Projects we're supporting

It may be winter, but things are heating up in the Projects team. Our second round of spin out funding closed with RhaPSeda winning £20k to help support the spin out of their vaccine platform technology from the University of Dundee. We are really excited to join the journey with this up and coming company. The team were also happy to see old friends being awarded further funding for new innovations.

EcoClean completed their IBioIC Feasibility award in 2021 for the proof of concept for their fish waste to surfactant process and were awarded a further £100k through the Innovation programme to continue the project with the University of St Andrews.

Marine Biopolymers have had a few projects funded by IBioIC in the past, but their latest Innovation Fund project is a bit different. The experts in kelp processing have teamed up with materials chemists at the University of Glasgow to pair seaweed-derived polymers with silicon nanomaterials, creating novel energy storage technology.

The new year also brings new funding competitions to the Projects team. We were pleased to launch a further round of spin out funding to support new company creation from Scottish Universities. We have also just launched a fresh round of Feasibility funding. This funding stream supports early stage innovation, using the expertise of Scottish academics to prove the feasibility of new ideas. Please get in touch with the projects team if you have an idea you would like to discuss.

As we start 2022 we are keen to see what biotechnology can do in areas of the economy that are not often associated with IB. The end of 2021 saw new projects in materials and textiles and a burst of activity in the marine co-product sector. We also formed new connections within the cosmetics sector and helped some of our member companies to learn more about, and access, this global market. We can’t wait to see where IB can help decarbonise and innovate new sectors in 2022.

Valerie Evans