Many of the world’s biggest discoveries came out of universities. Indeed, many have come from Scottish universities, from penicillin, to stem cell cloning, to the Higgs boson particle.

This is because pushing the boundaries of knowledge is what universities do. But how do these groundbreaking ideas and inventions get from the lab out into the world? A researcher in fundamental physics may have a world-changing idea, but they need to work with industry, or form a company, to refine and grow that idea and turn it into something other people can make use of. That’s called translating research, and they can’t do it alone. They need investment and commercialisation support from the earliest stages to drive that translational journey.

Take spinout Blackford Analysis. I’m sure CEO Ben Panter would tell you that the journey from developing a star classification tool to spinning out as an AI-driven medical imaging platform was a long and arduous one. And I’m sure those from my company, Edinburgh Innovations, the University of Edinburgh’s commercialisation service, who supported him through business development, company formation and asset creation, including early investment, would agree.

It takes hard work to turn groundbreaking research into a marketable product (Picture: stock.adobe.com)

But since being acquired by global giant Bayer last year, Blackford Analysis remains headquartered at the Royal Observatory on Blackford Hill, and continues to work with the university, providing local jobs and stimulating the wider supply chain.

The acquisition also generated millions in revenue for the university (and other investors), which is reinvested back into early-stage companies by the university’s in-house venture investment team, Old College Capital (OCC).

In-house funds are not the norm in the UK, but global innovation powerhouses like Stanford and Oxford have very large ones. These funds crucially derisk the process of investing in early-stage companies, by demonstrating successful decisions through their portfolios and, in the case of OCC, through their co-investment model, which draws others in.

Universities collaborate across the Scottish tech ecosystem from Scottish Enterprise and Techscaler to the Data-Driven Innovation programme.

Dr Andrea Taylor, interim CEO at Edinburgh Innovations (Picture: Callum Bennetts)

This week’s EIE24 conference is showcasing the Scottish tech ecosystem to national and international investors. One student startup taking to the stage is Carcinotech, whose technology enables the manufacture of 3D-printed micro-tumours for cancer treatment development. Founder Ishani Malhotra went through EI’s startup accelerator and partnership AI Accelerator. OCC was one of the first to invest in her company, and the team also joined a recent round, raising £4.2 million for the company’s US expansion plans.

The complexity of the challenges the world faces today – in the realms of climate, future healthcare and data and AI for good – necessitates the kind of interdisciplinary, innovative, collaborative solutions only universities can instigate, as research is driven by advancement not the bottom line.

One such novel partnership is NEURii, which brings together global pharma (Eisai), venture philanthropy (Gates Ventures), and research and data infrastructure (the University of Edinburgh, national health data science institute Health Data Research UK and medical research charity LifeArc) to harness data and digital to tackle dementia. These organisations will combine their in-house expertise to launch three pathfinder projects this year, aiming to develop proofs of concept for market-ready digital healthcare products and services within the year, and ultimately seed new businesses.

Scotland has always had brilliant ideas. Through commercialisation support and investment, Scottish universities take these ideas from the lab to a global market, and make them work for a better world.

Dr Andrea Taylor, interim CEO at Edinburgh Innovations

Lifting the bonnet of Scotland’s innovation engines - Dr Andrea Taylor

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