Neil Norman

We know Scotland has an established, well-recognised and thriving start-up ecosystem. We also know that we have huge opportunities to do better to support scale-up business with global growth potential.

Often, companies with significant scalability face real challenges attracting next stage, (commonly series B), investment to help them make that leap to a world class business. As a result, far more than we want either fail to reach their full potential or get bought before they’ve maximised their growth, so these potentially great businesses don’t deliver the associated economic and reputational benefits for Scotland.

This issue extends beyond our borders. Last year’s Scale Up Institute Review reported how the UK was failing to make enough headway to close the market access gap. At a time when skills shortages hold back many scalable companies, securing investment is often critical in attracting the talent required for significant growth. With a large portion of scale-up investment focused on London and the South East, companies in Scotland, as well as other UK regions, often struggle to access this crucial capital boost.

So, we recognise the gap. The next issue is what to do about it. Invest2Scale happens on 2 November in Edinburgh and was conceived by leading Scottish corporate operators Chiene + Tait, MBM Commercial, Eden Scott, and the Scottish business angels’ organisation LINC Scotland. Using our collective networks, we aim to connect some of Scotland’s most scalable companies with business growth experts, and other key figures from the UK and international investor community. Through events like these we can deliver a tangible boost to Scotland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

TC Biopharm (TCB) and Current Health have provided recent examples of how scalable Scottish companies can reach the next level. After securing initial investment in 2013 from the likes of Investing Women Angels and Scottish Enterprise, TCB leveraged further capital from international investors and went public on Nasdaq in February. Current Health received its first external investment in 2016, led by Par Equity and Scottish Enterprise, before securing a final round of £31m in capital in 2021 prior to its sale to US-owned Best Buy for $400m.

We want to help more companies get these results, so we’re putting our money where our mouth is.

With the current political turmoil dominating headlines, our scale-up community requires and deserves special nurturing to realise the ambitions of all involved in the ecosystem – scaling companies, advisors, investors and politicians need to come together to recognise the potential, focus our energies and turn this future vision into a reality.

Join us.

Neil Norman is head of entrepreneurial tax at accountants Chiene + Tait.