Converge reveals “most diverse group” of finalists ever

Innovation comes in many different shapes and sizes, and this is exemplified in the list of finalists revealed today who are going forward to compete for the top prizes at the Converge Awards on 1 October.

Emerging as the strongest candidates from a cohort of 123 participants in this year’s programme, are 34 projects judged to have the strongest innovation and business potential.   For the first time, 15 out of the 18 participating universities have finalists represented, the widest pool of institutions in Converge’s 15 year history.

“It’s an extraordinarily diverse group of finalists this year,” said Adam Kosterka, executive director of Converge.  “Not only do we have the largest number of universities represented in the group of finalists, but we are seeing the non-traditional institutions strongly represented.    Innovation, research commercialisation and entrepreneurship are now strongly embedded in our universities’ culture across the board and we are seeing the results of that coming through.”

Innovations to be showcased at the Awards include 

• WombWise, a femtech platform that reduces the timescale for diagnosis of endometriosis and PCOS (Edinburgh Napier University); 
• TissueMetrics, an acoustic skin sensor set to revolutionise how inflammatory skin diseases are treated (Heriot-Watt University)
• Pointcanvas, AI-driven 3D model creation for industrial and commercial asset operators, designers and surveyors (University of Edinburgh)
• Stage Analytics, a data intelligence platform transforming fragmented box office, reviews and audience data in to real-time dashboards and predictive insights (Queen Margaret University)
• Crop Intel, an AI-powered decision support platform to help UK wheat farmers make more profitable crop protection choices, combining visual diagnostics with real time weather and market data (University of Stirling)

A rigorous selection process, overseen by a panel of university enterprise experts, saw this year’s shortlist emerge from a highly competitive pool with all finalists demonstrating exceptional potential to address critical global challenges. 

They will compete for top prizes across six Challenges and a number of special prizes, with a total prize fund of £410,000 at stake.

The Converge Awards take place on 1 October at the Barony Hall, Glasgow.

Finalists in the Converge Awards 2026: