Glasgow launches venture studio to drive innovation

The Glasgow City Innovation District has launched a new venture studio to help founders based in the Scottish city develop new ideas, products, and business models into high growth companies.

Venture studios originate their own ideas and build start-ups from scratch, while start-up studios typically work with external founders who bring their own ideas or early-stage start-ups.

Four pillars of activity are designed to support the needs of Glasgow’s digital, tech, engineering, and creative sectors – Challenge, Make, Innovate and Impact and a series of innovation programmes will be delivered where multiple projects and different businesses collaborate.

The first call is Challenge – Space Data for Industry that offers grant funding for Glasgow City-registered businesses selling or utilising innovative solutions that use space data to further collaborations with existing or potential customers.

“The funding for the venture studio will support the development of innovation-driven businesses, products, and services, to create a leading international innovation hub at the centre of Glasgow City Innovation District for new product creation and collaboration which will support the future growth of Glasgow’s tech ecosystem,” said Alisdair Gunn, Director of the Glasgow City Innovation District.

Scotland’s first innovation district is a collaboration between the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow City Council, Scottish Enterprise, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurial Scotland.

Jane Martin, Managing Director of Innovation and Investment at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Working with businesses and partners such as universities and local authorities to create environments that encourage innovation will help us achieve our aim of doubling the number of scale-ups in Scotland over the next ten years.”

Councillor Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said that Glasgow’s digital, tech, creative and engineering sectors are hugely important to the city and the whole city region.

“Our investment in the city’s first venture studio will further drive the innovation that is key to the city’s future economic growth,” she said. “This is a very exciting project that brings together all the people necessary to develop the new business ideas, products and services in high-growth sectors that will create jobs and attract investment to Glasgow.”

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