🤖 Aveni, Shot Scope, Chromacity raise, Civtech, Three Robins Smoothies

Plus reports out from Glasgow City Council

Here's your Campfire for the 5th of August, 2024.

💼 Want to create template legal agreements in minutes for free? Check out what Shepherd and Wedderburn making available for Campfire readers below in the ‘Asks and Offers section’. Also follow the Start to Scale LinkedIn page for useful videos and posts designed to help founders.

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🌊 Updates

🤖 Edinburgh-based Aveni, a fintech company specialising in generative AI creating large language models (LLMs) for the financial services industry, has raised an £11m Series A. The funding round, led by Puma Private Equity, included investments from Lloyds Bank, Nationwide, Scottish Enterprise, and Par Equity. UKTN ACS

🥣 Edinburgh-based oat-milk startup Three Robins has announced the launch of two oat milk-based fruit smoothie pouches for children’s lunchboxes and family outings. Vegconomist

⛳ Edinburgh-based golf tech firm Shot Scope raised $8.5m (£6.6m) funding to help improve the skills of over 60 million golfers worldwide. This Series B round, led by Guinness Ventures with a $4m contribution, also saw investments from Scottish Enterprise, Growthdeck, The SideBySide Partnership, and Equity Gap. Virgin Money added $1.9m in debt finance to the mix. TS SBN DGT

⚡ Edinburgh-based laser tech company Chromacity (specialising in creating ultrafast, tuneable, compact, and affordable infrared lasers for quantum applications, microscopy, spectroscopy, and advanced research) raised £1m. The funding from existing investors—Eos Advisory, Kelvin Capital, and Scottish Enterprise—will support the launch of its new ultrafast laser technology for the healthcare market. SS DGT

🌐 Good opportunity: Techscaler has announced two new programmes where Scottish startups can spend several weeks in Singapore and/or San Francisco. Applications open in August for startups to spend three weeks in Singapore. Participants will have office space in a designated pop-up hub for the duration of the trip, starting in October. This follows on from a successful pilot trip to SF earlier this year. IN DGT SGOV

📣 Building tech for the public sector? Civtech Scotland has announced its new competition round, offering over £8m in funding. The Scottish Government funds this competition to attracy startups and entrepreneurs to help address public sector challenges. Applications are open for ideas to tackle nine different challenges, including reducing pharmaceutical waste and enhancing public engagement in policymaking, with additional “wildcard” challenges expected soon. IN DGT

🎯 The Glasgow City Council announced the top 50 tech startups based in the Glasgow City Region. They came up with the scores using the Dealroom Signal algorithm, which highlights promising companies based on growth, hiring trends, fundraising timelines, and team composition. The companies include sectors like health, energy, and enterprise software, showing a combined enterprise value of £1.3bn, reflecting a 4.9x growth since 2020. Read the full list here.

🤝 Entrepreneurial Scotland is looking for scale-up founders and directors to join a peer support network. The new programme “The Exchange” offers leaders a chance to join an exclusive advisory board with 12 other founders, directors, or CEOs at a similar business stage, providing a “trusted space to collaborate, share experiences, and gain insights through regular meetings”. FS DGT

📣 Asks & Offers

🚨Start to Scale by Shepherd and Wedderburn is offering eligible subscribers of Campfire exclusive access to their ‘Start to Scale Hub’ which helps companies create template legal agreements in minutes for free. To learn more and request access click here.

💡 Frontier Robotics is hiring! A new vacancy for a UI/UX Engineer is open at Frontier Robotics based at the National Robotarium in Edinburgh. Responsibilities include: designing and developing graphical user interfaces using C++, Qt, docker, and ROS2, developing web interfaces using technologies like Node.js, designing interfaces that are user-friendly, aesthetically pleasing, reduce friction, and build user trust in data and autonomy, and more. Full job spec here. 👉 Send CV and Cover Letter here.

🥃 Are you a problem-solver driven by curiosity and a passion for your work? Do you thrive on deep, meaningful conversations and value fostering long-lasting relationships? Do you love whisky? If so, we invite you to become a founding member of Dram & Discourse. Learn more here

🦅 Barclays Eagle Labs launched their new Eagle Labs Academy, funded by the UK Government. The Academy provides access to free learning content and entrepreneurship training from different sources. Aiming for those starting their journey to those wanting to scale. Aside from the content, Eagle Labs has partnerships and access opportunities with the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology, and their Demo Directory. Find out more here.

👭 Interested in connecting with possible co-founders? Fill in your listing on Cofounder Curious today! Connect with others for possible cofounder matching here.

👷Are you hiring? Send us a blurb and we’ll include it in the next newsletter!

✍️ Want to write something for Campfire? Have an opinion you'd like to share? get in touch!

