SBS graduate and two academics win at entrepreneurial showcase
Strathclyde Business School graduate Alastair Mackie and two Department of Accounting and Finance academics were winners at an entrepreneurial showcase event held at the University of Strathclyde.
Inspire 100 is an event where emerging entrepreneurs and spinouts from Strathclyde secure funding and support. The event, held on June 3, brought together 100 entrepreneurs, investors and industry leaders to hear pitches from early-stage ventures spanning clean energy, artificial intelligence, education technology and digital manufacturing.
Strathclyde Inspire is a flagship initiative to help alumni, staff and students commercialise business ideas. Pitchers included ventures from the Inspire Accelerator programme, new spinouts supported by the University’s Industry Engagement and Commercialisation Team, and portfolio businesses already attracting investment interest.
Entrepreneurs competed for a range of awards, including the Santander Universities Awards, the People’s Choice Award supported by the RACS Foundation, the Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Award, and the Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Award for Outstanding Business Idea Research Paper, supported by the Charles Huang Foundation.
The judging panel comprised Alex Lusty of Gabriel Investment Syndicate, Leah Pape of Scottish Enterprise and James Reston of DSW Ventures.
Alastair Mackie, founder of WasteSync and MBA graduate, was awarded £10,000 at the event, with £5,000 coming from Santander Universities and £5,000 from the Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Award.
WasteSync is tackling the UK's illegal waste crisis through a digital tracking platform that improves compliance, visibility, and real-time monitoring.
Alastair – pictured on right with business partner Iain Baxter - said, “I’m thrilled the judges believed in the business. The funding has come at a crucial time and will help us move quickly, engage customers, and deliver real value. I’m absolutely delighted, this is a huge moment for us and gives us real momentum going forward.”
Also presented on the night were the Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Awards, and financial communications company ReadBetween - the brainchild of Department of Accounting and Finance academics Dr James Bowden and Professor Mark Cummins - was awarded £25,000.
ReadBetween extracts hidden insights from financial communications through advanced analysis of both spoken and written content using AI and detects communication signals that traditional analysis overlooks.
Dr Bowden said, "The Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Award will really help us push on with ReadBetween, helping us financially with the data analysis costs and with further research into what ReadBetween can achieve. The funding will help financially with access to tools such as a Graphics Processing Unit and ARCHIE-WeSt, the regional supercomputer centre based at Strathclyde; these tools will allow us to carry out analysis much quicker and on a much bigger scale and we will be able to bring in a developer to help us push on. We wouldn't be able to do all of this without the Stephen Young funds and are very grateful ReadBetween was chosen for a Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Award."
Fiona Ireland, Head of Entrepreneurship Strategy at Strathclyde Inspire, said, “Inspire100 is a critical point in our venture pipeline – where early ideas are tested, refined and connected to the people, insight and early-stage funding that help them progress.
"It reflects Strathclyde’s commitment to translating talent and research into high-growth businesses with real economic and social impact.”
The event also featured contributions from Professor Stephen McArthur, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Strathclyde, and Neil Logan, Senior Enterprise Fellow and co-founder of digital technology company Incremental, which was later acquired by Telefónica.
Published: 11 June 2026
