Scottish Enterprise: public funding of £9M pulls in £25M from private sector

New figures from Scottish Enterprise (SE) show that its investment of public money is encouraging Scottish companies to invest in R&D, despite the state of the economy.

In the first six months of the financial year, SE’s investment of £9 million helped to generate investment of over £25 million by Scottish companies in new projects. This is a ten per cent increase from the first six months of last year.

Through a number of innovation funds - R&D, WATERS and SMART: SCOTLAND – SE supported 100 projects between April and September with grants that aim to help companies develop new products or improve processes.

David Smith, innovation & enterprise services director at Scottish Enterprise, said "At a time when companies are still experiencing pressures on margins and tighter budgets, it is very encouraging to see that they are continuing to recognise the value of research and development for their business."

One of the largest grants to be awarded during the period was to Glasgow-based OpenHydro Technology Scotland for £1.57 million towards a total project cost of £4.18 million. The funding was awarded through the WATERS fund to support the design, development, manufacture and testing of a power conversion and control system for marine renewable energy. This will allow for the connection of an array of tidal stream turbines to the electricity grid without the need for an offshore substation.