Posted in Local News on 25 January, 2010| 4 Comments »
Edinburgh Science Triangle is running an Inspiring Innovation series for science-based startups. This series of workshops is aimed at helping young entrepreneurs turn their ideas into reality. You can sign up at:
www.edinburghsciencetriangle.eventbrite.com
The full list of workshops is as follows: (more…)
Posted in Competitions, Local News, tagged Cambridge, funding, Plastic electronics, plastic logic, QUE, tsb on 22 January, 2010| 1 Comment »
Plastic electronics is said to be one of the next big things, and it may just be worth a little thought. The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) sure thinks so, and they are offering £3 million to fund ideas in this emerging field. Compared to silicon, plastic electronics are cheaper, lighter, and more flexible.
At the Consumer Electronics Show, Plastic Logic showed off a plastic e-reader which was all the rage in show floor chatter. Did you know the company was a spinout from Cambridge University?!
It’s interesting to step back in time and watch this news announcement from 2007 when Cambridge labs were first making breakthroughs in this area. Seems they had a good vision of three years ahead, and I’m curious to see (more…)
Posted in Local News on 20 January, 2010| 5 Comments »
TechCrunch is heading to Edinburgh on 12th May 2010:
TechCrunch Europe will be co-locating with EIE’10(http://www.informatics-ventures.com/events/eie10-techcrunch-europe/) in Edinburgh on 12th May 2010. Our venue hosts will be holding EIE in the AM and in the PM TechCrunch Europe will be running an interactive afternoon seminar followed by a joint networking party for both events in the evening.
Full details of the day will be posted here soon along with details on how to book a place at what is set to be a highlight in Scotland’s entrepreneurial and tech calendars.
We are releasing a limited number of early bird tickets now for this event!
Early bird tickets are available now! It’s £45 instead of the full £60 for the event. Just now, there are only 4 people signed up – Don’t say we’re not good to you 😉
Posted in Local News on 31 December, 2009| 3 Comments »
In the New Year’s honours list, Michelle Mone (creator of the Ultimo Bra) was given an OBE. Mone left school at 15 without any qualifications, but has won numerous business awards and has a hugely successful business. A grand achievement indeed.
A few years ago, I had the pleasure of listening to Michelle talk about her journey to building her business. By far, it was one of the most inspiration talks I’ve been to – mostly because she talked about the downs as well as the ups of starting MJM. There was no skirting around the bad bits. There was no brushing it under the carpet with “its really hard work” without any details. She told stories about what she had to do in order to get to where she did – warts and all. (more…)
Posted in Local News on 21 December, 2009| Leave a Comment »
O2 are looking for a team of 2-3 hot developers who want to innovate and create something completely new.
The principle is that they will sponsor you with a monthly allowance in consideration for having an option to buy your business for up to £1 million at the end of 12 months. It’s simple, they seed the idea and you do the rest.
The idea:
They will give you direct access to our people, knowledge and experience. They will also recommend our customers to use your service provided it is good. However, setting up the website, creating the brand and developing the idea is all up to you.
This programme is being overseen by apps guru Paul Golding at O2. Please send him your application using the links below. He’s looking for:
Find out more about the O2 Incubator Project, get detailed answers in the FAQ section or send Paul your application in the Get in touch section.
Posted in Local News on 9 December, 2009| 51 Comments »
The history of Touch Bionics goes back to a program of work conducted at the Princess Margaret Rose Hospital in Edinburgh from 1963, starting with comprehensive research into developing prosthetic solutions for children affected by Thalidomide. In 1988, work began in earnest on electronic arms, including shoulders, wrists and hands. In 1993, a partial hand system received international publicity and in 1998, major international profile was achieved through the fitting of the world’s first electrically powered shoulder. (more…)
Posted in Local News, tagged green search engines, privacy, rainforest on 8 December, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Apparently we emit CO2 every time we conduct a search on Google or any other search engine.
But what if you could save ~2 sq metres of rainforest for every search you were to conduct, without paying a penny– would you do it?
Ecosia is an eco-friendly search engine powered by renewable energy; 80% of its generated income will apparently be donated to protect the Earth’s lungs, i.e. rainforests.
Ecosia claims that the average internet user could protect an area of rainforest around the size of an ice-hockey field each year by using its search engine – which runs on green electricity and emits no carbon emissions. (more…)
Posted in Events, Local News, tagged focus group, goodie bag, shell livewire on 7 December, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Shell LiveWIRE is looking for entrepreneurs to take part in a focus group on Thursday, 10am-12:30 pm. And hey, you’ll get a goody bag with entrepreneurial treats! Kate Ho is going, anyone else want to join? Email Anna at anna.lt@shell-livewire.org to register your interest. Message from Anna below:
I know that it is a really busy time of year for you but I was wondering if you, or any of your students might be interested participating in a focus group I am running in Edinburgh on Thursday the 10th of December?
As the end of the year draws near, the Shell LiveWIRE team are looking for some feedback on the Shell LiveWIRE programme, our website, the awards programme, future developments we’ve got planned for 2010 and our overall service. (more…)
Posted in Local News on 30 November, 2009| 1 Comment »
Wired has just ran an article everybody interested in Scotland’s innovative history should have a look at: Nov 30th: A St Andrew’s day salute to Scottish inventors. Scotland was indeed a nation of inventors: Watt (steam engine), McAdam (macadam), Bell (telephone), Blyth (windmill) and Napier (logarithm) just to cite a handful of them. Scotland’s world ranked universities are certainly the legacy of these industrial and intellectual inventions. For those interested in learning more, the book How The Scots Invented The Modern World is a good read. An interesting read is also Boycott Scotland (.co.uk).
Posted in Local News on 26 November, 2009| 1 Comment »
Alexis co-founded a news website where readers, not editors, determine what goes on the front page. He started doodling the alien mascot back in April 2005. He was one of the very first startups on the (in)famous Y Combinator, and is one of their early successes. Reddit was acquired approximatively 12 months after they started it, and Alexis worked there for another 3 years.
In this talk, Alexis describes how Reddit came to be; he explains the important role Y Combinator and Paul Graham played in the life of the startup and its founders. This inspirational lecture was recorded at the University of Edinburgh School of Informatics, in Michael Clouser’s Informatics Entrepreneurship class, and is sponsored by Informatics Ventures.
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