Whatever you call yourself, you’ve come to the right place.

Why Converge?

Converge helps students, graduates and staff across Scotland’s universities and research institutes turn their creativity, ideas and innovations into commercial reality.

Regardless of your background, location and business readiness, by joining one of our challenges you’ll gain the tools, support and funding opportunities to springboard your business into the world.

And it won’t cost you a penny. Zip, zilch, nada, zero. 

Who we are

Working in collaboration with Scotland’s universities, we uncover emerging spinouts and start-ups, acting as a catalyst to accelerate the creation of innovative products and services that will improve lives and safeguard our planet.

Open to students, graduates and staff across Scotland's universities, our programme springboards new businesses through intensive business training, networking, 1-2-1 support, generous equity-free cash prizes and expert, professional advice from our roster of industry partners.

We run four challenge categories tailored to developing business across all sectors and stages of development.

600+

Entrepreneurs trained

330+

Companies created

1000+

High value jobs created

£320m+

Follow-on funding raised

Find your challenge

Holly for Home page
  • £50k top prize
  • £20k runner-up
  • All sectors and enterprise types

Converge Challenge is open to high-calibre, innovative projects with serious growth potential. If you have a ground-breaking idea, this is the challenge for you.

Register now

Faisal for Home page
  • £30k top prize
  • £10k runner up
  • Clean tech & environmental

Designed to support Scotland’s efforts in becoming a carbon neutral nation by 2045, we welcome projects that can deliver maximum impact for Scotland’s net zero goal.

Register now

Marwa for home page
  • £30k top prize
  • 2 x runner-up prizes £10k
  • Creative & social

If you're a social shaker or creative thinker looking to change the world for the better, then this challenge is for you.

Register now

which_challenge_kickstart
  • £10k top prize
  • 2 x runner-up prizes £7.5k
  • 3 x special prizes £5k
  • Early-stage business ideas

KickStart Challenge is a first step towards commercialisation for early-stage business ideas. It’s designed to test the robustness of your idea, equip you for the realities of entrepreneurship and prepare you for our more advanced challenge categories.

Register now

It's the best thing I've done in my career. The PR it created allowed the business to grow very quickly by drawing in significant investment.

Dave Hughes
Novosound, 2017 Winner

Welcome to the family

Hundreds of aspiring academic entrepreneurs have been through the Converge programme. We think of them as family and are behind them every step of the way, supporting their journey and celebrating their success.

Adam Brown - Bellrock Technology
Marwa Ebrahim - Atypical Cosmetics
Faisal Ghani - SolarisKit
Vicky Hamilton - Recoil Kneepads

Supporting you, every step of the way

We are an experienced, hands-on, approachable team ready to help make your business idea a reality. We work closely with participants from Scotland's university network on their journey from academia to entrepreneurship, supporting them every step of the way.

Meet the team

Our latest news, thoughts and events

Claudia Cavalluzzo, Executive Director of Converge, Scotland's springboard for university founders NEWS

Converge finalists demonstrate universities’ role in fulfilling national innovation strategy

This year’s finalists for Converge, Scotland’s springboard for university founders, are demonstrating that students, graduates, and academics sit at the heart of delivering the national innovation strategy.

Converge finalists demonstrate universities’ role in fulfilling national innovation strategy
From Left to Right: Matthew Jevin from the University of Dundee with Hubble Bubble; Matthew Leeper from the University of Glasgow with Education Evolved; Anna Renouf from SRUC with FireHorse and Claudia Cavalluzzo, Executive Director of Converge NEWS

Can Scotland become one of the most innovative nations in the world? We think so!

Against the backdrop of the new Innovation Strategy announced last week, some of Scotland's brightest academic innovators showcased their trailblazing ideas and solutions at Converge's annual pitching competition - the Innovation Showcase.

Can Scotland become one of the most innovative nations in the world? We think so!
THOUGHTS

Let’s live diversity & inclusion every day – not just 8 March

International Women’s Day always offers a moment to pause on how far we have come but also how far we still have to go to achieve gender balance.  For some people, however, the buzz starts and ends there and they simply go back to their normal lives ignoring the magnitude of the problem and the incredible opportunity that a gender balanced society represents. But it doesn't have to be like that.

Let’s live diversity & inclusion every day – not just 8 March

Let’s talk about the ‘e’ word

WORDS can motivate, inspire and explain. Yet words can also build barriers. As we mark International Women’s Day, we need to talk about how we use the words that surround “entrepreneurs” because, at the moment, we're not getting it right.

Let’s talk about the ‘e’ word

Why you don’t need to call yourself an ‘entrepreneur’ to be a success 

Names are sometimes a barrier in Scotland’s innovation ecosystem and one label splits the audience more than any other – “entrepreneur”.

Why you don’t need to call yourself an ‘entrepreneur’ to be a success 
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Celebrating more than a decade of economic impact and job creation

Become a partner and help us achieve more

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