Entrepreneurial Academic Wins Converge Challenge

At a glittering reception at V&A Dundee scientist Dr Andrew Woodland was named the winner of the 2019 Converge Challenge, scooping £78,000 to develop his new drug discovery company In4Derm. Dr Woodland triumphed over 17 fellow academic entrepreneurs with his business, which re-engineers oral drugs into novel topical drugs for patients living with skin diseases such as eczema.

A Portfolio Manager within Dundee’s School of Life Sciences, Dr Woodland said, “This is something I’ve been working on for the past seven years. It’s always been a dream of mine to form my own company and I’ve had tremendous support from the University. There has been a lot of hard work to get to this stage so to win Converge really was an incredible moment - I did wonder if they really did call out my name. Now we will spend the next six months finalising our business plan and seeking investment.”

Converge is Scotland’s leading entrepreneurial development programme for staff, students and recent graduates of Scottish Universities and Research Institutes demonstrating a strong collaborative enterprise agenda in Scotland.

The programme has trained 300 aspiring academic entrepreneurs and supported over 200 businesses, with an overall 84% survival rate. As In4Derm begins to mature it will be supported by Scottish Enterprise’s High Growth Spin Out programme.