About Scottish Enterprise

Scottish Enterprise (SE) is Scotland's main economic, enterprise, innovation and investment agency. Our ultimate goal is to stimulate sustainable growth of Scotland’s economy.

To achieve this we help ambitious and innovative businesses grow and become more successful. We also work with public and private sector partners to develop the business environment in Scotland. We deliver a range of dedicated support services locally, nationally and internationally. Our activities help businesses with the appetite and capacity to grow to:

  • improve efficiencies;
  • access new sources of funding; and
  • conquer new markets.

We work in partnership with universities, colleges, local authorities and other public sector bodies to achieve these goals and to maximise our contribution to the Government’s Economic Strategy.

Life Sciences

Scotland hosts one of the most sizeable life sciences clusters in Europe, with a significant multinational presence in research and development and manufacturing. 27 new life science companies started trading in 2008 - 2009, while the increasing numbers of corporate spin outs demonstrate the maturing of the sector in Scotland. Scottish excellence in life sciences is recognised across the globe – exemplified by its recognition by FierceBiotech as one of the global top five emerging regions for biotech, in which FierceBiotech singled out Scotland's support for stem cell research.

Stem Cells

Scottish Enterprise recognises the strength of expertise in stem cells and regenerative medicine R&D in Scotland and has invested >£70M on harnessing this expertise, the supporting infrastructure and developing an active industry cluster. This has been delivered through a series of targeted but complementary projects that comprise Scottish Enterprise's Stem Cell Intervention Framework. Examples include support for the new Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine building at Edinburgh BioQuarter, the Scottish Stem Cell Network and Roslin Cells. Scottish Enterprise has also set up the £5M Stem Cell Translational Fund which provides match funding for translational projects in stem cells & regenerative medicine. Suitable projects cover activities required to translate stem cell developments into clinical practices and have a clear route to commercialisation which is likely to benefit the Scottish economy.

In addition, Scottish Enterprise works closely with the existing company base through its Account Management system and also with Scottish Development International to promote Scotland's stem cell expertise internationally, to facilitate collaborations and to identify inward investment opportunities.