A total of 24 high-growth potential businesses have secured £1.4m through the annual Scottish Edge business funding competition.
The winners were announced last night in an awards ceremony attended by First Minister Humza Yousaf, and businessman and philanthropist Sir Tom Hunter.
Amongst the winners were Glasgow-based Infix Support which won £100,000 towards its Clinician-led, cloud-based scheduling platform that improves NHS theatre efficiency.
Clearwell Technology Ltd, a business based in Aboyne which develops exothermic milling systems, also walked away with a prize worth £100,000.
Eight of the prizes went to winners from the Young EDGE Category, where all directors are under the age of 30, with the top Scottish Enterprise prize going to Euro Ticket Club Ltd, which provides flight and ticket offers to British fans of European football.
The Institute of Export prize was awarded to LU Innovations Ltd, which creates menstrual products and accessories for adventurers in remote environments. Both winners were recognised for their entrepreneurship with prizes worth £15,000.
Sustainable business practices and a commitment to protecting the planet remain central to the awards. The twenty-first round saw the return of the Net Zero EDGE category, which rewards the efforts of organisations committed to contributing towards the Scottish government’s commitment to reaching Net Zero by 2045. North Berwick-based Frontier Robotics, which revolutionises marine robots’ sensing and autonomous capabilities, won the Net Zero prize worth £100,000, thanks to additional support from the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Judith Cruickshank, MD of Commercial Mid-Market at Royal Bank of Scotland said: “The time to act on climate change is now and investing in businesses focused on developing solutions through initiatives such as the Net Zero EDGE award is key.
“At Royal Bank of Scotland, we are committed to championing SMEs and each and every one of this year’s winners demonstrates the passion, innovation and determination needed to help bolster and strengthen Scotland’s economy while also making positive strides towards our climate ambitions. Congratulations to all of this year’s winners but in particular, our Net Zero EDGE winner, Frontier.”
The Circular Economy EDGE award, which was introduced in collaboration with Zero Waste Scotland and recognises businesses implementing more circular business methods went to Fife-based Seilich, which harvests skincare product ingredients from the organisation’s own wildflower meadows. Meanwhile the STV Growth EDGE award, which guarantees airtime went to a consumer-based business, Three Robins, a company creating family-friendly plant-based products, in addition to a financial award of £85,000.
Sharing the accolade of Social Enterprise EDGE winner, Stitch the Gap CIC, which uses sewing tutelage to improve community mental health and environmental impact, and Rhyze Mushrooms, a community mushroom farm and education project, received £50,000 and £20,000 respectively from the Postcode Innovation Trust supported award.
The ceremony marked the final round of the awards for Scottish EDGE Chief Operating Officer Steven Hamill, who has been involved with the awards since their inception in 2013 and has overseen the establishment of partnerships with the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Hunter Foundation, the ScottishGovernment and Scottish Enterprise.
Hamill said: ‘Over the course of the last decade, the EDGE awards have acknowledged the innovation, creativity, and future-centred mindset of over 500 Scottish businesses. With over £20m having been awarded so far, Scottish EDGE plays a crucial role in giving businesses with high-growth potential the resources to scale and develop their work. It’s been an honour to collaborate with partner organisations to form long-lasting relationships and ensure that Scottish entrepreneurship continues to be rewarded.”
Full list of winners:
Chorus Training – Aberdeen – £70,000 – In hazardous environments safety culture is key to business performance. It’s essential to perform, comply with regulations, deliver training and promote individual accountability for safety.
Clean Water Designs (ta Novus) –Edinburgh – £80,000 – Our high-speed low-energy distillation technology, enables homes and businesses anywhere in the world, to access consistent high-purity water, without expensive consumable parts or plastic bottles.
Clearwell Technology Ltd – Aboyne – £100,000 – Clearwell Technology is developing unique exothermic milling systems which aim to transform offshore decommissioning by delivering substantial time, cost, and greenhouse gas emission reductions.
