Students and staff win at innovation awards
Researchers and students at the University are celebrating after winning three awards in a leading entrepreneurship competition.
They have been recognised at the Converge Challenge, which this year awarded more than £160,000 worth of prizes to 10 entrepreneurs from Scottish universities and research institutes.
The annual awards were presented at a ceremony in Edinburgh attended by more than 200 Scottish business and entrepreneurial leaders.
Top prize
The leading award at the competition – the Converge Challenge 2018 – was won by Carbogenics, a spinout company founded by Dr Jan Mumme of the School of Geosciences.
The company has developed a novel process to turn disposable coffee cups and other non-recyclable paper-based waste into a material that can boost renewable energy production.
The material – called CreChar – can increase yields from biogas generators, which produce renewable energy. It can also be used as a fertiliser, and to treat waste water from industrial processes.
Social impact
One Cherry, an online marketplace for second-hand shops, picked up the Social Enterprise Award.
The prize recognises ideas that have a positive impact on wider social and environmental issues.
The venture was founded by Anton Puzorjov, a PhD student in the School of Biological Sciences.
Reducing losses
The winner of the Kickstart Award for best start-up project was Crover, which is developing the first remote probing device that maps conditions inside grain storage silos, to help reduce losses.
The company was founded by Lorenzo Conti, a PhD student in the School of Engineering.
Congratulations to all this year’s winners and finalists. It is impressive how much they have progressed in just a few short months and we are looking forward to supporting them during the coming year and seeing their businesses thrive.
University support
All three winners were also successful at the University’s Inspire Launch Grow awards in June this year.
The annual enterprise awards are presented by Edinburgh Innovations, which manages industry engagement and commercialisation for the University.
Carbogenics, One Cherry and Crover have each been supported by Edinburgh Innovations to help create and develop their businesses.
All three Edinburgh winners have shown inspiring entrepreneurial vision, skills and drive. We look forward to continuing to support these enterprises as they grow and deliver economic and societal impact.