Innovation competition awards £35k to projects

A competition to boost innovation and help transform industry sectors has seen £35,000 awarded to five projects bridging business and academia.

The funding is from Interface, and the competition was open to groups of business in the food and drink, creative industries and tourism sectors collaborating with universities and research institutes.

The winning projects comprise Mycomaterials – Creating Textiles from Fungi, Developing Creative Green Materials, Making the Ideal Cheese Product.

Howell Davies, sector engagement project manager at Interface, which is funded by the Scottish Funding Council, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, noted a “significant” increase in the number of entries.

He added: “Encouraging new products, services and processes, as well as addressing sector-wide challenges, is at the heart of what we do and can lead to positive impacts on Scotland’s economy, environmental sustainability and health.”