£10k available for start-ups

Accelerator

£10k for start-ups

RGU has launched the first funded start-up accelerator programme in North East Scotland to support recent alumni, entrepreneurial students and staff in creating new businesses with up to £10,000 of funding each.

This new initiative, funded by the Wood Foundation, is open to alumni who have graduated within the last three years.

“Entrepreneurship is now a career choice for many graduates,” said Gordon McConnell, VP of Commercial and Regional Innovation and creator of the new accelerator.

The university’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator competition will launch in September of each year and an external peer panel will choose the final start-up teams later in the autumn.

While at least one member of the team must be from one of these groups at the time the team’s proposal is submitted, the teams can comprise of students, staff and alumni from other institutions in the region.

Individual teams may submit a variety of venture concept proposals in a range of industry areas including technology, food & beverage, sustainability, creative industries such as fashion or architectural solutions, healthcare, engineering, social enterprise and digital solutions.

“This new initiative builds on RGU’s history as an innovator and business-focused institution,” said Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, Principal and Vice Chancellor of RGU. “But it also moves us into new opportunities as the promoter of new start-ups and cutting-edge innovation.”

Sir Ian Wood, Chairman of The Wood Foundation said “This project aims to support entrepreneurial activity within our student, academic and graduate communities. It is directly aligned with the regional economic renaissance agenda, led by Opportunity North East, which includes growing our entrepreneurial environment to enable more business creation and growth across all industry sectors.” The accelerator will also link with the recently launched Innovation Skills programme, where students will get access to extracurricular courses in a range of innovation topics.

Please contact innovation@rgu.ac.uk for the most up-to-date information on the entrepreneurship accelerator competition.