Pentech Ventures, the early stage technology ventures arm of Penta Capital, has recruited Sandy McKinnon, an academic, to cement relations with universities and scout out spin-out opportunities.

McKinnon has joined from Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, where as a director of knowledge transfer and technology he helped to incubate 12 spin-out technology companies. He has also worked as an academic at Dundee and Cambridge universities, where he developed and ran the Advanced Technology Group at Scientific Generics.