Celebrating the people and ideas shaping Scotland’s innovation future!
Converge has announced its 2026 cohort, welcoming 123 new academic led start-ups and spin-outs from across Scotland.
This is the largest and most competitive intake in the programme’s history. The quality of applications reflects the strength of research and entrepreneurial ambition emerging from Scotland’s universities.
Executive director of Converge, Adam Kosterka welcomed the announcement of the 2026 cohort by saying:
“Each year, the quality of applications to our programme astonishes us with the breadth and depth of innovation displayed. The 2026 cohort is very strong and we are looking forward to working with them as they take the next steps towards making their ideas a commercial reality.”
Edinburgh Napier innovators driving real‑world impact
Edinburgh Napier University (ENU) is proud to see several of our researchers and graduates selected for the 2026 programme. Their projects span environmental monitoring, wildlife conservation, emergency medicine, sustainable consumer products and femtech. Together, they highlight the creativity, technical excellence and real world impact that define ENU’s innovation culture.
Our 2026 Converge innovators:
DeepSeaLab
- Lead applicant: Abdelfateh Kerrouche
- Challenge: KickStart
DeepSeaLab is developing smart, autonomous systems for real time water quality monitoring. The technology combines advanced sensors, lab on chip techniques and AI driven analysis to detect pollution, harmful bacteria and environmental risks directly in the water. Continuous on site monitoring replaces slow manual sampling and provides early warnings for aquaculture, offshore energy and environmental regulators. The goal is to protect ecosystems, improve water safety and support global Net Zero targets.
Edward Lavender
- Lead applicant: Edward Lavender
- Challenge: KickStart
Edward’s project addresses a major challenge in aquatic conservation. Working with Antonia Klöcker and Professor James Thorburn, he is tackling the limitations of acoustic telemetry, which often provides only patchy information on animal presence. His team is creating a web‑based analytics platform that uses advanced algorithms to reconstruct detailed movement patterns from sparse detection data. This will unlock the value of existing receiver networks and give conservation practitioners a powerful tool to understand and protect aquatic wildlife.
Kit Fresh
- Lead applicant: Peter McLean
- Challenge: KickStart
Kit Fresh is an enzyme powered detergent sheet that uses silver ion technology to eliminate sweat, odour and bacteria from activewear. The product is lightweight, water soluble and sustainable. It offers a convenient alternative to traditional detergents for athletes, outdoor enthusiasts and anyone seeking low impact laundry solutions.
Scotseal Medical Devices Ltd
- Lead applicant: Scott Rutherford
- Challenge: Converge Challenge
Scotseal is a multi-award winning emergency medical device designed for ‘zero responders’, meaning untrained bystanders who are first on the scene of major bleeding injuries. With a simple four step process and a 2 to 4 second application time, Scotseal mimics the shape of any wound to stem blood loss and keep victims alive until medical help arrives. The device has the potential to transform community response to trauma and save lives.
WombWise
- Lead applicant: Emily Youngs
- Challenge: Create Change
WombWise is a pioneering femtech platform that uses physiological data from everyday wearables such as the Oura Ring and Apple Watch to identify non invasive digital biomarkers of endometriosis and PCOS. By transforming continuous biosignals into structured clinical insights, the platform aims to reduce the typical 8 to 10 year diagnostic journey by up to 90 percent. This gives women earlier evidence of their symptoms and supports more informed clinical conversations.
Edinburgh Napier’s role in Scotland’s innovation landscape
The success of these projects reflects the strength of ENU’s research environment and the support available to staff and students who want to explore commercialisation. Through our Research, Innovation and Enterprise department at the University, we help innovators develop their ideas, build partnerships and access programmes such as Converge.
As the 2026 cohort begins its training later this month, our participants will join a national community of founders who are working to turn research into real‑world solutions. Their progress will continue to showcase the impact of Edinburgh Napier innovation in Scotland and beyond.
The full cohort list is available on the Converge website >
ENU staff can find out more about the commercialisation support available through our Research, Innovation and Enterprise department by visiting our Intranet (accessible to ENU staff only).