Ideas to impact public sector support for research commercialisation: strengths, ambition and progress report

Strengths

Universities

The strength and reputation of our world class universities that form our higher education sector presents a significant opportunity to generate substantial growth for Scotland’s economy:

They are globally renowned and competitive. Three of Scotland’s universities are in the Times’ top 200 rankings 2025.2 Scotland’s institutions are world leading in areas of Energy Transition, AI and Digital, Advanced Manufacturing and Life Sciences, with Scottish research publications being cited 76% more frequently than the global average.3

They are important economic contributors. Analysis by the Fraser of Allander Institute found that all R&D spending in Scotland in 2019 supported nearly 60,000 jobs, over £5.3 billion in output and £3.2 billion in GVA (Fraser of Allander, 2023).4

They are attractors of global talent. 40% of academic staff at Scottish universities are from outside of the UK (above average), and research publications are co-authored with international partners at a rate nearly three times the global average.5 6

They are attractors of foreign direct investment. R&D projects account for the 3rd largest focus for FDI in Scotland, ranking joint second behind London for R&D FDI.7

They are creators of new business. Scotland has produced three Unicorns and currently has 243 active spinouts.8 One of our institutions, the University of Edinburgh, is in the top 10 academic institutions in the UK for spinout companies created.

Talent

At the centre of research commercialisation within our universities lies the innovative entrepreneur. Scotland is built on a rich legacy of research-focused innovation emerging from Scotland’s universities, and our current cohort of academic entrepreneurs are continuing this tradition in new emerging sectors, forming high-growth impactful companies that have the potential to scale, anchor innovative clusters or businesses, provide significant high-value jobs and attract investment.

These bright minds within our world leading universities are showing what’s possible for the transformative potential of Scottish university research when combined with entrepreneurial ambition, and providing sufficient support throughout their journey from ideation to commercial impact will ensure they have the best chance of success and economic impact.

The makeup and diversity of founding teams that can successfully take a research project to commercial markets is essential and can be strengthened by including entrepreneurs and mentors with existing commercial and industry talent as well as research and technical expertise.

Spinouts

Scotland is steadily improving its support for companies spinning out of our universities. In 2023/24, the number of active firms which spun-off from Scottish HEIs increased by 9% compared to 2022/23, a 56% increase since 2016/17. The universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Strathclyde all appear in the UK top twenty for total spinouts created since 2011, and Scotland is the best performing UK region for spinout investment after the Golden Triangle.

Some of the UK’s largest ever spinout exits have originated from Scottish universities, including life sciences spinout Exscentia, originating from Dundee University, which was valued at £2.2 billion IPO on the US NASDAQ.

Public and private funding has, and will continue to strengthen translational infrastructure, support and expand the pipeline of emerging high-growth spinout companies, and improve the connectivity between research, industry and investors, all helping to convert scientific excellence into economic and societal value for Scotland.

There is significant potential to build upon universities’ impact and contribution to Scotland’s regional and national economies through public sector support to do so. The Scottish Government is therefore committed to reducing barriers to regional growth and supporting the development of strong clusters of excellence to enable Scotland to compete with, and attract investment, talent and business from, globally competitive regions such as Silicon Valley, The Golden Triangle and others.

The Route to Scaleup

Scaleups are more productive than other businesses, and on average generate 61% more turnover per employee than other Scottish enterprises. More younger companies, including university spinouts, are scaleups: 24.7% are between five to 10 years old and 25.2% between 15 to 20 years. Despite representing 1.71% of Scotland’s business base, scaleups generate significant follow-on economic benefits:9

They are job creators – with 2,975 scaleups in Scotland employing over 206,939 people.10

They are GDP generators – the total amount of turnover generated by scaleups up in Scotland is £67.6 billion.

They are innovators, introducing innovation at twice the rate of large firms.11

They are exporters – seven in 10 scaleups say export markets are critical to future growth and are looking to expand further overseas.12

They are highly productive – on average scaleups generate £558,000 turnover per employee, more than double the national average.13

They are ambitious – scaleups see more opportunity ahead. Eight out of 10 scaleups expect to grow again in the coming year.14

By focusing on R&D intensive businesses grown out of our universities, we can stimulate a pipeline of businesses that are most ambitious and able to scale with the greatest economic potential. By providing a supportive environment to do so, Scotland’s economy will be transformed as a result and create a more diverse and wealthy economy that will benefit all of Scotland’s citizens, and as this report outlines, we are moving in the right direction to build that supportive environment.

Commercialisation Support Ecosystem

Scotland’s public sector commercialisation support system is vibrant and complex. There is a range of support organisations that work alongside the public sector and higher and further education institutions to provide funding, supportive infrastructure and training for the commercialisation of research.

The systems map below shows the public sector’s role in the ecosystem, highlighting national programmes currently providing support in Scotland from ideation through to spinout scaling.15

The Government and its agencies don’t work in isolation. They complement existing activity of the ecosystem, and we’re working together to ensure there is a smooth journey for research to translate into economic outcomes for the benefit of Scotland.