Women founders of businesses spun out of two north and north-east universities have been crowned winner and runner-up in the latest Converge Challenge.
The accolades were part of the 13th Converge Awards, the biggest annual celebration of company creation in Scottish universities.
This year’s ceremony, held in Glasgow, honoured businesses delivering an environmental and societal impact.
Young entrepreneurs
Aberdeenshire-based Laura Ripley, the young entrepreneur behind horror events company Northern Frights, came away with the award for female entrepreneurship.
And Aisha Kasim of Robert Gordon University won the top prize in a KickStart Challenge category for creativity.
Ms Kasim is the brains behind Books2Life, an innovative image-generation platform that enhances reading and produces illustrations using artificial intelligence. It is initially aimed at children with dyslexia.
West coast winner
The top Converge Challenge gong went to Oban-based marine scientist Georgina Robinson.
She is chief executive of N-ovatio-N, which is tackling the growing problem of organic waste in the aquaculture industry. It is upcycling organic waste into new feed ingredients in the form of marine worms.
The business is a spin-out from the Scottish Association for Marine Science, part of the University of the Highlands and Islands.
Top prize package worth £70,000
Judges were impressed by Ms Robinson’s “determination to find a scalable solution to help feed the world whilst safeguarding our planet”.
N-ovation-N won £50,000 in cash and £20,000 of in-kind business support to drive the company forward in its next phase.
The Converge Challenge runner-up prize went to microbiologist Soumya Palliyil, of BrIgID Biologics. She heads up the Scottish Biologics Facility at Aberdeen University and is working on new treatments for serious and life-threatening fungal infections.
A total of 16 prizes were awarded across different categories of Converge, with the total prize fund totalling £320,000.
Converge executive director Claudia Cavalluzzo said: “Scotland’s universities are truly world-class and this is evident in the achievements and ambition demonstrated by the talented pioneers we’ve recognised at this year’s awards.
“These founders represent the magic that Scotland needs to realise its ambitions and fulfil its potential as one of the world’s greatest nations of innovators.
“We look forward to working with our winners and runners-up to take their businesses to the next level, and helping them to deliver real, tangible impact throughout Scotland and around the world.”
Those atending the ceremony included Innovation Minister and Moray MSP Richard Lochhead, who said: “This year’s winners have demonstrated outstanding talent and creativity.”
Open to students, graduates, and staff from across Scotland’s universities, Converge supports new businesses through intensive business training, networking, one-to-one support, equity-free cash prizes and expert, professional advice from industry partners.
The scheme is supported by the Scottish Funding Council, South of Scotland Enterprise, Creative Scotland and a network of 11 corporate partners.
Converge, launched in 2011, is said to have initiatied training for more than 700 aspiring business founders. It is also said to have contributed to the creation of more than 330 companies which have raised in excess of £320 million in follow-on funding.
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