Ten up-and-coming businesses have been selected to take part in the inaugural Launch Academy Scotland programme, which is set to boost the growth of Scottish clean energy businesses.
The Launch Academy Scotland programme has been launched by the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, with this first round opened exclusively to Scottish small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Each of the selected businesses pitched technology solutions to challenges set by Launch Academy Scotland’s sponsors, who include Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, South of Scotland Enterprise, BlueFloat Energy | Nadara Partnership, Ocean Winds, and Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm.
The ten successful companies will now participate in a seven-month technology development and business acceleration mentoring programme, which ORE Catapult states is designed to speed up commercialising their products and services to benefit the offshore wind market in the UK and abroad.
The participating companies: Airspection, AJT Engineering, Fathom Group, Fennex, Frontier Robotics, Innovair, Kraken Robotics, Revive Geoscience, Smarter Subsea (Handling) and Subworx, specialise in a variety of different technologies that could benefit the offshore wind sector.
Notably, several of the firms, including Innovair, Airspection, Frontier Robotics, and Kraken Robotics, focus on robotics in the sector, particularly concerning inspection and mapping offshore assets.
Dr Stephen Wyatt, director of strategy and emerging technologies at ORE Catapult, said: “The UK is recognised internationally as a global leader and innovator within the offshore wind sector. We recognise that the industry-focused thinking, creativity and collaborative approach demonstrated by Launch Academy supply chain companies will be instrumental in helping the sector deliver its crucial role in achieving energy security and clean renewable energy targets while smoothing the transition towards net zero.”
Kirsty Adams, head of supply chain at BlueFloat Energy | Nadara Partnership added: “We were impressed with the quality of applications through this first Scottish cohort, and as sponsors, we are genuinely excited by the opportunity to partner with brilliant minds across the ten successful companies to unlock ground-breaking solutions that will ensure the UK remains at the forefront of renewable energy innovation.”
Scotland: the next green tech hub?
The Scottish government has been increasingly focused on new green technology in recent years. Earlier this week, it was announced that construction had begun on EnergyWorks, a £9.1 million government-funded facility in Aberdeen for green tech development. When completed in autumn 2025, the facility will offer industrial and collaboration space alongside manufacturing facilities to help new firms scale up development.
ORE Catapult has long supported Scottish SMEs in the offshore wind sector. Last month, it opened its fifth Fit for Offshore Renewables (F4OR) supply chain mentoring programme, which supports energy supply chain businesses in moving into the offshore renewable energy sector through mentoring and financial support lasting an average of 18 months.
