A leading Scottish industrialist who forged a career in some of the world’s leading manufacturing companies has called for a national sovereign wealth fund to support the tech sector.
Jim Rowan, former CEO of Volvo Cars, says policymakers should follow the likes of Singapore, Norway, and Saudi Arabia, who have used national assets and surpluses to fund investment into high-growth sectors of the economy.
Rowan, who oversaw the mission to move Volvo into software-led vehicles, believes it is only through long-term financial planning that you can reap the rewards of investment into the technologies of the future.
Scotland currently struggles to fund its tech sector at scale. According to recent analysis by Scottish Enterprise, whilst there were 293 deals under £10 million last year, there were just 15 deals up to the £50 million level, and only two deals between £50 and £100 million, with none above that threshold.
Glasgow-born Rowan, speaking to Adrian Murphy, CEO of wealth management firm Murphy Wealth, on his ‘Human First’ podcast, said: “Part of the problem, not necessarily just in Scotland… is that a lot of these technologies and investments are long term. By its very nature, sometimes the tenure within government is short term. And, of course, there’s a huge amount of pressure to make sure that they’re spending money wisely and there are results.
“I would be a big advocate for a Scottish sovereign wealth fund, where you can say, we’re going to carve off a certain amount of that budget every year, and we’re going to put that into a Scottish sovereign wealth fund. The rest of that budget obviously goes to service the immediate needs of the population.”
The podcast, recorded at the Smart Things Accelerator Centre (STAC), at the co-working space thebeyond, marks one of Rowan’s first interventions in Scotland’s tech scene since leaving Volvo, where he was chief executive for three years until April 2025. His career in Scotland began as a mechanical engineering apprentice at Tate & Lyle, before going on to take more senior roles at technology companies and founding his own technology businesses. He went on to take senior roles with Celestica and Blackberry in Austria, Canada, and Singapore, before becoming COO and subsequently CEO of Dyson.
That international experience has provided insights into how other small countries go about economic development.
“What I found in Singapore was you had this very tight collaboration between government, academia, finance, and the inventors themselves, and it was very symbiotic… The sovereign wealth fund of Singapore was a great enabler of getting that funding to the right channels. And I think that’s one of the things we really need to work on in Scotland,” he said.
He added: “If you look at Norway, it is a population very similar to Scotland… and they have a $1.7 trillion (£1.25 trillion) fund, they’ve done that over many years, taking a lot of the revenues from oil, redistributing them, and it’s paid dividends – not just for the immediate population of Norway, but there’s a generational benefit to it as well.”
The challenge will be to reverse the decline in natural resources income in Scotland, and a growing budget deficit. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, revenues from oil and gas halved from £9.9 billion to £4.9 billion in 2023-24. The disproportionate impact of the reduction in North Sea revenues on Scotland means that its notional fiscal deficit is ‘estimated to have increased from £18.0 billion to £22.7 billion – or from 8.4% of Scottish national income to 10.4%’.
This deficit is substantially higher than the figure for the UK as a whole, with estimated borrowing per person being £2,357 higher than the figure for the UK as a whole (£4,164 versus £1,807), the IFS analysis shows.
However, Rowan thinks Scotland can keep more technology companies and talent within the country as they begin their scale-up journey.
He said: “I think it’s more than possible, honestly, I do. I just think it relates directly to the infrastructure that’s put in place and the opportunities to continue to grow. I don’t think people say, ‘I would really like to go live and work in Silicon Valley’. I think they’re drawn there for different reasons, and they’re drawn there… because they have easier access to capital.
“You look at Edinburgh and some of the great financial institutions already built up in this country and there’s no reason why that infrastructure, access to talent, access to proper premises, and access to growth capital can’t be done here in Scotland. But… it’s fragmented, it’s tough, and some other places in the world make it a lot easier.”
And STAC itself, which has supported over 90 start-ups, the creation of 320 jobs, and over £40 million of investment, is an example of that.
He said: “STAC is really starting to pull together the combination of academia, business, and government, and it’s got the opportunity to grow. I think it’s a great place – not just for young talent to come and get support and mentorship, but also build a network with other like-minded individuals.”
