{"id":300,"date":"2016-08-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-25T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sprengthomson.com\/scotlands-future-start-ups-shine-converge-challenge-shortlist-announced\/"},"modified":"2016-08-25T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-08-25T00:00:00","slug":"scotlands-future-start-ups-shine-converge-challenge-shortlist-announced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sprengthomson.com\/scotlands-future-start-ups-shine-converge-challenge-shortlist-announced\/","title":{"rendered":"Converge Challenge shortlist is announced"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Scotland\u2019s leading company creation competition and start up development programme for students, graduates and staff from the country\u2019s universities announces its shortlist of nominees for 2016.<\/p>\n<p>From 212 applicants this year, the judging process has now shortlisted the top 10 nominees for each of the competition\u2019s three categories:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.convergechallenge.com\/\">Converge Challenge:<\/a> for those with an established idea<\/li>\n<li>KickStart: for early stage ideas<\/li>\n<li>Social Enterprise: for ideas that will have a positive impact on social and environmental issues<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The 2016 Converge Challenge category has been the most competitive year yet and includes two previous top 10 finalists and runners up from both the KickStart and Social Enterprise award categories. Converge Challenge\u2019s commitment to nurturing new business ideas through its entrepreneurial development programme and expert advice has led to a strong pipeline of new business ideas being developed year on year.<\/p>\n<p>Representing universities from across Scotland the shortlist of nominees represents a diverse mix of sectors including: renewables, food &amp; drink, educational, construction, apps, beauty, healthcare software, security, digital retail and medical device digital healthcare.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"205\"><strong>Converge Challenge<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"205\"><strong>KickStart<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"205\"><strong>Social Enterprise<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"205\">MIME Technologies Ltd<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\">Automated Time-Resolved Cell Stretcher<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\">Project Turnkey<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"205\">MyDiabetesMyWay<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\">SmArtLimb<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\">Classmate<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"205\">Robotical<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\">Elementary Therapeutics<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\">Greyhope Bay Ltd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"205\">Cyan Forensics<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\">Beyond Medics Ltd<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\">The Comics Studio<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"205\">MindMate<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\">OutLoud<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\">Re-Make.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"205\">Opinew<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\">McAdam Technology<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"205\">MicroSense Technologies Ltd<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\">MiAlgae<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"205\">Estendio<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\">\u03bcSpray Technologies<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"205\">H Guard<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\">Deep Context<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"205\">ENREN<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\">Alegrant<\/td>\n<td width=\"205\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>*Finalists are listed in no particular order. Further information included in the notes to editor.<\/p>\n<p>The 2016 Converge Challenge programme has been the most successful to date with 17 of Scotland\u2019s universities represented among 212 applications. \u2013 This is a record number of applicants and represents 14% growth year on year. Applications were received from Undergraduates (30%), Postgraduates (40%) and staff (30%), with a 34% increase in KickStart applicants and 14% for the Social Enterprise award category.<\/p>\n<p>A panel of expert judges made up of industry experts, leading entrepreneurs and investors from across the business community will now assess the projects and select the winners of the prestigious Converge Challenge awards. This year, Converge Challenge has increased its total prize fund to \u00a3150,000 through cash prizes and a broad range of expert support and training that has been provided through partners and sponsors.<\/p>\n<p>The winner of each of the three categories will be announced at an awards ceremony at the Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, on 22 September.<\/p>\n<p>Olga Kozlova, Director of Converge Challenge, said:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cIt\u2019s always tough to shortlist nominees and this year\u2019s top 10 are the best yet. We\u2019re especially pleased to see\u00a0 previous applicants back in 2016 with stronger business plans and that Scotland\u2019s dynamic and diverse economy is well represented in the range of businesses included. In addition, our 2016 KickStart and Social Enterprise finalists are, I\u2019m pleased to say, all new names to us, which shows a growing appetite in academia for start-ups. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cConverge Challenge is becoming a vital opportunity for start-ups to engage with and it\u2019s not only good for them, it\u2019s good for Scotland\u2019s economy. Over 80% of Converge Challenge companies go on to secure follow-on funding with alumni having secured over \u00a334 million of funding and employing over 150 staff since 2011.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scotland\u2019s leading company creation competition and start up development programme for students, graduates and staff from the country\u2019s universities announces its shortlist of nominees for 2016.<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6,36,7,53,8],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - 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