Dr. David Venables, CEO of Calculus portfolio company Synpromics, became the 2018 Scotland Disruptor category winner at EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2018 awards on 21st June. The award recognises his strong vision, innovation and entrepreneurial spark and is now a finalist in the UK Finals.

Described by the judges as the “true definition of a disruptor”.  He won the category for his clever business model having taken Synpromics on in 2015 with less than two months’ worth of cash and only seven staff. With David’s vision and great strategy, the company has raised in excess of £9m since 2015, moved to new facilities to accommodate the growing number of staff, and opened operations in the US.

Synpromics enables unprecedented control of gene expression through its ability to custom design synthetic cell-type, or condition, specific promoters.