Since the programme launched in 2018, it has so far helped 107 entrepreneurs from 79 companies across Scotland to generate £36 million of new direct investment, £7.4m in total revenue growth which includes £3.9m in international turnover growth, and create almost 150 good, new jobs in Scotland.

Additionally, over the next three years, participating companies are projected to cumulatively reduce Scotland’s carbon emissions by up to 7,468 tonnes, which is equivalent to the annual electricity used to power almost 1400 homes.

Now in its third year, Unlocking Ambition has recently welcomed a further 38 new entrepreneurs to the community, joining the competitively-recruited programme for entrepreneurs chosen for their individual potential, the quality of their ideas, ability to scale and their contribution to the Scottish economy from sustainable growth through investment, innovation and exporting. The programme supports early stage companies ranging from start-ups to more established high growth businesses.

Kerry Sharp, director of growth investments at Scottish Enterprise, said: “These are fantastic achievements that demonstrate what supporting entrepreneurs through a high value, tailored programme can produce. Scottish Enterprise is proud of its role in helping deliver such positive results which have an impact on people and regions across Scotland. A £5.6m commitment that has so far returned £36m of direct investment to date represents incredibly great value for taxpayers’ money, even before we see the results from the latest group of entrepreneurs.

“Last week I was delighted to help welcome the new cohort to the Unlocking Ambition community when Unlocking Ambition 3 kicked off. It was great to see the diversity in the cohort – across sectors, nationalities, gender and regions of Scotland. I very much look forward to seeing their continued success as they grow and scale up their businesses, creating even greater opportunities for green economy growth right across the country.”

Examples of Unlocking Ambition company achievements include:

• The Start Up Drinks Lab, based in Inverclyde, has tripled its job numbers and had turnover growth from zero to £500,000 since joining the programme in 2018. 
• Loch Electronics, located in Edinburgh, recently secured £665,000 of crowdfunding, one of Scotland’s largest ever kickstarter projects. 
• The (Global) Future Forest Company on the Isle of Mull recently signed a $1.5m deal with US-based Stripe for its carbon removal project. 
• IndiNature, based in Edinburgh with a recently opened production manufacturing facility in the Borders, have secured £5.3m of investment since joining the programme. 
• Talking Medicines in Glasgow, the world’s first social intelligence company for the pharmaceutical industry, secured a £1.1m funding deal to scale up its AI-based data technology platform for measuring patient sentiment. 

The latest group of 38 entrepreneurs chosen to join Unlocking Ambition started their programme on 1 September and continue to represent a diverse range of business activity, as well as a focus on the green economy.

From sustainable construction materials to medical grade vital-sign wearable technology, the group includes companies like Dundee-based SolarisKit, creator of a thermal collector to harness solar energy, who recently secured a place on Amazon Launchpad, enabling it to sell its products to global markets.