The University of Edinburgh has exceeded a key government objective to drive innovation by supporting businesses to secure more than £200 million of investments – four times the initial target.

The University initially set the goal of supporting more than 400 entrepreneurs to raise a minimum of £50 million within ten years as part of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal, signed in 2018.

Over the course of five years, the University says it has provided specialist programmes and initiatives to help 500 cutting-edge companies raise funds to boost their work and drive innovation. 

Half of the funding has been secured by businesses registered within the city region area, with support delivered through the Data Driven Innovation programme.

Deputy first minister, Kate Forbes, said: “The support secured by companies through the Data Driven Innovation programme, backed by investment from the Scottish Government through the Edinburgh and South East Scotland Regional Growth Deal is hugely promising, and demonstrates the important role public and private sector collaboration has in delivering on our potential.”

The Data-Driven Innovation (DDI) initiative, co-led by the University of Edinburgh and Heriot Watt University, features a network of innovation centres where researchers can join forces with public and private sector organisations to advance their work.

Through the initiative, firms like Edinburgh-based E.V.A. Biosystems, which is developing degradable packaging products to tackle plastic waste, secured £10,000 to buy equipment and grow the business with support from the University’s Venture Builder Incubator, which also works with PhD students and academics to maximise commercial opportunities.

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Also based in Edinburgh, Trade in Space, which uses satellite technology to track coffee beans through supply chains and broker better deals for suppliers and producers, secured £380,000 after taking part in the University-led AI Accelerator programme designed to nurture AI-driven scale-ups and help garner investment. 

“It’s fantastic to see the world-leading excellence in innovation being pioneered at the University of Edinburgh,” said secretary of state for Scotland, Ian Murray.

“Seeing the Data Driven Innovation programme surpassing its target in entrepreneurial investment is a huge milestone. We need to encourage more of this kind of investment in our local economies to ensure growth in all parts of the UK and our world-class universities will help us achieve this.”