Case Study: Edinburgh Research and Innovation achieves six-fold event growth and accelerated commercialisation with Salesforce for Nonprofits

Edinburgh Research and Innovation - Customer Case Study

Edinburgh Research and Innovation (ERI), the University of Edinburgh’s commercialisation arm, helps academics turn research into businesses but faced time-consuming admin, slow matching of academics with industry and limited capacity to scale events and partnerships. ERI needed a way to manage contacts, opportunities, events and collaborations more efficiently to increase start-ups and investor/mentor engagement.

By deploying Salesforce Sales Cloud and App Cloud, ERI built the BOX portal for pairing companies with academic expertise and the Blueberry Events tool integrated with its website and QR check‑in. The solution cut event admin by two‑thirds, reduced consultancy matching from three weeks to three days, grew event attendance six‑fold (300 to 1,800), manages 16,000 contacts, supported 41 start‑ups in 2014 and provided dashboards and mobile access that delivered greater transparency and faster commercial outcomes.

Edinburgh Research and Innovation

Sarah Scace

Marketing and Communications Manager