27 August 2012
Dundee entrant makes top ten in battle for Scotland's biggest start-up prize
A researcher at the University of Dundee has been short-listed in a Scotland-wide competition for start-ups, with £45,000 as the first prize.
The short-listed applicants for Converge Challenge, whittled down from 50, include Lee Baker, who is based in the School of Medicine at Dundee.
Lee is a statistician who specialises in research into breast cancer. His business start-up is centred around MOSAIC, a fully-automated intelligent statistical analysis system that analyses data without requiring prior statistical knowledge.
Conducting statistical analyses of complex datasets is demanding and time-consuming, made all the more difficult by current statistical packages that assume that users are knowledgeable and experienced. MOSAIC presents a unique alternative.
Lee is currently building a company, Chi-Squared Innovations, that will offer the use of MOSAIC and specialist advice on how to apply it.
Using web-based internet technology and needing only a device that has an internet connection and a web-browser, MOSAIC will be accessible by anyone, anywhere and at any time.
Converge Challenge, run by Heriot-Watt University, gives students and members of staff of any Scottish university the chance to develop the commercial potential of their inventions with a four month-long series of business mentoring and training, before being short-listed for the final prize, £25k cash funding and a further £20k in-kind support from the private sector.
The rest of the top ten business ideas on the list include 'dress rehearsal' facility for surgeons, a new form of plastic that can purify water, and 'smart paint' that detects structural defects.
Olga Kozlova, creator of Converge Challenge, said, "New and existing SMEs are set to be a key driver in Scotland's economic recovery.
"Converge Challenge is about equipping people with the right skills and support they need to turn their academic research into a successful commercial venture.
"All ten short-listed entrants have a market-focussed product or service, and have demonstrated impressive commercial acumen and business planning.
"Going by the number and quality of this year's entrants, Scotland's track record of nurturing home-grown entrepreneurs across life sciences, IT, design and other key sectors, looks set to continue."
In addition to the top ten, a special 'Entrepreneurial Spirit' award of £2,000 support has been awarded to Christine Watson, who is using her research into smart fabrics and heat-sensitive dyes to develop fashionable, water-proof garments, some of which may change colour as body heat alters, targeted primarily at music festival-goers.
This year, Converge Challenge has seen a record number of applicants, 50 from 14 separate institutions across Scotland, up 18% on the previous year.
According to the Higher Education Statistics Authority, university research led to the creation of 184 spin-offs in Scotland in 2010/11, up from 74 in 2008/9. With the Scottish Government considering how to ensure more public sector contracts go to SMEs, the opportunities for start-ups are growing.
For more information including profiles on short-listed applicants' products/businesses, please contact esther.black@pagodapr.com or call 0131 556 0770.
Notes to editor
- The short-listed top ten can be found here
- Achievements of Converge Challenge
Since first launching in 2010, Converge Challenge has:
- Received over 130 applications from nine universities across Scotland
- Trained over 80 research entrepreneurs
- Over 1400 staff and students attended associated seminars and workshops
- Supported 10 companies into commercial trading
- Key dates in the Converge Challenge
Judges select top 6 : Monday 3 September
Final pitches and awards dinner : Thursday 27 September
For more information visit: www.hw.ac.uk/convergechallenge
For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07800 581902 |
