Scottish Edge Round 21 Awards

The Scottish EDGE Round 21 Awards took place yesterday to celebrate the latest round of entrepreneurs who have been successful in securing funding for their business. Harper Macleod have been involved with EDGE since it began in 2012 and over the years, £23million has been invested into over 500 early stage businesses, some of which have now gone on to be global success stories.

Earlier this month, 24 impressive entrepreneurs took to the stage to pitch to a panel of judges (including our Jo Nisbet) for the chance to win their share of a £1.3million prize pot. All the entrepreneurs demonstrated drive and ambition to take their business to the next level and last night the winners came together to showcase the best of Scotland’s entrepreneurial talent.

First Minister Humza Yousaf opened the evening by sharing his own experiences of entrepreneurship. He highlighted the courage required to take risks as an entrepreneur and it was great to hear about the Scottish Government’s support for Scottish business and commitment to innovation and enterprise. We also heard from Sir Tom Hunter who highlighted the importance of peer-to-peer support for early stage businesses and the huge role this plays within Scottish EDGE.

The awards demonstrated a diverse and innovative range of businesses across a variety of sectors:

• The first award of the night went to Clean Water Designs who offer a high-speed, low-energy distillation technology to allow homes and businesses access to consistent high-purity water. Clearwell Technologies took the top prize of £100,000 which will further their development of unique exothermic milling systems which aim to transform current industry practices to achieve faster and cleaner oil and gas well decommissioning.
• Another top prize winner was Fitabeo Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company that advances and commercialises innovative medicines to solve critical healthcare problems and deliver better health outcomes. Also focused on the healthcare industry was Dr Matthew Freer of Infix Solutions who was awarded £100,000 to further his business. Infix Solutions is a fully-integrated, cloud-based scheduling platform to increase operating theatre utilisation and improve efficiency within the NHS.
• There were a number of special category awards including the Circular Economy and Net Zero awards. Sustainability is a key consideration for today’s entrepreneurs amid the ever increasing pressures on businesses to consider their social and environmental impact. Dr Sally Gouldstone, founder of Seilich Botanicals, took home the Circular Economy award of £75,000. Seilich offers a sustainable skincare range made from Scottish botanicals, handpicked from wildflower meadows in the Lothians of Scotland. Frontier Robotics focused on the renewable offshore energy sector and secured the Net Zero award of £100,000 to revolutionise marine robots’ sensing and autonomous capabilities.
• Feragaia, Scotland’s first distilled alcohol-free spirit were awarded an impressive £60,000. Three Robins, who have developed a calcium-rich oat milk that meets the nutritional needs of children and adults, were awarded the STV Growth award of £85,000 plus a £75,000 advertising spend.

Another highlights of the evening was an inspiring talk from previous winner Jamie Douglas-Hamilton. Since being awarded EDGE funding, his business Actiph Water has since gone on to become a global market leader in ionised water. Jamie told an inspiring story of not just entrepreneurial drive and effort, but also personal grit and determination as he shared the story of his record-breaking rowing trip across Drake Passage.

The evening encapsulated Scotland’s entrepreneurial spirit and demonstrated the valuable contributions that the start-up and high growth businesses that come out of EDGE make to the Scottish economy. Since Round 1, over 3,000 jobs have been created across all sectors reflecting the diversity of business ideas. This latest round of innovative businesses will add to the impact of Scottish EDGE on Scotland’s entrepreneurial community. They will play a key role in building on the strong culture of enterprise, further enabling the growth of start-up and scale-up businesses.

Congratulations to all the winners. If you met any of our team at Scottish Edge or you would like to speak with us then please get in touch. We are happy to discuss how we can be of service to your business.