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📅 Events

🤝 06/08, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Tech Meetup Edinburgh - August 2024: ​​​​The Tech Meetup is a monthly excuse for the tech community around Scotland to network, learn and share new ideas! MORE INFO

☕ Series: Unfiltered: An in-person and informal catch-up with the Codebase community! Come join us for a coffee!
⛾ 07/08, 08:30 🗺️ Aberdeen, MORE INFO
⛾ 07/08, 08:30 🗺️ Stirling, MORE INFO
⛾ 07/08, 08:30 🗺️ Inverness, MORE INFO
⛾ 07/08, 08:30 🗺️ Edinburgh, MORE INFO
⛾ 07/08, 08:30 🗺️ Glasgow, MORE INFO
⛾ 07/08, 08:30 🗺️ Dundee, MORE INFO

🛈 07/08, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Inclusive Innovation: Ensuring No one is Left Behind: This inspiring event will bring together women from different backgrounds to explore experiences of social innovation. MORE INFO

🎓 08/08, 17:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Heriot-Watt Master of Design Graduation Showcase: Each year we celebrate our Masters of Design Students at Heriot-Watt University by giving them a special space to show off what they've been working on over the summer! Are you a hobbyist, an industry pro, or just generally interested in games? Why not come join us to play some new games and show your support for new, exciting creative minds breaking into the games industry! MORE INFO

🥂 12/08, 18:30 🗺️ Inverness: Inverness Tech Meetup: Whether you are a seasoned professional or just tech curious. Whether you've been to meetings before or not. Whether you are looking to make new contacts, learn from others or share your expertise. MORE INFO

👨🏻‍🏫 13/08, 11:00 🗺️ Dundee: Dundee Presentation Club: Join us in the Abertay cyberQuarter for a chance to practice your pitches and public speaking in a friendly, supportive setting. MORE INFO

🎯 13/08, 13:00 🗺️ Stirling: Marketing Meetup with Scunnered Digital [Stirling]: Join us for a six-month event series dedicated to elevate your marketing skills, build connections and exchange ideas with fellow marketers. MORE INFO

🌱 14/08, 09:00 🗺️ Aberdeen: Implementing and Sustaining Workplace Organisation: Learn to think lean as we support you through the development of a continuous improvement plan aligned with energy transition priorities. MORE INFO

🌏 15/08, 10:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Horizon Europe & International Low Carbon Research & Innovation Funding: Learn about the latest low carbon research and innovation funding available through Horizon Europe and other international programmes. MORE INFO

🍺 15/08, 18:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Glasgow- Small99's People, Planet, Pint™: Sustainability Meetup: Pop down to your local People Planet Pint meetup to find more about what's going on locally with sustainability and how you can get involved. MORE INFO

🤝 19/08, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Startup Founders Meetup - August 2024: ​Each month, we'll have a combination of tactical fireside chats with experienced entrepreneurs and plenty of opportunities to network with other founders, potential cofounders, and investors. MORE INFO

🥼 20/08, 10:00 🗺️ Aberdeen: Eagle Has landed - Barclays Eagle labs August Drop in Clinic: Drop in and let’s have a chat about your business goals and ambitions here at One Tech Hub. MORE INFO

🚀 20/08, 10:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Register Your Interest - Amazon Accelerator Programme: The Programme aims to equip you and your business with the skills & knowledge to significantly boost sales on the Amazon platform globally. MORE INFO

🍻 20/08, 17:30 🗺️ Inverness: Pitch Club: Special Edition: Pitch at the Pub: Pitch Club is a supportive and welcoming environment which gives you the opportunity to practise your pitching skills and gain confidence in talking about your business. We’re here to help from the ground up! MORE INFO

🥼 22/08, 11:00 🗺️ Dundee: Barclays Eagle labs at MSIP August Drop-in Clinic 2024: Drop in and let’s have a chat about your business goals and ambitions here at Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc. MORE INFO

🔗 22/08, 17:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Blockchain Scotland Meetup: ​Welcome to the Monthly Blockchain Scotland Meetup at the Bayes Centre in Edinburgh. The event takes place at the ground floor in G.03. MORE INFO

🔬 22/08, 18:00 🗺️ Online: MedTech Connect: West of Scotland Innovation Forum [Online]: Join us online to explore the future of engagement and support for MedTech businesses in Glasgow and the West of Scotland! MORE INFO

💬 28/08, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Entrepreneurs Social Club (ESC) - Edinburgh Startup Meetup: The social club for founders and aspiring entrepreneurs - skip the talks, presentations and lectures - and go straight to networking! MORE INFO

📍 29/08, 10:00 🗺️ Aberdeen: Learning Journey to IKM Testing UK Ltd, Aberdeen – Lean Transformation: Join this visit and tour to learn how IKM Testing has transformed its business into a lean organisation, resulting in productivity gains. MORE INFO

👥 29/08, 17:00 🗺️ Stirling: The Social at CodeBase Stirling: Open to everyone, this is an in-person celebration to connect and catch up with the CodeBase and Central Scotland community. MORE INFO

🎯 29/08, 17:15 🗺️ Edinburgh: Barclays Eagle Labs and CodeBase monthly Quiz - Edinburgh (August): Join us for this month's pub quiz - bringing together the CodeBase and Edinburgh community for a bit of fun. MORE INFO

💻 29/08, 18:00 🗺️ Dundee: NoCode Workshop with Oli Littlejohn: This will be an introduction to the world of NoCode: what it is, the tools available, and how it can be used to build digital products. Oli Littlejohn will share some of his insights on NoCode and then lead a workshop session where you can build your own NoCode product with him. MORE INFO

🎯 Deadlines

📐 Royal Academy of Engineering – Enterprise Fellowships Now Open: Are you a graduate or researcher with a brilliant tech innovation? Apply now for 12 months of spinout and startup training with a grant up to £75k. Not your average accelerator – no fees, equity or IP taken. Apply by 27 August here.

🇬🇧 Upcoming Innovate UK deadlines:

• Europe Quantum Technology CR&D 2024 Applications close 28 August

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That’s all for this week - have a great one!

Team 🔥 Campfire