News
RBS launches 'game-changing' IP lending product for Scotland’s creatives and spinouts
The Royal Bank of Scotland has become the first bank in Scotland to allow companies to borrow up to £10 million against the value of their Intellectual Property (IP). The IP lending scheme has gone live today at a launch event with representatives from Scotland’s technology and creative sectors at the University of Edinburgh.
Source: Scottish Financial News
Inside EPCC, the UK’s first National Supercomputing Centre
For more than three decades, EPCC, part of the University of Edinburgh, has been a driving force behind supercomputing innovation in the UK. Over the last ten years, its mission has expanded to encompass data science and artificial intelligence (AI), positioning EPCC at the forefront of the technologies reshaping research, industry, and public services.
Source: Innovation News Network
Scotland’s spinout potential is real – and its capital is finally catching up
University Spinouts are having a moment. Investment in the sector hit £3.35bn in 2024, up 44% on the year before, and the institutions driving those headlines – UCL, Oxford, Cambridge – are clustered within a few miles of each other in London. UCL Business’ recent research underscores the point, with academics at a single London university having driven £3.06bn in external investment across 95 active spinout companies over the past five years.
Source: DIGIT
Edinburgh University spinout Exergy3 raises £10m to turn wasted wind power into industrial heat
Exergy3 has closed a £10m seed round to commercialise technology that converts curtailed renewable electricity into high-temperature heat for industrial use, tackling grid waste and factory emissions in one go.
The Edinburgh University spinout has developed modular thermal energy storage units that take surplus power, such as wind generation the grid cannot absorb in real time, and deliver process heat at temperatures ranging from 50°C to 1,200°C.
Source: UK Investor Magazine
Innovative research suggests Bass Rock gannet colony may be stabilising after avian flu outbreak
New research is shedding light on the health of one of the UK’s most important seabird colonies, suggesting it may be stabilising after the devastating 2022 avian flu outbreak. A team from the Scottish Seabird Centre, Edinburgh Napier University, the University of Edinburgh’s School of Geosciences, and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology are using cutting-edge technology to better understand one of the world’s largest northern gannet colonies on Bass Rock.
‘Step-change’ for UK’s digital horsepower
A major new compute investment could accelerate the progress of astronomers exploring the mysteries of the universe, chemists searching for cancer-killing drugs, and historians analysing archives.
The £76m investment from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is set to enhance the UK’s computing and AI capability.
DDI programme publishes latest annual report
The University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University’s Data-Driven Innovation (DDI) initiative has published its latest Annual Review, highlighting achievements from the academic year 2024-25.
Twelve case studies feature in the review, covering start-ups and spin-outs, research, and partnerships delivering positive impacts for a range of industry sectors.
Native Scottish species under threat from disease and warming climate
Wildcats, puffins and trees such as the European Ash will be under critical threat without greater conservation measures, according to a “genetic scorecard” developed by scientists across Scotland.
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, University of Edinburgh and NatureScot have led the development of the most comprehensive analysis yet of the genetic health of Scotland’s native wild species.
Source: The Scotsman
Dog food accounts for 1% of UK greenhouse gas emissions, study finds
Dog food accounts for 1% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions, according to research that found wet, raw and meat-rich products were associated with substantially higher emissions than dry kibble.
Source: The Guardian
$14.9m award supports data-driven livestock development
A $14.9 million grant will strengthen work on livestock data insights by SEBI-Livestock, hosted at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.
The five-year Evidence into Action (EnAct) grant from the Gates Foundation will enhance the work of the SEBI-Livestock team, which has collaborated with the Gates Foundation to monitor the impact of the foundation’s livestock investments for almost a decade.