SFC news published since 2018. See SFC archived content for earlier news articles.
The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has announced a three-year funding agreement to enable Interface to continue connecting businesses to the expertise of Scottish universities and colleges. The funding starts this month and will continue until to July 2028.
At the same time SFC has confirmed ongoing support for Interface’s innovation voucher programmes, which enable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), universities and colleges to collaborate on the development of new products, processes and services.
SFC has funded Interface since its establishment in 2005. Over the last two decades Interface has played a key role in connecting over 2,200 SMEs with college and university expertise. According to over 90% of Interface-supported businesses, their project would not have happened without the organisation’s support. Once established, over half the partnerships continue to work together on further research and development.
Other impacts from Interface’s work include over 11,000 new or improved products, processes, services and practices; the creation or preservation of over 3,300 jobs; and over £28 million of increased turnover for the businesses which have benefitted from Interface’s help.
For the past ten years Interface has also been behind the inspirational Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards. The awards are designed to celebrate the success of collaborations for innovation and to raise the profile of knowledge exchange.
Commenting on the new funding, Francesca Osowska, Chief Executive of the Scottish Funding Council, said:
“We are proud to have been able to support Interface’s impact on business innovation across many sectors of the economy throughout Scotland for the past 20 years. Combining expertise and talent from universities and colleges with ideas and knowledge from progressive companies is crucial to Scotland’s economy and future prosperity.
“This new wave of funding will support Interface to continue to connect business innovation with academia and foster new products, processes and services.”
Amelia Whitelaw, Director of Interface, said:
“This funding means we can help even more businesses turn bold ideas into reality and strengthen Scotland’s position as one of the most innovative small nations in the world.”
Francesca Osowska and Amelia Whitelaw recently went to the National Robotarium at Heriot-Watt University to meet Lorenzo Conti, the founder of Scottish technology company, Crover. Crover is currently developing a revolutionary robot that “swims” through grain to improve storage management, cut waste and improve efficiency. A video of their visit is featured at the top of this page.
More information about Interface’s 20 year anniversary is available on the Interface website.
