Scottish Enterprise, the national economic development agency, has supported the highest-ever number of academic spinouts via its High Growth Spinout Program (HGSP), figures for the 2022-23 financial year reveal.

Scottish Enterprise supports research teams to commercialise ideas and projects, helping to transform them into commercial businesses. In total, 33 research teams were supported by the development agency in FY22/23, receiving £2.06 million in grant funding.

The projects come from research institutions including the universities of Strathclyde, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Heriot-Watt, Napier, and the James Hutton Institute.

Speaking on HGSP and the record number, Adrian Gillespie, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, said: “The HGSP supports brilliant academics to turn their ideas into commercial reality, creating high growth companies for the future.

“We are delighted that it has been a record year as spinouts are vital for Scotland’s economy, and our academic researchers play a pivotal role in tackling global challenges in areas such as climate change, energy and health.”

Scottish Enterprise also supported the creation of six new spinout companies, with four of these going on to receive tailored wrap-around support to help further their scaling journey.

The six companies that spun out in FY22/23 are:

1. Fitabeo Therapeutics, the specialty pharmaceutical company (University of Strathclyde).
2. Eye to the Future, the business supporting eyecare professionals through retinal imaging technology (Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee).
3. Agrecalc, creators of a tool for carbon emission calculation, benchmarking, and mitigation (Scotland’s Rural College – SRUC).
4. Albasense, a company using photonics-based imaging and sensing techniques to provide solutions for industries where miniaturised, low-cost measurement is required (University of the West of Scotland).
5. TauProbes, the company manufacturing tungsten semiconductor test probes (University of Glasgow).
6. Clyde Hydrogen Systems, creators of technology to help build systems for green hydrogen production at scale (University of Glasgow).

Eye to the Future’s retinal imaging technology comes from a collaborative project by the universities of Edinburgh and Dundee.

CEO and co-founder David Bowie commented: “The continuation of support from all areas of SE – including HGV and Scottish Development International – has been fantastic and a real motivator for our rockstar team who see this as validation of what we’re doing as a business.

“As we continue to push boundaries in all aspects of our company, we always aim to be the best of the best and we can only achieve this thanks to the support we receive.

Innovation minister Richard Lochhead also remarked: “I congratulate Scottish Enterprise for such impressive results in ensuring through this programme that our world-leading universities have a clear pathway to market.

“Close working between government, industry and universities is central to the Scottish Government’s National Innovation Strategy to maximise our research potential and bring about new products and businesses which benefit society and our economy.

“We are committed to working with our universities to enhance the role they play. This is why the First Minister recently announced a ten-year Entrepreneurial Campus plan to strengthen global networks and support more university startup businesses.”

Recommended reading

• Dundee Ranked as the Top UK University for Spinout Success
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• Seven Early-stage Scottish Startups to Watch

Yesterday, DIGIT covered the news that Scottish Enterprise has entered an agreement with Innovate UK, the country’s innovation agency, to deliver “further and faster” support and access to funding to help accelerate Scottish business innovation.

Also this week, it was announced that in a bid to help strengthen Scotland’s green heat supply chain, Scottish Enterprise awarded more than £750,000 to 16 businesses. The recipients are developing technologies, products, or processes that will help support the transition to low carbon heat or improve the thermal performance of buildings.