Entrepreneurship - E-track

Small, agile players, such as start-ups, are key to driving innovation in the modern defence supply chain. The SPADS E-Track provides robust support for students looking to commercialize their research through dedicated programmes offered in partnership with Edinburgh Innovations (EI) and The Bayes Centre.

Enhanced Entrepreneurship Support

Student enterprise support from Edinburgh Innovations is tiered, guiding participants from initial concepts to funded ventures:

  • PhD Max is a pre-accelerator programme which provides an introduction to entrepreneurship for PhD students.
  • Venture Builder Incubator (VBI) is a selective, competitive program where students bid for a place. It guides participants in developing a robust commercialisation and funding strategy and includes mentoring, access to business advisors, incubation space, entrepreneurial courses, and acceleration—all underpinned by a powerful network of investors, researchers, peers, and industry experts.

Collectively, these and other EI programmes build foundational business expertise across key areas: intellectual property (IP) strategies, start-up creation, pitching, product and service design, competitor analysis, market research, funding strategies, and the practical elements of running a business. This ensures founders have the skills to validate the commercial potential of their ideas and communicate effectively with investors and stakeholders.

Proven Track Record

The combined efforts of the Bayes Centre and Edinburgh Innovations have yielded significant results, with record translation figures in 2024, and 127 new startups and spinouts translating cutting-edge research into real-world solutions. 

Supporting the E-Track & Hardware Start-ups

To further bolster the entrepreneurial track, SPADS will:

  • Host a programme of defence-entrepreneur and investment-oriented speakers and events.
  • Provide additional prototyping funds, with a focus on hardware-related start-ups where initial costs can be high.

The entrepreneurial path will be a core element woven into key activities such as industry challenges and hackathons.

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