3. Discuss how convergent technology space opportunities, crowdfunding, the Internet of Things or the gig economy could have been applied to Renishaw Diagnostics to potentially have made it more attractive to new collaborators or acquirers. In May 2007, Scotland’s Strathclyde University launched D3 Technologies Ltd to develop diagnostic tests and examinations that indicate a genetic predisposition to disease faster than existing technologies. D3 Technologies was formed by academics Ewen Smith, Duncan Graham and Karen Faulds, from the university’s chemistry department, and life sciences entrepreneur Jim Reid. The firm’s goal was “to exploit certain patents related to Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

(SERS) and to develop SERS for molecular diagnostics and trace detection” (www.renishaw.com, 1). The funding for this new venture was obtained from Renishaw PLC, a UK-based developer of high-tech measurement systems and a FTSE-250 firm. In addition to providing finance, Renishaw collaborated with Strathclyde researchers on developing and commercialising the diagnostic tools (www.scotsman.com). The investment deal, one of the Glasgow-based institution’s biggest ever spin-out deals, occurred in the form of £1.85 million in monetary assistance and also instrumentation support with a combined value of £5 million over five years, for which Renishaw received a 75 per cent stake in the spin-out. Part of the investment was also used by D3 Technologies to purchase the business and assets of the analytical business unit (ABU)

operated by Mesophotonics Ltd, a spin-out company of the University of Southampton, for £850,000. Renishaw, already a leading supplier of Raman instrumentation, has a vested interest in the progression of Raman spectroscopy and its application in new and developing markets

(www.renishaw.com, 1).