“Great ideas need more than vision—they need a connected, collaborative ecosystem”

Leaders from across Scotland’s innovation ecosystem gathered last night for Powering Innovation, a flagship event hosted by Converge in partnership with Scottish Enterprise, showcasing the strength of academic entrepreneurship and the power of collaboration in driving high-growth businesses.

Bringing together founders, academics, investors and industry partners, the event marked a new chapter for Converge, building on the legacy of its former Inside Innovation showcase. The evening focused not only on early-stage talent, but on how Scotland’s support systems can work more cohesively to help ideas scale into globally competitive companies.

Co-hosts Adam Kosterka of Converge and Nicola McMillan of Scottish Enterprise emphasised the importance of a “team Scotland” approach—one that connects universities, public agencies and private partners into a clear, founder-focused pathway from research to commercial success.

“Great ideas need more than vision—they need a connected, collaborative ecosystem,” said Kosterka in his opening remarks. “Tonight is about what happens when talent and ambition are backed by a system that truly joins up.”

McMillan echoed this, highlighting the need to align existing support structures to reduce friction for founders. “Progress doesn’t come from a single programme, it happens when the right support comes at the right time,” she said. “Our role is to make that journey feel like a coherent pathway, not a series of separate steps.”

The event also celebrated a major milestone for Converge, its 15th anniversary. Since its inception, the programme has helped build a strong pipeline of companies addressing global challenges while contributing to Scotland’s economic development.

Attendees heard from a series of successful entrepreneurs who have progressed through the Converge programme, offering insight into the journey from idea to scale-up. 

Among them were Professor Brian Quinn, founder of WellFish Tech, whose company has grown rapidly following multiple investment rounds and international expansion.  He was joined by Genevieve Patenaude, founder of Earth Blox and winner of the 2020 Converge Challenge, who shared her experience of pivoting her business in response to market feedback while balancing the realities of building a company alongside family life.

In the second half of the programme, Dr Momchil Vasilev and Prof Charles MacLeod from University of Strathclyde spinout InProcess, winners of the 2023 Converge Challenge, demonstrated how coordinated support can unlock innovation even in traditionally hard-to-disrupt industries. Their success was highlighted as a clear example of how collaboration across programmes can accelerate growth.

Lucinda Bruce Gardyne, founder of Genius Foods and now chair of the Edinburgh Food and Drink Academy, spoke about her experience of starting what became a multi-million pound business from her kitchen, and chaired a panel discussion where entrepreneurs shared their “pinch points and pinch-me moments.”

Throughout the evening, early-stage founders from the Create Change, Net Zero and Converge Challenge cohorts took to the stage to pitch their ideas, reflecting the breadth of innovation emerging from Scotland’s universities—from social impact ventures to climate-focused technologies.

The event concluded with the announcement of the winning pitches from each Challenge category.

Taking best pitch prize in the Create Change category was Emily Youngs from Edinburgh Napier University, whose business Wombwise, is a femtech platform that reduces the 8-10 year diagnostic journey for endometriosis and PCOS by using physiological data from everyday wearable devices.

Winning the best pitch in the Net Zero Challenge was Khartikay Dhingra, from University of Edinburgh.  His business Maricene produces bio-ethanol from seaweed using a bio-engineered marine yeast strain. 

Finally, the winner in the Converge Challenge category was Helen Bridle, from RecoverPX, a future spinout from Heriot-Watt University which is developing a next-generation water sampling platform to improve detection of pathogen including Cryptosporidium.

Closing the evening, organisers reinforced the importance of continued collaboration across the ecosystem to ensure Scotland remains a globally competitive innovation nation.

“Events like this aren’t just about what happens on stage,” said Kosterka. “They’re about the connections, conversations and partnerships that will shape the next generation of Scottish companies.”