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Scottish EDGE scales up with £1m injection from Scottish Enterprise

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Vandana Pillai and Dhruv Trivedia of Bounce Back based in Glasgow – an after-alcohol replenishment drink - with Scottish EDGE CEO Evelyn McDonald (Image: scottishphotographer.com)

A competition that provides grants to accelerate growth in Scotland’s start-ups has been awarded £1 million from Scottish Enterprise to fund growth.

Recently, 62 shortlisted businesses pitched to panels of expert judges across the country as part of an intensive three-day long semi-final, over half of which have now been selected to pitch live at the Scottish EDGE Final next month. An additional day of pitching has been arranged following Scottish Enterprise’s funding input to accommodate the increased number of finalists.

Thirty-nine businesses will now pitch for a share in Scottish EDGE’s increased prize pot of almost £2 million to a panel of judges chaired by Simon Hannah of Filshill and Kerry Sharp of the Scottish Investment Bank, Scottish Enterprise’s investment arm, at the Scottish EDGE Final on 5th and 6th December in Edinburgh.

An evening awards ceremony will follow the second day of pitching at the final, during which around half of the finalists will be awarded a share of the £2 million prize pot on offer, including prizes ranging up to £150,000 in the Scottish EDGE, Higgs EDGE, Creative EDGE and Social Enterprise EDGE award categories.

Also announced at the awards ceremony will be the winners of Young EDGE, a sub-category of Scottish EDGE for entrepreneurs under the age of 30, and Wild Card EDGE for businesses who have yet to commence trading. Both offer awards of up to £15,000 in grant funding.

To date, Scottish EDGE, which is supported by the Royal Bank of Scotland, The Hunter Foundation and the Scottish Government, has awarded over £11 million to some of Scotland’s most innovative entrepreneurs, with a winner roster of over 300 businesses who in turn have generated £104 million of additional turnover and created over 1300 jobs as well as raising £82.47 million of additional investment. 2018 marks the thirteenth cohort since Scottish EDGE was launched in 2013, with past winners including TV Squared, Appointedd, Care Sourcer and Brewgooder.

David Shearer, Chairman of Scottish EDGE, said: “We have seen a marked increase in both the quality and number of potential scale-up businesses applying to Scottish EDGE. Our model of support has proven positive impact, something Scottish Enterprise has recognised by offering this additional funding support.

“While this enables us to double the number of winners we will only do so where the quality of the applicants meets our rigorous funding criteria. We remain resolutely committed to ensuring Scottish EDGE is both a sustainable business and a force for entrepreneurial good.”

Linda Hanna, Managing Director of Scottish Economic Development at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Ambitious entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of every economy as they create and grow the businesses that sustain economic growth.

“Scottish EDGE’s excellent reputation attracts some of the most exciting Scottish entrepreneurial talent to pitch, and that’s why we’re collaborating with them and offering an additional £1 million in funding.

“With this funding, we can double the number of businesses Scottish EDGE supports and help drive Scotland’s future economic prosperity.”

Evelyn McDonald, CEO of Scottish EDGE said: “When launching this latest round of Scottish EDGE we gave it the title “Lucky 13” and that has certainly been the case. The calibre of businesses we’ve seen enter has been exceptional and the ever-increasing appetite we have observed for what we offer to Scotland’s innovative startups is very humbling.

“We are delighted and enormously grateful to Scottish Enterprise for their recognition of this with such an astounding gesture of support. The additional funding will allow us to say yes to worthy businesses we would not have been in the position to support otherwise.”

The Finalists are:

  • Animation Garden – Production of cartoon Mustard & Ketchup

  • Araminta Campbell – High-end luxury Scottish textiles label using alpaca wool

  • Beringar – Developed machine vision-based occupancy and environment solution

  • Bespoke Fabrics – Specialises in luxury textiles and cashmere filled bedding

  • Bounce Back Drinks – Developed scientifically proven after-alcohol replenishment drink

  • Boxergy – Developed a product to power homes and replace existing gas boilers

  • Captive (t/a BLACKBX) – SaaS product which links guest wi-fi to marketing opportunities

  • Cascade Water Products – Developed micro-greywater recycling taking wastewater to use for toilet flushing

  • Clean Water Wave C.I.C – Developing the Clean Aqua For Everyone (CAFE) water treatment system

  • ClinSpec Diagnostics – Developing fast, sensitive blood tests for early detection of cancer

  • CU Soar – Fintech business providing back office banking platforms for Credit Unions

  • Detailing Factory ta Wowo’s – Formulate, manufacture and distribute nanotechnology car care products

  • Estendio – Creators of PresentPal, software and support applications assisting people to present

  • FreshMex (Scotland) – Award-winning independent Tex-Mex eatery

  • Good-Loop – Ad platform converting advertiser’s media spend into charitable donations

  • Martial Arts Heroes – Children’s well-being development programme done through Mixed Martial Arts

  • InstaStock t/a Oodls – Online marketplace for finding, and licensing real-time Instagram photos and videos.

  • Intelift – Offering innovate technology to the crane and lifting industry

  • Kingdom Scotland – Scotland’s First Fragrance House creating modern perfumes for men and women

  • LiberEat – App to support people with allergies when eating out and finding recipes

  • Miigen (UK) – Online tools to support later life living and people with dementia

  • Molke – Manufacture bright, body positive, breastfeeding friendly underwear

  • Platinum Informatics – Specialise in high-performance data management tools for labs

  • Pyramid WiFi – Pocket-sized wireless router that pairs users WiFi to protect privacy and data

  • R3-IOT – Deliver remote Internet of Things (IoT) communication and services by utilising satellites.

  • RAB Microfluidics – Developed microfluidic ‘Lab-on-a-chip’ technology that delivers big machine analysis

  • Raven Controls – Real-time event management logging system to mitigate risk at events

  • Revive Eco – Waste recycling service and developing eco-friendly products from used coffee grounds

  • Sensalytx – Oil & gas software platform using AI to analyse complex downhole data

  • Sentinel Subsea – Monitor abandoned oil and gas wells to prevent environmental incidents.

  • Spark and Rocket (t/a Soundbops) – Created a hardware and software-based music educational platform

  • Splatform (t/a Stems) – Exciting new maker toy offering active discovery and fun.

  • SussMyBike – Developed a tool to optimise the suspension settings on mountain bikes

  • Tenzor Geo – Oil & gas exploration technology allowing operators to improve drilling success rates

  • Teqnox – Designs body protection for equestrian sport

  • The Drinks Bakery – Premium biscuit snacks expertly flavour-matched to drinks

  • Triyit – Marketing based platform that empowers consumers to discover new products

  • Trojan Energy – Developing on-street charging infrastructure systems for electric vehicles

  • Wootzano – Developed revolutionary, patent-pending Nanoskin – electronic skin for robots.

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