Scottish EDGE final demonstrates the resilience, sustainability and ingenuity of Scotland's entrepreneurs

The Scottish EDGE finals returned yesterday with a full day packed with incredibly talented and creative Scottish businesses pitching for a piece of the £1 million prize pot.

After a record number of applications this year, 19 businesses pitched in total yesterday. While the last year has been a challenge for us all, Scottish EDGE continues to reward Scottish innovation and Harper Macleod is proud to have worked with and advised EDGE since its launch in 2012.

We have also helped nearly 50% of Scottish EDGE winners with issues including commercialisation, international expansion and fundraising. Many of our own partners have also judged various EDGE finals for years now, with our Donnie Munro most recently judging the 2021 Young EDGE finals.

Sustainability dominated the conversation yesterday as more businesses than ever demonstrated their concern for the environment and their commitment to making a difference. From Ocean Plastic Pots (a company using recycled fishing nets to make plants pots) to Treen (a vegan fashion retailer making eco-conscious brands easily accessible to consumers) and Waterwhelm (a company that has developed technology to produce drinking water from nearly any source), the variety of worthy enterprises on display was inspiring.

Food & Drink also dominated the competition with pitches from LiberEat (provider of technology identifying allergens in groceries, menus and recipes), Ice & Fire Distillery (distiller and bottler of craft gin and rum), East Coast Cured (producer of dry-cured meats using premium Scottish produce) and Bare Bones Chocolate (artisan chocolatier).

The EDGE final was a great representation of the range of businesses operating in Scotland and as always, showcased Scotland as an exciting place to do business.

We also heard from a previous winner of Scottish EDGE, The Vegan Kind. They spoke about how their win had allowed them to grow their business rapidly, particularly at a time when veganism was just starting to kick off in the UK. Scottish EDGE has worked closely with The Vegan Kind over the years and their success to date demonstrates what a difference EDGE funding can make to start up and growing businesses in Scotland.

It’s now just a few short weeks until we find out who the winners are. We don’t envy the job the judges have deciding! Good luck to everyone who participated and we’ll see you (virtually!) to find out the results on May 25th

Find out more about Scottish EDGE here – scottishedge.com

Get in touch

Having had a partnership with EDGE since its launch in 2012, sponsoring our own Harper Macleod Young EDGE award and also having advised Scottish EDGE since day one, we are well placed to advise growing businesses.

Please get in touch with us at [email protected] and we can help your business get the Edge.