Let us guide you through the twists and turns of starting a new business. We can provide you with the skills, support, guidance and funding to springboard your big idea from concept to reality.
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 university staff, students and recent graduates across Scotland, our programme is designed to springboard new businesses through intensive business training, networking, 1-2-1 support, generous equity-free cash prizes and expert advice from our roster of industry partners.
We run four challenge categories tailored to developing business across all sectors and stages of development.
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.
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Creative Challenge is open to business ideas rooted in creativity, skill and craft, with the potential to develop into sustainable businesses in Scotland’s creative industries.
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Impact Challenge is designed for mission-led enterprises with a social or environmental cause at their heart. We’re looking for product and service-based ideas that have the potential to make the world a better place.
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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.
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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 HughesHundreds 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.
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
NEWS The finalists for Converge 2021, Scotland’s largest entrepreneurial development programme for the university sector, have been revealed. Exemplifying the cream of Scotland’s innovation pool, and hailing from institutions across the nation, 28 academic entrepreneurs are now through to Converge Awards Final.
Scotland’s Got Talent: Top Academic Innovators Reach Converge 2021 Final
NEWS Converge has announced a new partnership with low carbon energy company, SSE, designed to springboard academic entrepreneurs tackling the climate emergency.
New SSE Partnership to Drive Net Zero InnovationWhat role can renowned industrial giants like SSE have in encouraging new ideas to tackle net zero?
Encouraging New Ideas to Meet Net Zero AmbitionAs cyberattack incidents become more sophisticated, there is a consensus that it will be not ‘if’, but ‘when’ a situation arises.
Cyber Attacks: Prevention is the KeyPaul Atkinson, Founding Partner of VC firm Par Equity and Converge Board Chairman, on why we need to think bigger about funding Scotland's tech start-ups.
Funding Scotland’s Tech Start-ups
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