneurs, investors, and experts. The Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Awards contributed £10,000 to the prize pot for a startup or spin-out, while Santander awarded £7,500 for a startup. Entrepreneur & Strathclyde Aluminus Sir Tom Hunter surprised attendees by granting an additional £10,000, benefiting two more companies. Winners included MyEmploy, securing £10,000, 4SB Mobility receiving £7,500, and Gifted Kind and Carestax each awarded £5,000 from Sir Tom.
Later in the month Strathclyde’s Professor Damion Corrigan was crowned the winner in the Academic Entrepreneur category in the annual Praxis Auril Knowledge Exchange (KE) Awards. The Awards celebrate the people, partnerships and creativity that underpin the UK’s KE activity, with the Academic Entrepreneur award recognising outstanding individuals. Damion is a co-founder of the Inspire-supported spin-out company Microplate Dx Limited, as well as a founder of Aureum Diagnostics Limited, which both address global healthcare challenges.
December
It has been a fantastic year for investment and we want to take this opportunity to give a huge congratulations to the new companies joining our portfolio and our existing Strathclyde supported companies who have raised significant levels of investment, including Dxcover, Screenin3D, Microplate Dx, ENOUGH, Krucial, Mironid, Ilosta and LIND.
As we look forward to 2024, we want to thank our fantastic staff, supporters, and entrepreneurs for their contribution and dedication to Strathclyde Inspire. We hope you have a lovely festive break, and a happy Christmas and New Year when it comes!