Projects from 15 institutions compete for a £410,000 prize fund.
Thirty-four technology ventures from 15 Scottish universities have been shortlisted as finalists for the 2026 Converge programme awards, which offers a combined prize fund of £410,000. These finalists were selected from a competitive cohort of 123 participants, representing 15 of the 18 universities involved in the programme. Winners are scheduled to be announced at the Converge Awards ceremony at Glasgow’s Barony Hall on 1 October.
The shortlisted projects encompass innovations designed to improve medical training, enhance water safety, and sharpen offshore forecasting. Converge noted that this year’s finalists represent the widest spread of institutions in the programme’s 15-year history, reflecting what it described as the growing strength of innovation, entrepreneurship, and research commercialisation across Scotland’s university sector.
Adam Kosterka, Executive Director of Converge, commented on the diversity of the finalists. He stated: “It’s an extraordinarily diverse group of finalists this year. Not only do we have the largest number of universities represented among the finalists, but we’re also seeing strong representation from institutions right across Scotland’s higher education sector. Innovation, research commercialisation and entrepreneurship are now firmly embedded within universities across the country and we’re seeing a growing pipeline of ventures with the potential to create significant economic and societal impact. Reaching the final is a major achievement, but these successes are also testament to the collective effort behind them. Universities, industry, government, funders and Scotland’s wider entrepreneurial ecosystem all play an important role in helping talented innovators turn their ideas into ventures with the potential to make a lasting impact.”
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Among the technology innovations reaching this year’s final is RecoverPX from Heriot-Watt University, which is developing a new water sampling platform to improve the detection of dangerous pathogens in the UK’s water supply. Additionally, QUANTINANCE LTD, a venture from the University of Strathclyde, has developed an artificial intelligence-powered forecasting platform for offshore and maritime operations, with the venture aiming to reduce forecasting errors by up to 70%.
Scensai, from the University of Aberdeen, is developing an affordable handheld electronic nose for beverage quality control, with longer term applications including food fraud detection, customs screening, and breath diagnostics in healthcare. The finalists were selected following a rigorous judging process involving university enterprise specialists, who assessed both the strength of the underlying innovation and its commercial potential.
Collectively, the shortlisted ventures demonstrate how university research is being translated into solutions for societal challenges. The finalists will now progress to the Converge Awards, where they will compete across six Challenge categories and a number of special awards.
