Maggie Raykova: How an industry-funded PhD project led to an exciting spinout opportunity

In this episode, we meet Maggie Raykova, founder and venture lead at Rapisense, a pre‑spinout from the University of Strathclyde that’s developing biosensors to help the dairy industry test raw milk for contaminants.

Maggie’s journey with Rapisense started as a collaborative PhD project with industry partners. Following the successful completion of the PhD, there was clear commercial potential and Maggie decided to embark on the journey of launching a spinout. 

Maggie shares her journey, including how she pivoted away from a lab‑proven but commercially challenging chemistry,  built a three‑person core team to develop the venture, and used programmes like iCURe and the Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellowship to deepen her market understanding and develop her leadership skills. 

She talks about the value of  mapping the entire dairy supply chain, conducting field trials in real-world conditions, and the process of moving from grant funding to private investment.

If you’re interested in transforming university research into a commercial venture, this conversation offers fantastic insight on what the journey is like from someone who is living it as we speak.