A Glasgow-based accelerator programme for the rapidly-growing internet of things (IoT) sector has won the backing of Scotland’s enterprise agency as it prepares to expand.
The Smart Things Accelerator (STAC) has entered into a strategic partnership with Scottish Enterprise ahead of a planned move to bigger premises and efforts to scale up.
Thirteen new IoT-focused companies are also set to join the industry-government collaboration, taking the total number of firms supported to 26. Discussions on increasing the capacity of the venture – based at Glasgow’s Skypark – to over 200-desks are at ’advanced’ stage.
Paul Wilson, CEO of STAC, said: “Scaling tech companies ready for international success needs harmonised company building, market traction, and capital investment, and this is what we will be striving to deliver through our partnership with Scottish Enterprise. The new strategic partnership is a testament to how much we have achieved to date, and it means we can combine forces to effectively scale our supported companies. Through a combination of strategic partnerships, new revenue streams and increased sponsorship from UK and international corporate partners, we are now in a position to further scale STAC in the months and years ahead.”
Ana Gallardo, team leader for Entrepreneurial Development at Scottish Enterprise, said: “We’re continuing Scottish Enterprise support for STAC because it provides the support needed by entrepreneurs and manufacturers looking to scale up and get their technology products, often requiring significant investment, into production.”
“With our new strategic partnership, we are dovetailing Scottish Enterprise assistance within the STAC programme, strengthening the overall package of help available to develop the next generation of innovative, early stage IoT companies to help grow Scotland’s economy.”
“Creating a manufacturing accelerator was a key action from Scotland’s Manufacturing Recovery Plan, and we at Scottish Enterprise are proud to play a part in welcoming the second cohort of businesses to STAC.”
The 13 new companies joining STAC are: My Perro/Eslington; Attis Fitness; Danu Robotics; Bilis/Electro-Peds; Everyware; FC Labs; MX3CS; Neurobright; Osbot; QIoT; TechQore; Nooku, and; Airspection. Pivot International and Jordan Talent Solutions have also been added as corporate sponsors.
Wilson added: “We are well ahead of schedule and the STAC team are excited to welcome another 13 high potential tech companies into our programme. ‘Tech’ is everywhere today and STAC is offering the specialised support needed for IoT focused scale-ups. The jobs we help create will offer our graduates promising careers in product design, hardware, and software development in Scotland, delivering solid return on investment from our education investment.”
“Through STAC supported companies we will retain Scottish product development talent, who today almost exclusively study here, but then leave Scotland to take jobs elsewhere either in the UK or internationally.”
STAC is an industry-government partnership aimed at producing Scottish IoT companies capable of scaling and competing on a global level, with a three-year target to create more than 25 IoT companies supporting around 750 jobs, reporting revenue in the region of £750 million, and cohort companies raising investment in excess of £100 million.