Survive & Thrive: The Startup and Spin Out Playbook

An event to empower early-stage entrepreneurs with the knowledge and tools they need to navigate the challenges of building a startup.

What to expect:

· Inspiring stories — hear from seasoned entrepreneurs who’ve navigated the startup landscape and learn from their experiences, challenges, and triumphs.

· Expert panel discussions — gain valuable advice from successful scaleups, business owners, and professional advisers on raising finance, protecting intellectual property, and how to prepare to scale your business.

· Q&A sessions — participate in engaging Q&A sessions and ask the experts your burning questions.

· Networking opportunities — connect with like-minded entrepreneurs, potential investors, and industry experts and build relationships that could boost your startup’s growth.

Learn, grow, and thrive in the competitive world of startups: whether you’re just starting out or looking to solidify your foundation, don’t miss this opportunity to gain essential knowledge and inspiration to turn your vision into reality.

Our expert panel will include:

Dr. Catherine Breslin is the Head of IP and Commercialisation at the University of Strathclyde. She has a diverse background in neuroscience, cognitive sciences, and neuromorphic engineering.

Before joining Strathclyde, she worked in a pharmaceutical startup, gaining experience in drug discovery, project management, and business development. At Strathclyde, she leads a team responsible for identifying and protecting university-owned intellectual property, supporting commercialization processes, and licensing IP to companies or setting up new spin-out companies.

David Philp is a Tax Director at CT: and leads their R&D Tax function. With over 10 years’ experience focusing on Startups and Scaleups, he advises from concept through to exit, helping Companies avoid potential tax pitfalls.

Dr Stuart Hannah is Glasgow born and raised, studying both his undergraduate and PhD at the University of Strathclyde.

After a post graduate position in France, Stuart returned to Strathclyde and joined the Biomedical Engineering department. It was here that Microplate DX began, originally as a academic project, which spun out into a commercial entity.

Now an award-winning diagnostics company, Microplate DX works to tackle the global health threat of antimicrobial resistance. With his experience gaining seed funding and working with Scottish spin-out initiatives, he has experience building a business from conception to commercialisation.

Suzanne is a dual qualified UK and European Patent Attorney and has recently joined the Scintilla team as Director, IP Strategy. Prior to her career in Intellectual Property, she spent a number of years in engineering. Suzanne worked in-house in a tech and robotics start-up, GroundWOW, leading their IP strategy, as well as IP policy development.

Suzanne was also previously responsible for managing ARM’s global patent and trademark prosecution teams supporting a diverse portfolio of IP strategy, policy and development matters for ARM.

In addition to her impressive credentials, Suzanne has championed women in STEM, inclusion and diversity throughout her career, being named as an IAM ‘World Leading IP Strategist’ for 2017, and as a Managing IP ‘Corporate IP Star’ in 2018 & 2019. She was a national award winner for her Corporate Diversity and Inclusion Leadership work in 2018.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

University of Strathclyde,The Technology and Innovation Centre, 99 George Street, Glasgow, United Kingdom