As we come to the end of 2023 we look back at our highlights of the year. Image What a busy year it’s been with over 3,700 of you attending events, entering our competitions, and taking part with our programmes. We’ve made new partnerships and collaborations both within the University of Edinburgh and beyond which has refreshed activity and projects such as Techstars, Entrepreneur First, Lego Serious Play and various University Schools and Departments. We’re proud to have a renewed focus on sustainability with a stronger relationship with the Edinburgh Earth Initiative and encouraging and supporting more sustainable centred startups. A big thank you to everyone we saw in the Student Enterprise Hub and workshops. Looking forward to seeing you in 2024! Female entrepreneurship in the news Back in February two of our startups Cytochroma and Carcinotech were featured on the news talking about the importance of female founders. We still aim to empower more female founders with exciting plans to be announced next year – watch this space! First Techstars Startup Weekend In March we launched the first Techstars Startup Weekend. While we’ve been doing this 3-day event for several years now, 2023 was the first time launched with sponsor Techstars and a new collaborative approach with other Schools and Departments at the University of Edinburgh. We’re proud to have teamed up with various Schools and Departments including the Business School, School of Engineering, Edinburgh Futures Institute, Edinburgh Earth Initiative and School of Informatics, truly embracing the spirit of the hackathon style weekend. Chancellor’s dinner Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh held dinner at the Palace of Holyrood to celebrate the success of our students startups in March 2023. The Princess Royal was joined by University leaders, Edinburgh Innovations’ students and graduates we have supported to become startup founders. Our CEO George Baxter, spoke about the significant success of student enterprise at the University, noting that the University is top in Scotland for student enterprise and second in the UK Russell Group of universities. Big Dig We reached a record number of startups in one year (academic year 2021/22), this marks the third consecutive year we have helped over 100 student startups to launch. To celebrate we planted over 105 trees to celebrate the launch of 105 student startups. Startup Summer Accelerator Our Startup Summer Accelerator partner with the Edinburgh Earth Initiative. For the first time the 12-week programme was primarily aimed at businesses with a climate focus or with an idea that will help advance any of the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Shortlisted for the Times Higher Education (THE) Awards 2023 We were shortlisted for ‘Outstanding Entrepreneurial University’ by Times Higher Education Awards 2023! Thanks to our energetic enterprise teams as well as the Data-Driven Hubs and world-class Edinburgh BioQuarter. Startup Basics In September 2023 we launched our new and improved Startup Basics programme. Previously a one-day workshop of the same name, Startup Basics is a programme made up of 5 workshops, designed to have a community feel as you learn alongside the same cohort. This new programme has proved popular with 985 sign-ups so far. Don’t miss out – Startup Basics returns in 2024 in-person and online! We celebrated our 18th birthday! This year marks eighteen years since the beginning of the student enterprise service. Eighteen years ago, only one person supported students in entrepreneurship but now our team of 11 staff and five student ambassadors supports more than 100 student startups form each year and over 2,500 students engaged in our activities. Next steps Join us in 2024 with Startup Basics. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or simply curious about the world of startups, our comprehensive Startup Basics programme is tailored to meet your needs. Returning in 2024 in-person and online. Find out more and book now Image This article was published on 2024-07-01
