Edinburgh MSP supporting university spin offs with parliamentary reception

The Edinburgh Pentlands MSP, Gordon MacDonald will sponsor a reception on Tuesday evening at Holyrood with Converge, the country’s largest company creation programme.

MSPs will hear the ways in which Converge has assisted in the creation of 330 companies. Converge is funded by the Scottish Funding Council, Creative Scotland, all 18 of Scotland’s universities and ten professional partners.

The company helps university graduates to create sustainable businesses by providing them with skills, confidence and validation to make their business ideas a reality.

Mr MacDonald said: “Scotland’s universities boast a wealth of talent when it comes to business innovation, and this reception, hosted by Converge, presents a valuable opportunity to showcase this talent, and learn about how we can support graduates, students and staff from Scotland’s universities to succeed.
 
“This SNP Government is committed to continuing to support innovation and entrepreneurship in Scotland, from investing in green technologies to the creation of new tech scaler hubs, it is the SNP’s ambition to make Scotland one of the leading nations in Europe for business start-ups.
 
“While Brexit continues to hammer business and universities in the UK, Scotland is leading the way in the UK when it comes to innovation and, under the fresh leadership of First Minister Humza Yousaf, this Government will continue to support Scotland’s universities and its partnerships to nurture new talent.”

Converge Executive Director, Dr Claudia Cavalluzzo said: “Our universities are uniquely placed to deliver on the Scottish Government’s vision of establishing Scotland as a world-class entrepreneurial nation because they have the conditions, facilities and talent to foster breakthrough innovation and ideas.
 
“Our reception at the Scottish Parliament which has been kindly sponsored by Gordon Macdonald MSP gives us a fantastic opportunity to shine a light on some of these emerging ideas – ideas which we’ve had the privilege of nurturing and supporting over the last 12 years, and which are now having real economic and social impact in the world.”