A Queen Margaret University (QMU) student has won a national entrepreneurship award and £5,000 in funding for a business designed to help artists and theatre producers make better decisions using data.
Aisha Josiah, who is studying MA Arts, Festival and Cultural Management at QMU, received the Converge Performing & Production Arts Challenge Creative Fusion Prize 2026, sponsored by Mark Logan, for her business, ‘Stage Analytics’. The platform brings together information such as ticket sales, audience trends and reviews to give performing arts organisations real-time insights that can help with decisions on marketing, pricing and scheduling.
The idea was partly inspired by Aisha’s experience at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where thousands of shows compete for audiences each year. Stage Analytics aims to address the lack of accessible data available to independent artists and producers, while supporting the sustainability of Scotland’s creative economy.
The £5,000 prize will help Aisha take the next steps in developing Stage Analytics and exploring its potential as a business supporting artists and producers across the sector.
Carolyn Low, Knowledge Exchange Manager at QMU whose role involves providing startup support to students, staff and graduates through QMU’s Startup Studio, said: “Aisha has taken an idea rooted in her own experience of the performing arts and developed it into a business with the potential to address a real challenge facing the sector.
“Being able to support students as they develop ideas like this is an important part of what we do at QMU. Converge gives them the opportunity to take those ideas further, gain valuable business experience and connect with people who can help make them a reality.”
Aisha was one of four QMU innovators to reach this year’s Converge final, with QMU originally having 11 entrepreneurs selected to take part in the 2026 programme. The four finalists represented the breadth of entrepreneurial activity at the University, spanning data and technology, theatre, cultural inclusion, sport and community development.
QMU also had a particularly strong showing in the Performing & Production Arts Challenge, with three of the six finalists coming from the University. Alongside Aisha, the finalists were QMU graduates Mirren McIver, founder of Four Door Theatre, and Lok Pui Lo, founder of ESEA Creatives.
This year, 123 participants entered the competition, with 34 finalists representing 15 Scottish universities. The 34 finalists were selected from across 15 of the 18 universities taking part in the programme, the widest pool of institutions represented in Converge’s 15-year history.
Converge Executive Director Adam Kosterka said: “This year’s finalists represent one of the strongest and most diverse cohorts in our history, spanning industries from healthcare to climate tech. Being selected among such a competitive field is a testament to the skill, creativity and commercial potential of all our winners.”
The Converge programme is supported by the Scottish Funding Council, universities and corporate partners. Since launching in 2011, it has trained more than 1,000 aspiring entrepreneurs and supported the creation of more than 500 companies.
Aisha’s success builds on a strong year for QMU in the Converge programme, highlighting the range of entrepreneurial ideas emerging from the University’s creative and cultural community.
Her achievement was announced at the Converge Awards ceremony at Barony Hall in Glasgow, which celebrates promising university entrepreneurs and business ideas from across Scotland.
To find out more about the programme and the projects it supports visit Converge.
