Government support for entrepreneurs, businesses, organisations, and education institutions has been made available through Interface, the premium knowledge exchange facilitator, since 2005. If you have a product or service in need of support Interface can help.  

Can Interface provide Government Support for Entrepreneurs?

Interface are funded by Scottish Funding Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise to provide support for entrepreneurs, businesses, and organisations to help actualise their ideas. With their support, Interface offer a free and impartial service which has helped hundreds of organisations become more competitive, enabling them to increase their profits, maximise their export potential and ultimately become more sustainable.  

To access this service, we will first ask for a small consultation with your business or organisation about the product or service which needs development. Once we understand the problem, we can reach out to our brilliant network of academics and experts who are able to offer advice and collaboration. 

Not only does Interface offer government support for entrepreneurs through connections with the finest Scottish academics, Interface also administrates funding to cover the cost for businesses collaborating with Scotland’s universities, research institutes or colleges to support innovation to develop a new product, process, or service for the company or to develop the company’s workforce. You can find more information about the funding here.  

Who does Interface work with?

The Interface team works across all industry and third sectors with businesses large and small, as well as social enterprises, community interest groups and charities. There are a few basic requirements for companies to work with Interface to receive government support for entrepreneurs, businesses or organisations. With connections to thousands of academics across all disciplines; from science, engineering and technology to sales and marketing, we are able to find quick solutions to many questions.  

Since 2005, Interface’s we have: 

• initiated over 3000 business-academic projects 
• discovered that 97% of businesses we have helped said that their project would either not have happened or taken longer without support from Interface
• recorded reduced operating costs, increased productivity, profits, export, turnover and new or safeguarded employment for 83% of businesses we’ve supported 

Which regions does Interface provide support for?

The Interface team work regionally, which means our Business Engagement Executives are based throughout Scotland. Since 2005 Interface have provided support for organisations from all over the country, from the Outer Hebrides to the Borders. Interface believe that no matter where your organisation or business is based, you should be able to access all the fantastic resources Scotland has to offer.

 Interface want to match you with the education institute which best fulfils your needs. This means that whilst you may be based in the Isle of Skye, your perfect partner might be working at the University of Edinburgh. It is through our national network of expertise that your product or service will develop.  

Government Support for Entrepreneurs: Interface Case Studies

 The breadth of organisations Interface have supported is vast. Here is a collection of case studies to highlight the range of projects we have worked on.  

• Sustainable Thinking Scotland Community Interest Company

Sustainable Thinking Scotland Community Interest Company (STS CIC) is a social enterprise, based in Falkirk, created to address a wide range of social and environmental issues. After a successful collaboration facilitated by Interface, they successfully secured £190K investment from Firstport and Social Enterprise Scotland’s Catalyst Fund to enable them to bring their technology to market. ​

• Phoenix Instinct Limited

​When Phoenix Instinct Ltd’s first were introduced to Interface, their goal was to design an “Intelligent System” wheelchair that would have a responsive centre of gravity and other Intelligent System (IS) features, to equal a total revolution of the wheelchair as we know it. After collaboration through Interface the company achieved their goal in working with an academic partner to develop the Toyota Mobility Challenge application and, as a result, were one of five finalists successful in receiving a grant of $500k to develop their concept.  

Discover all our Case Studies here.  

Specialist Facilities

Interface have access to off-the-shelf technologies that you can utilise to fast-track your R&D. Regardless of the sector you work in, Interface are able to find the best university facilities and equipment for you to test, create and develop new ideas.  

Discover the full range of specialist facilities throughout Scotland’s education institutions which are available for you to hire and make use of as part of your product development process. Here are a few examples:

• Microelectromechanical Systems – Microelectromechanical systems or MEMS is the technology of very small devices such as sensors and microelectronics. Specialist facilities and controlled environments are essential to create these devices.  
• Virtual Reality – Virtual reality is a rapidly growing industry and Scotland has cutting edge facilities to support research and product development across sectors such as gaming, medicine and training.  
• Pressure Chambers – Pressure chambers or hyperbaric pressure vessels will test whether your products are durable and safe enough to withstand potentially hazardous conditions such as deep water in a simulated safe and controlled environment.  

Interface Free and Impartial Services 

For further information about government support for entrepreneurs, and to find out how Interface can help with your product, service or idea simply contact us. A member of our Business Engagement team would be delighted to help. If you would like to stay in touch, feel free to sign up to our monthly newsletter.