Building successful spin-out companies is a matter of patience

In 2009 –14 years ago — Jamie Graves completed his PhD, and then went on to lead Zonefox. It was the start of an amazing journey for him and our research team. After 10 years of growth, Zonefox was acquired by Fortinet in 2018.

With Symphonic, we had a vision of improved information sharing, and we spun out the company in 2013. It grew fast, and was acquired by Ping ID in 2020. This has since been followed by Cyacomb and MemCrypt. At the present time, Cyacomb has advanced to become an international leader in digital forensics, and MemCrypt is advancing towards investment. Along with this, we see other great companies advancing from the university, including 3FINERY and Celtic Renewables.

A core part of the success of the spin-outs has been the support from the university, and in building a great spin-out. And, so, I am so pleased that Edinburgh Napier University has been ranked in the Top 10 for Entrepreneurial Impact [here].

“The ranking is calculated according to the most crucial indicators that influence: spin-out activity at universities. These include disclosures, patents, spin-outs created, and subsequent financial transactions associated with exits. The exit of spinout companies is fundamental to how well universities perform in the ranking. The wide variation in resources available to each of the universities is taken into account and weighted according to the funding inputs received by each institution. Building successful spin-out companies is a matter of patience, so the ranking uses the latest available data from a decade long-period, sourced from the Higher Education Statistics Agency. This approach emphasises long-term”

My favouriate line is:

Building successful spin-out companies is a matter of patience

And which is true. All of the spin-outs were created from PhD work — and which involves over three years of research focus. When the PhD ends, you just hope that you picked the right area all those years ago.

Innovation is created by the hands of many, and needs vision and a strong mission. And, what matters in research is the impact that it makes, and this ranking shows that we have been making a strong contribution to innovation and enterprise on a world-stage.

Conclusions

We submitted four research impact case studies for our spin-outs in REF 2021, and all of them were rated as 4* (world-leading), and so we strive to continue this success and create research which makes a difference.