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Grand Scale Ignite

Fully Funded Entrepreneurial Education Programme for Promising Scottish Pre-Spinout Teams

Grand Scale Ignite, a four-week online entrepreneurial education programme, is specifically designed to enhance the capabilities of 10 promising academic research teams with aspirations to spin out from their respective universities.

Under the guidance of highly experienced entrepreneurial educators, Grand Scale Ignite upskills academic research teams with the essential entrepreneurial acumen and practical commercial skills required to:

    • Successfully test and validate their innovative concepts in the market.
    • Determine their route to market for launch.
    • Secure vital investment to propel their business forward.

*Applications have now closed* 

Initiative Funded By:
EF - Scottish Government Logo

Programme Overview

Grand Scale Ignite bridges the gap between academia and entrepreneurship with a tailored curriculum, providing essential skills and knowledge for navigating the complex world of early-stage commercialisation.

Under the guidance of highly experienced entrepreneurial educators, Grand Scale Ignite aims to bridge the gap between academia and entrepreneurship by equipping academic research teams with early-stage commercialisation skills, including:

-  Crafting a robust business model.
-  Testing initial assumptions in lucrative markets for product-market fit.
-  Gathering early customer insights for product refinement.
-  Charting their route to market.
-  Gaining insights into the funding and investment landscape to propel their business forward.

  • Introduction to Commercialisation: Crafting a Solid Foundation
  • Ensuring product market fit: Meeting customer needs
  • Route to Market: Charting the Path to Success
  • Fundamentals of Investment Excellence: Securing Funding
Grand Scale Ignite

Programme Delivery

Grand Scale Ignite is a fully online programme delivered via an innovative, user-friendly edtech platform that facilitates live online training and hosts a suite of essential toolkits, actionable plans and templates.

Key Information:

  • Live online delivery takes place between 4th - 29th March 2024.
  • Expert C’level online training, support and mentorship for up to 3 team members, one of which must be the Entrepreneurial Lead. The additional two team places may be allocated to a commercial lead, principal research scientist, technical lead or Technology Transfer Officer.
  • Access to an online community, moderated by the delivery team, to connect and support participants throughout the programme.
  • 12 months access to training module recordings and suite of training materials including actionable workbooks per module, how-to guides, best practice templates and toolkits.

Programme Trainers

Grand Scale Marketing

Grand Scale

Leanne Jennings and Roisin Garland, have over four decades of experience leading marketing initiatives for innovative research and tech-based spinouts, startups and global companies.

As a valued delivery partner for the UK’s national early-stage spinout accelerator programme (ICURe), Grand Scale has upskilled and empowered over 50 spinout companies across a wide range of innovation areas to commericalise, successfully launch and accelerate growth in global markets.

Les Gaw - Amber North

Amber North

Les Gaw, is a seasoned, serial tech entrepreneur who has successfully led a tech company from early-stage through to exit and understands the process and the challenges this brings to inexperienced founding teams.

As a director of Gabriel Investment Syndicate, a Glasgow-based angel syndicate, Les has personally invested in over 20 early-stage Scottish companies, leveraging his expertise and network to strengthen the evolving Scottish tech ecosystem.

Application Process

Who is Eligible to Apply?

Academic research teams that are seeking to validate their innovative solutions within the market with a view to spinning out of their Entrepreneurial Campuses in the future are eligible to apply for the Grand Scale Ignite programme. 10 promising academic research teams across Scotland will be selected to join the programme in March 2024.

How to Apply? -  *Applications have now closed*

Informal interviews will be conducted by Grand Scale to assess your suitability for the programme between 12th - 18th January 2024. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their interview w/c 22nd January.

To secure a fully funded place on the Grand Scale Ignite programme, book your interview by clicking on the button below.

**Please note Grand Scale Ignite is limited to 10 teams - book your interview today**