Investment angels pump £3.9m into ‘Scottish success stories’

A quartet of emerging Scottish companies have shared a welcome cash injection of nearly £4 million through Scottish business angel syndicate Archangels and Scottish Enterprise’s investment arm, the Scottish Investment Bank.

Archangels investment director Niki McKenzie said the companies who have received funding through the latest round of investment were “each Scottish success stories in their own right, selling their ideas, products and expertise around the world”.

Among them is Blackford Analysis which produces information systems that help clinicians compare multiple images in medical disciplines such as radiology. Blackford will use the £648,000 it received to extend its team in commercial and product development, adding 10 new jobs at its based at Edinburgh’s Royal Observatory.

Edinburgh-based Fios Genomics, meanwhile, specialises in data analysis for the pharmaceutical, biotech and academic sectors. It received £550,000, including investments from Borders-based angel network TRI Cap and its own directors, and will use this to invest in its IT infrastructure and creating five new roles in quality assurance, project management and marketing.

PowerPhotonic, based in Dalgety Bay, designs, manufactures and supplies high-value optics that manipulate the light from lasers for sectors including defence and medicine.

It will use the second £1m tranche of a £2m investment from Archangels and SIB to upscale its business development and manufacturing capacity, creating up to eight jobs.

Administrate, based in Edinburgh, specialises in software that automates the administrative burden for training providers. One of Scotland’s fastest growing tech companies currently, it has received a further £1.7m investment.