News Release

Launch of new university spin-out company Platinum Informatics Ltd

Company spun out of University of Dundee

Business Announcement

University of Dundee

Platinum Informatics is a new spin-out company providing state of the art software solutions for the management, visualisation and analysis of large and complex data sets in a wide range of laboratory and industrial environments. The company is commercialising software developed for more than ten years within the University of Dundee by Professor Angus Lamond's team in the School of Life Sciences.

Platinum Informatics has built upon software created for the analysis of biological big data, generated in Professor Lamond's world-leading Laboratory for Quantitative Proteomics. The software was originally created, with funding provided by the Wellcome Trust, to support the analysis of human disease mechanisms.

Platinum Informatics will be developing new software products with additional funding provided by a recent SMART:SCOTLAND feasibility grant from Scottish Enterprise.

Platinum Informatics use the cloud to deliver their software to customers around the world.

Professor Lamond, co-founder of Platinum Informatics, said, "I am delighted that we have now been able to translate the innovative software we have spent over ten years creating for our academic research to generate tools that help solve the many challenges created by the growth of big data in research, industry and healthcare. Our software can now be used by customers around the world to make it easier to manage and analyse large and complex data sets. This demonstrates the real commercial value and impact of the world leading research being conducted by scientists at the University of Dundee."

Rob Kent, Head of Software Engineering and co-founder of Platinum Informatics, said, "I am excited by this opportunity for our new software to revolutionise the way we interact with big data in the 21st century. We believe that Platinum Informatics can provide the tools that will deliver major impact across industry, healthcare and academia".

Professor John Rowan, Vice-Principal (Research, Knowledge Exchange & Wider Impact) of the University, said, "The work of Professor Lamond and colleagues has been established as world-leading for many years, and the launch of this new company builds on that extremely strong base.

"We are always looking to see how the knowledge generated at the University can be applied to create wider economic benefit and jobs, so it is hugely encouraging to see an innovative new company like Platinum Informatics being formed."

Dr Wendy Hanson, of Scottish Enterprise's Innovation and Enterprise Services team, said, "Platinum Informatics is a fantastic example of a young innovative spin-out company with global growth ambition. We know that companies that put innovation at the heart of their business grow their sales twice as fast as those that don't, and that they're more likely to export, have higher levels of productivity and be more attractive to investors. These are crucial competitive advantages, not just for Platinum Informatics, but for the long-term success of the Scottish economy."

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Much of the work of Professor Lamond's lab over the past decade has been funded by the Wellcome Trust.

For more on Platinum Informatics see http://www.pt-informatics.com


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