Four Edinburgh student startups won prizes at the Scottish EDGE business awards last night.
SimPat Innovations, SolarSub, Sunsave Solutions and Creator Campus all won in the Young Edge category, supported by Scottish Enterprise, which offers grant awards for companies whose founders are under the age of 30.
Medtech company SimPat, founded by medical student and Healthcare Leadership Academy Scholar David Bourne, won £15,000 for its AI-Powered online medical education platform for future medical professionals, which includes simulated patient experiences.
Renewable energy company SolarSub, co-founded by School of Engineering alumni Sebastiaan Schalkwijk and James Taylor, won £10,000 for its novel cooling system that makes floating solar panels an efficient and sustainable alternative to traditional solar panels on land.
Another solar energy company, Sunsave Solutions, aims to provide low-cost, clean electricity to rural communities worldwide through its portable solar system and flexible Pay-As-You-Go scheme. Founded by School of Social and Political Sciences graduate Mekila Ngwambe, Sunsave won £10,000.
And former Edinburgh Innovations’ Enterprise Officer and Business School graduate Jack McMillan won £10, 000 for Creator Campus - a digital platform for universities, accelerators and government programmes designed to support early-stage entrepreneurs.
Teodora Handrea, Student Enterprise Manager at Edinburgh Innovations, said:
It’s especially impressive to have winners at Scottish EDGE, as they compete not only with companies from other universities but also with those from the wider business community.
We are proud to be supporting these innovative, solutions-focussed students and graduates, who are making their ideas work for a better world. ”
Supported by The Hunter Foundation, the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise, Scottish EDGE awarded £1.5million in prize money to 37 businesses at an awards ceremony in Edinburgh last night, opened by Tom Arthur MSP, Minister for Employment and Investment.
Evelyn McDonald, CEO of Scottish EDGE, said:
It’s an honour for us to continue to help Scottish businesses to fulfil their potential. By investing in such a wide variety of businesses, involved in industries as diverse as games, tech, healthcare and renewables, the 24th round of our awards is putting its faith in the huge scope for success contained within our country’s business community. "
Sir Tom Hunter, entrepreneur and philanthropist, added:
The only way to grow an economy is to support and build high growth businesses; Scottish EDGE is a prime mover in that arena - we have seen countless examples of these early-stage businesses go to immense scale. ”
