ABERDEEN’s Robert Gordon University is launching a start-up accelerator to help entrepreneurial staff, students and alumni to develop businesses amid moves to make the North East less reliant on the oil and gas industry.
The university is launching the initiative with £1.6 million support from the charitable foundation started by oil services tycoon Sir Ian Wood.
The programme will provide up to £10,000 funding for selected projects.
It will consider proposals from teams working in a range of industry areas including technology, food and drink, the creative industries, healthcare and engineering.
Sir Ian noted the project aims to support entrepreneurial activity within the student, academic and graduate communities.
He added: “It is directly aligned with the regional economic renaissance agenda, led by Opportunity North East, which includes growing our entrepreneurial environment to enable more business creation and growth across all industry sectors.”
Sir Ian chairs Opportunity North East’s main economic leadership board.
Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, Principal and Vice Chancellor of RGU, said the accelerator built on the university’s history as an innovator and business-focused institution, while moving it into new opportunities as the promoter of start-ups and cutting-edge innovation.
The university said applications for the Entrepreneurship Accelerator competition may be made by teams that contain at least one person drawn from the ranks of RGU students, staff members and alumni graduating within three years of September 2018.
The competition will launch in September. An external panel will decide which teams should get support.
The funding from the Wood Foundation will also support the creation of a new Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group at RGU.
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