Converge is now affiliated to all 18 Scottish universities, offering a prize fund of $305,000 through four competition-orientated programs.
Converge, a Scotland-based entrepreneurship development and accelerator program catered to entrants from universities and research institutes, has secured funding and participation from seven additional Scottish universities.
The achievement means Converge is now funded and affiliated to all 18 universities in the country, along with government-owned arts agency Creative Scotland and funding board Scottish Funding Council, the latter of which has allocated more than £1m ($1.3m) for the next three years.
Launched in 2010, Converge is a stage-agnostic accelerator open to spinouts and startups founded by staff, students and recent graduates of Scotland’s universities and research institutions.
The accelerator has a total prize fund of approximately $305,000 available across four competition-orientated programs, including a newly-announced Creative Challenge for the creative industries, as well as existing streams Converge, Impact and KickStart.
All four competitions have a wide roster of industry experts on hand to help participants establish sustainable companies and plot a route for the successful commercialisation of their concepts.
The Converge challenge is the initiative’s flagship competition, while KickStart is an affiliate of the Switzerland-founded startup accelerator of the same name and Impact was set up to incentivise social mission-led businesses.
Creative Challenge will encourage applications focused on sectors including fashion, textiles, visual and performing arts, computer gaming, software, music and photography.
Entries for the 2019 Converge competition are currently being accepted, with the final due to take place at the recently-opened Victoria & Albert design museum in Dundee on September 25.
