Edinburgh Start-Up Scene Said To Be Booming

Edinburgh is now being looked at as a major technology hub in the UK, after producing 44 startups and three spin-outs in the past year – a record in the number of university start-ups.

On top of the high turn out of startups, investment in university-founded companies has also hit a record high – with backing of £237 million in 2014/15.

The growing number of startups in the university is highly-attributable to research innovation, making the city the UK’s largest tech hub outside of London.

The addition of the new startups from the University of Edinburgh last year brings the total to 184 in five years. The university said it had created a total of more than 400 start-up and spin-out companies since its first recorded spin-out more than 40 years ago.

“We’re seeing new companies being formed here and in record numbers,” Grant Wheeler, head of company formation at Edinburgh Research and Innovation said. “More and more have the potential to develop further.”

“The first-class support provided by the university and the wider enterprise support network play an important role, not only in the student experience but in delivering impact for the world-class research coming out of our university,” university principal Prof Sir Timothy O’Shea added.

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