Fitabeo Therapeutics Ltd –Edinburgh – £100,000 – A specialty pharmaceutical company that develops and commercialises innovative medicines to address some of the society’s most pressing challenges.
Frontier Robotics – North Berwick – £100,000 – We revolutionise marine robots’ sensing and autonomous capabilities with minimum hardware and software modifications. We focus on the renewable offshore energy sector.
Incharvie Group Ltd – Leven – £60,000 – Feragaia is Scotland’s first distilled alcohol-free spirit. Based in Fife, Feragaia is distilled in Fife, bottled in Glasgow and ships to customers around the world.
Infix Support Ltd – Glasgow – £100,000 – Infix is a clinician-led, cloud-based scheduling platform that significantly improves NHS theatre efficiency. Integration to the NHS showed an increase of theatre efficiency by 26%
Nooku – Glasgow- £80,000 – Nooku is creating an engaging air quality monitor which empowers people to understand and improve their environment in pursuit of better comfort, health, and happiness.
Seilich – Pathhead – £75,000 – At Seilich we create wildflower meadows from which we harvest ingredients for our range of award-winning natural skincare products.
Silver Lion Innovations – Glasgow – £80,000 – SLI exists to provide healthcare solutions based on personal experience. EasyOver, is a ‘smart’ product that safely turns people with mobility issues over in bed.
Three Robins Ltd – Edinburgh – £85,000 – Our mission is to make healthy, great tasting oat milk products that children, their parents and the planet will love.
Tuggs – Glasgow – £75,000 – Tuggs is the country’s first freshly-prepared, insect-based dog food. We create customised meal plans that are delivered to consumers on a subscription each month.
WEETEQ LTD – Glasgow – £100,000 – Weeteq is a ‘tiny’ embedded technology company providing industrial solutions. Our mission is developing circuit-level artificial intelligence solutions to accelerate sustainable growth of smart technologies.
Yaldi Games – Edinburgh – £60,000 – Yaldi Games is a mission-led game developer making meaningful games that inspire real life activities.
Category: Social Enterprise EDGE
Rhyze Mushrooms – Edinburgh – £25,000 – Rhyze Mushrooms is a community mushroom farm and education project. We grow mushrooms from waste and teach others the skills to do so too.
Stitch the Gap CIC – Glasgow – £50,000 – We deliver a mental health and environmental impact at the grassroots of our communities by teaching the sewing skills to repair, reuse and repurpose textiles.
Category: Young EDGE
4SB Mobility Ltd – Peebles – £10,000 – We are engineering a swappable, ‘jerry-can’ electric vehicle (EV) battery. It attaches to the EVs main battery, giving users 90 miles range in 2 minutes.
Augmentum Influencer Solutions – Grangemouth – £10,000 – We’re an influencer marketing agency specialising in growing brands exclusively in the Health and Wellness space by leveraging the power of the creator economy.
Dastardly Line – Glasgow – £10,000 – Dastardly Line are a Glasgow based design studio that creates innovative products around problematic textile waste streams produced by UK industry.
Euro Ticket Club Ltd – Edinburgh – £15,000 – We provide flight and football ticket offers, via a weekly email newsletter, for British fans who want to watch European football.
LU Innovations LTD – Glasgow- £15,000 – LU’s on a mission to annihilate the hurdles stopping menstruators going on adventurers. Designing sustainable products, education and training to ensure good menstrual hygiene anywhere.
Nuclevolve Pvt. Ltd – Glasgow – £10,000 – Nuclevolve is a radiation protection technology company that relies on the development of materials engineering to achieve advancements in the space and medical industries.
Shasha Network – Edinburgh – £10,000 – Shasha Network (SCIO) is an online platform that equips secondary students across Africa with soft skills and career development to achieve their fullest potential.
Studio Lutalica Ltd – Edinburgh – £10,000 – Lutalica is a design studio focusing on Feminist & LGBTQ+ projects and supporting businesses to create safer workplaces for women and LGBTQ+ people.