Scottish EDGE, the UK’s largest business funding competition, has become a customer of one of its winners, Edinburgh-based tech startup Amiqus.
Amiqus ID software provided the anti-money laundering and credit checks required of applicants in the latest round of the top business competition.
To date, the bi-annual competition has awarded over £9 million to some of Scotland’s most innovative startups, with Amiqus having received a collective £95,000 of that total. The business was also among the first to sign the ‘EDGE Pledge’ – Scottish EDGE’s pioneering initiative by which previous winners support future entrepreneurs.
Since their Scottish EDGE win Amiqus has gone on to win Pitch of the Day at EIE17, gained former Standard Life Chief Executive Sir Sandy Crombie as Chairman and been selected as the Barclays Entrepreneurs Awards 2017 regional winner for Scotland & Northern Ireland.
Going beyond the Scottish market
With a team that is based between Edinburgh and Cambridge and a product that can adapt to new markets by inputting new datasets, Amiqus is also casting its sights beyond the Scottish market to different sectors and geographies.
Both Amiqus and Scottish EDGE view their ongoing working relationship as testament to the synergy between innovation and support that is propelling Scotland forward in the race to be a global leader in fast-scaling entrepreneurship.
The ‘EDGE treble’
Scottish EDGE CEO Evelyn McDonald said, “We’re absolutely delighted to be joining forces with the great team at Amiqus. We had the pleasure of watching the business grow over the course of three rounds of the Scottish EDGE competition, during which it became the first business to do the ‘EDGE treble’ – a win in all three of our categories.
“As you can imagine, a water tight due diligence practice is crucial to our operation given the large sums of money that we award each round. Amiqus software has enabled us to significantly refine this process and has allowed us to direct resources to other essential areas of the competition. We look forward to a continued successful working partnership.”
Amiqus CEO Callum Murray said, “As a company that’s benefitted from Scottish EDGE support, we were very glad that Amiqus ID could help new entrepreneurs undergo the anti-money laundering checks necessary for taking part in the competition. Our win at Scottish EDGE last year gave us a boost in momentum and we’ve since gained 20 new clients and doubled the size of our team. Scottish startups are lucky to have such accessible means of gaining support and visibility in their early stages, which makes all the difference when you’re trying to turn an idea into a profitable business and be a rewarding employer.”