Program Overview
The Scottish Government has awarded £2.92 million to 17 projects across seven universities through its 2026–27 Proof of Concept fund, supporting the development of university research into commercial business propositions.
The funding supports prototype development, technology validation, market analysis, and preparation for investor engagement across healthcare, drug discovery, manufacturing, agriculture, environmental remediation, and energy.
The awards follow the fund’s 2025–26 pilot, which provided £2.95 million to 18 projects. Across the two rounds, the government has committed nearly £6 million to help researchers establish the commercial potential of their work and advance toward spinout formation.
Strategic Relevance for GAP Leaders
Scotland’s Proof of Concept fund addresses the technical and commercial uncertainties that can prevent promising university research from progressing toward industry adoption or a new company.
The projects illustrate the range of activities that GAP funding can support. Alongside prototype development, this round includes service-model validation, regulatory planning, field testing, production development, and demonstration of commercial scalability. Each addresses a different question that potential customers, partners, or investors may need answered before committing resources.
The University of Glasgow’s Critical Technologies Accelerator provides an example from the previous round. After receiving £125,000 to develop a new coupler design for silicon-photonic microchips, the team reported that it had doubled its grant income, developed a foundry scale-up process, and begun delivering demonstrators.
The team is also working with commercialization partner STL Tech toward an invitational application to the Scottish Enterprise High Growth Spinout Programme.
For GAP leaders, the program demonstrates how public proof-of-concept funding can support project-specific development needs while helping teams prepare for subsequent commercialization support.
Innovation & Technology
University of Edinburgh
NeurEYE — £247,098.96
An AI-enabled retinal imaging platform that aims to detect early signs of neurodegenerative disease through routine eye examinations. The project will validate its service model, regulatory framework, and value proposition for dementia risk assessment.
Rotational Internal Flow Layer Engineering (RIFLE) — £247,355.95
A human tissue engineering platform that creates laboratory-grown blood vessels for drug testing. The project aims to advance vascular tissue production toward commercial manufacturing and industry adoption, potentially reducing reliance on animal models.
Biochar-Immobilised Microbial System — £124,970.00
A bioremediation technology combining hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria with biochar to treat weathered hydrocarbon-contaminated soil. Funding supports field validation of the approach.
Single-Molecule Screening of Oligomer Modulators — £124,325.04
A drug screening platform designed to directly detect and measure toxic protein oligomers associated with neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
University of Glasgow
VasQX — £249,877.04
A dialysis graft incorporating embedded biosensors to detect early signs of blockage and monitor graft health in real time. The project targets commercialization opportunities in the UK and US.
Picti — £249,499.00
A drug discovery platform that identifies hidden drug-binding sites on proteins within living cells, supporting pharmaceutical discovery and development decisions.
Green_Nitrofix — £124,702.55
A technology that produces nitrate fertiliser from air, water, and electricity. The project aims to enable lower-cost, on-farm production without fossil fuels or hazardous chemicals.
University of Aberdeen
Scensai — £186,468.96
An affordable handheld chemical sensing device, described as an electronic nose, for beverage quality control.
Muscle-Targeted Therapy During Weight Loss — £124,765.00
A therapeutic approach intended to preserve lean muscle mass and metabolic health during weight loss, addressing a limitation of current obesity treatments such as GLP-1 drugs.
Stool-Based TDP-43 Lateral-Flow Diagnostic — £124,837.85
A non-invasive diagnostic test for chronic gastrointestinal disorders that detects abnormal TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) aggregates in stool samples.
University of Strathclyde
Revalint — £247,267.00
A component remanufacturing approach intended to extend aircraft shaft component life and reduce downtime and costs. The project will assess certified remanufacturing as a scalable alternative in aerospace.
Smart Tablet AI Screening for Neurodevelopmental Conditions — £124,411.00
An AI-powered digital screening tool using a 15-minute game on a standard iPad to identify children at risk of neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism.
Endometriosis Diagnosis Through Hormone Profiling — £124,927.50
A blood test using patient hormone profiles to support rapid endometriosis diagnosis, potentially reducing the need for invasive diagnostic surgery.
University of St Andrews
Merra-log — £124,934.08
A low-cost marine and aquatic environmental monitoring system combining smart sensors and wireless communications to collect and transmit data in near real time.
InVivoMab — £122,920.00
A PIV5-based viral vector platform designed to enable patients’ own cells to produce therapeutic antibodies over extended periods, potentially improving the affordability and accessibility of monoclonal antibody treatments.
Heriot-Watt University
Kinera — £124,303.66
An extended-wear monitoring device for people with Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor. The technology continuously tracks movement symptoms across multiple body locations over several days.
Robert Gordon University
SPIRES — £249,898.05
An AI-enabled supervisory optimisation platform for island and remote hybrid energy systems. It analyses weather, generation, battery, and demand data to help operators manage energy systems more efficiently.
Potential Market Applications
- Clinical screening and diagnostics: Retinal imaging for dementia risk assessment, gastrointestinal testing, endometriosis diagnosis, and digital screening for neurodevelopmental conditions.
- Patient monitoring and medical devices: Extended-wear movement monitoring for Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor, and sensor-enabled dialysis grafts.
- Drug discovery and development: Laboratory-grown vascular tissue, screening of neurodegenerative protein oligomers, and identification of drug-binding sites within living cells.
- Therapeutics: Muscle preservation during weight loss and sustained delivery of therapeutic antibodies.
- Environmental remediation and monitoring: Treatment of hydrocarbon-contaminated soil and near-real-time monitoring of marine and freshwater environments.
- Agriculture: Distributed, on-farm nitrate fertiliser production.
- Industrial quality control: Portable chemical sensing for beverage producers.
- Aerospace manufacturing and maintenance: Certified component remanufacturing to extend service life and reduce downtime.
- Energy systems: AI-supported operation of island and remote hybrid energy infrastructure.
Read the Full Story
Scottish Government: Unlocking economic innovation
2026–27 Proof of Concept Fund: Successful Projects
Related Topics
university GAP funding, proof-of-concept funding, Scottish university spinouts, research commercialization, translational research, medical devices and diagnostics, drug discovery, sustainable manufacturing, environmental innovation, university venture development
