New business start-ups in Tayside's rapidly-growing digital industries are to receive a big helping hand thanks to a new joint initiative by Abertay University and Scottish Enterprise Tayside (SET).

The two organisations have pooled their expertise and resources to create a major new business incubator centre for young digital media companies in the heart of Dundee's cultural quarter.

One of Scotland's leading digital media entrepreneurs, Dr Kevin Bradshaw of MTGP, visited Dundee today to officially launch the new venture - the Interactive Tayside & Embreonix Incubator Centre.

The £130,000 project is seen as key to Tayside's rapidly-developing status as a centre of excellence in the digital media industry.

By providing well-equipped and affordable office space for start-up businesses, Abertay and SET plan to sustain and enhance growth in the sector which already comprises around 200 companies in Tayside employing more than 1,500 people and turning over some £100 million a year.

Among these are market leaders such as VIS Entertainment plc, Storyland, Denki, Visual Sciences and C2 Software - whom tenants of the Incubator Centre will be seeking to emulate.

The Centre comprises ten individual offices plus shared kitchen and social facilities occupying a whole floor in a city centre office block. Five of the units are being run by Abertay University's Embreonix facility, which was established in 2000 and has already spawned a number of new small businesses from its custom-built base within the University's main campus.

The five units within the Centre opened today are effectively Embreonix Phase 2, and four small graduate businesses have already moved in, including two interactive entertainment companies, a new media development business and a web services business. SET has let one unit to a new innovative graphic design company and through Interactive Tayside is marketing the remaining units to prospective tenants across Scotland.

Dr Bradshaw praised Abertay and SET for their shared vision in creating the Incubator Centre, saying: "This is an excellent facility, which provides a firm platform from which determined young companies can launch themselves. This stage in the early life of a business is crucial, as it enters the real commercial world.

"The Incubator Centre is pitched perfectly between the more protected environment of Embreonix Phase 1 and the outside world, and I am sure it will be very effective in helping young businesses make that transition."

Professor Bernard King, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Abertay Dundee, said: "Abertay kick-started the development of Tayside as a centre of excellence in the new digital creative industries by launching the world's first degree courses in computer games technology five years ago.

"Since then we have expanded our provision into computer arts and internet and communication technologies, and we have also established Europe's leading interactive media research centre in IC CAVE.

Embreonix is a vital contributor to our work in this area, having already spawned nine new companies most of which are within the digital sector. A further 15 new businesses - again mostly in the digital area - are on the verge of spinning out from Embreonix.

"Our contribution to the digital creative industries in Scotland is second to none. Two recent UK government reports recognised the University's contribution as a leading element of the development of Tayside as a new and thrusting leisure software cluster, and the Scottish Executive has named our work in the creative industries as a national priority for Scotland.

"This new venture is a natural and logical progression from our achievements to date, and I congratulate SET's vision and commitment in joining with us in this exciting new venture."

Shona Cormack, chief executive of SET, said: "Tayside is now internationally recognised as a centre of excellence in digital media. The digital media sector is becoming increasingly important to the Tayside economy and we need to build on this momentum by ensuring that companies can grow successfully here.

"Scottish Enterprise Tayside is delighted to have worked in partnership with Abertay University to develop the Interactive Tayside and Embreonix Incubator Centre. I'm confident this major new facility will help us bring on the next generation of leading digital media companies."

INFO:
Embreonix
Open to graduates of any university, Embreonix is aimed at helping budding entrepreneurs get their business ideas off the ground. The project is expected to help 25 companies over the next five years, creating up to 75 highly skilled jobs in Scotland. Embreonix provides premises, facilities and support during the crucial business start-up phase and the graduates receive £100 a week wages, funded by the European Social Fund. The businesses are looked after by a Graduate Enterprise Manager. More information at www.embreonix.com

Interactive Tayside
Led by SET, Interactive Tayside is a partnership between the public, private and academic sectors to support and nurture the more than 200 companies digital companies in Tayside which employ over 1500 people and boast a combined annual turnover of over £100 million. More information at www.interactivetayside.com

Interactive Tayside & Embreonix Incubator Centre
Four of the 10 units within the Centre are still available. Each unit is fully furnished with workstations for four people and lighting, power, data and voice cabling. The units are offered on flexible lease terms for a minimum of three months and to terminate no later than January 31, 2004.

Kevin Bradshaw
Kevin Bradshaw is best known as the founder of the phenomenally successful Digital Bridges, which he set up in 1998 with the aim of developing new concepts in entertainment for mobile devices. Kevin raised $30m in venture capital for the company and as CEO grew it to almost 100 people within 18 months. The company is today the market leader in developing innovative entertainment channels for wireless device users, with customers in 25 countries around the world. Recently, Dr Bradshaw has set up MTGP, a global strategic advisory and investment group focussed on the commercialisation of digital media technologies and concepts. More information at www.mtgp.net