Beacon lit for data-driven entrepreneurship
A new entrepreneurship programme will engage existing businesses, support new ones to grow and drive entrepreneurship among staff and students at the University.
The Data-Driven Entrepreneurship Beacon Programme, a publicly funded programme of business-boosting activities, will run until July 2021.
The programme is being run by a partnership of Data-Driven Innovation (DDI) Hubs across the University of Edinburgh, and Edinburgh Innovations, the University of Edinburgh’s commercialisation service
Business partners
The initiative comprises of 12 initiatives involving a range of business partners.
Initiatives include the Food and Agriculture Science Transformer (FAST), in partnership with the University’s Roslin Institute and venture capital firm Deep Science Ventures.
The project will support academic researchers to turn their discoveries into business opportunities.
A Venture Builder initiative, delivered in partnership with Edinburgh-based strategic design consultancy Nile and the University’s Bayes Centre, will help students develop their business ideas.
Fifteen startups have already been selected for the Post-Covid AI Accelerator, delivered by the Bayes Centre and Edinburgh Innovations and run in partnership with London-based Scale Space. The Accelerator will help AI-focused startups to grow and develop rapidly.
Student placements
The DDE Beacon Programme includes business placements opportunities for PhD students, subscriptions to online business training, and support for entrepreneurial graduates who have been affected by the impact of Covid-19.
The DDE Beacon Programme is a fantastic opportunity for innovators and entrepreneurs to gain practical support, advice and skills to help their ideas become thriving businesses. Encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation is always essential but never more so than now as we emerge from the significant economic impact from the Covid pandemic. The benefits to society and our economy from the DDE Beacon Programme are immense; generating new and better services, meeting unmet needs and increasing employment