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Tayside and Fife firms in the running for £300,000 prize fund

Jodie Sinclair, Theo Health founder.
Jodie Sinclair, Theo Health founder.

Seven businesses from across Tayside and Fife are in the running to win from a prize pot of £300,000 after being shortlisted for a top award.

A quarter of the 28 finalists shortlisted for the Converge Awards are from either Dundee University or the University of St Andrews.

The finalists include Dundee graduate Jodie Sinclair who has been shortlisted in the Converge challenge, a category focused on novel solutions with solid IP and high commercial potential.

Jodie’s sports recovery wearable, Theo Health, is revolutionising how people train and recover from sports injuries with a device and app that measures, tracks and analyses muscle development.

Jodie created the product after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury which robbed her of the chance of becoming a footballer.

Also making the shortlist is Lightwater Sensors from the University of St Andrews.

Founder Ross Gillanders has invented a hand-held monitoring system that meets the critical need for real-time water pollution detection.

Lightwater Sensors founder Ross Gillanders.
Lightwater Sensors founder Ross Gillanders.

The company set up by Mr Gillanders, a senior research fellow at the university, won £15,000 at the Scottish EDGE awards last year.

Tayside firms shortlisted from 200 entries

The fledgling businesses have been whittled down from more than 200 initial entries for the competition.

All the 28 finalists will now compete for over £300,000 of funding and start-up support at an awards ceremony in Edinburgh in early November.

Prizes include equity-free cash awards of up to £50,000 plus in-kind support from Converge’s network of professional partners which includes some of the country’s leading investors, lawyers, and business experts.

The six finalists in the Converge Challenge category will also be invited to pitch their ideas live at an exclusive investors-only event in London.

‘Innovation live and well’ in Tayside

Executive director at Converge Claudia Cavalluzzo said: “Scotland’s world-class universities continue to be brilliant hotbeds of innovation and creativity, as exemplified by this year’s Converge finalist cohort.

Executive director at Converge Claudia Cavalluzzo.
Executive director at Converge Claudia Cavalluzzo.

“The judges who reviewed this year’s cohort’s business plans believe that these emerging entrepreneurs are leading projects with real market potential and the power to strengthen our economy while creating a fairer future for all.

“It is great to see so many of this year’s finalists originate from the universities across Tayside and demonstrate that innovation is alive and well in the region.”

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