The Edinburgh Innovations unit of the University of Edinburgh announced that it has secured more than £150 million in research funding over the past 12 months.
Edinburgh Innovations said that over the same period, more than £140 million has been invested into the university’s portfolio via its in-house venture investment team Old College Capital.
“This is a sizeable increase from last year’s figures when the service obtained £91 million in research funding and secured investment of £107 million during the 2022/23 financial period,” said Edinburgh Innovations.
“The service has also increased the number of new companies it has launched, with 127 new startups and spinouts now translating cutting-edge research into real-world solutions.
“Edinburgh Innovations leads the University’s activities in industry engagement and business development, enterprise support for students and staff, and the identification, management and commercialisation of University intellectual property.
“Other key areas of growth include the filing of 140 patents and entering into 55 licenses for companies to use University technologies.
“The impressive figures come in a year when the University was named joint first in the world for industry, innovation and infrastructure in the Times Higher Impact Rankings.”
Edinburgh Innovations said that since its launch it has supported hundreds of researchers, students and businesses to apply their research “to real-world problems and make a valuable impact on the economy and society.”
This year’s new companies include 116 student startups, six staff startups and five staff spinouts that have received free support from the service, including one-to-one business advice, access to mentoring networks, accelerator programmes and enterprise events and competitions.
Companies to have benefitted from this support include Prothea Technologies, launched in April with European investment of €12 million to identify and treat diseased lung tissue in a one-stop procedure.
Another Edinburgh spinout, Trogenix, unveiled a platform this month that can kill brain cancer cells without affecting nearby healthy cells.
“Startups launched by the University’s students and staff have an enviable record of long-term success, supported by venture capital and other investors,” said Edinburgh Innovations.
“In September 2024, MiAlgae, a company that began life as a student startup, was selected as a finalist in the prestigious Earthshot prize.
“MiAlgae uses waste products from the whisky industry to make Omega-3, an essential mineral for human and animal health that is usually naturally accumulated by fish. MiAlgae’s innovative solution creates an alternative source that prevents overfishing for this mineral.”
Edinburgh Innovations CEO Andrea Taylor said: “The University of Edinburgh has world-leading research, a track record in major therapeutics and life sciences spinouts, and emerging technologies in areas like cell and gene therapy, engineering biology and semiconductors.
“We also have the expertise to translate discoveries into world-changing innovations. What we need now is to turn up the dial; for investors and policy makers to fully engage with Scotland, which is second only to the Golden Triangle in terms of deal flow.
“Scotland and the north will play a critical role in strengthening the UK tech sector as a true powerhouse to rival the US and China.”