🐛 Beta Bugs raise, Codeclan is back, Gene therapies raise, Converge & The Scottish Startup Hub launch
And that's just to start with. Lots of news, events and insight this Monday morning.
Here's your Campfire for the 10th of March, 2025. There’s quite a bit of news and events to cover this week, along with some helpful information below for anyone interested in going through the advanced assurance process for SEIS/EIS.
💼 Johnston Carmichael are a leading accountancy and business advisory firm, with offices throughout Scotland, in Newcastle and London. A partner owned firm for over 85 years, they have grown to offer core and specialist services to business of all sizes. With specialist sector teams, they are fast becoming one of the most trusted advisers for entrepreneurs, founders and businesses that are successfully scaling. Talk to the team today to discuss what growth stage your business is at.
🌊 Updates
🚀 Launching today: The Scottish Startup Hub (SSH) is a founder-led community project to showcase, connect and support Scottish startups. It’s a free website to sign-post entrepreneurs to resources, news, events, fractional team members and verified lists of other startups, investors and business. 👉 More info + add your business to the list here.
🌿 Edinburgh-based startup BioMara (seaweed-based supplement) raised $150,000 (£119,000) to expand fucoidan production, a bioactive compound found in seaweed used in supplements, cosmetics, and food ingredients. Fucoidan, valued for its therapeutic properties, is widely incorporated into nutritional, skincare, and medical products. FFE IN
🥼 East Kilbride-based Airglove Medical raised £500,000 from Pulse Angels and Scottish Enterprise to commercially launch its patented Airglove device, designed to “improve first-time cannulation success and reduce NHS costs”. Cannulation, required in 80% of hospital admissions, often fails due to hidden or fragile veins, leading to patient discomfort, delayed treatments, and increased waste. SS
🚀 A free three-day programme for female entrepreneurs is now open for applications, hosted by National Women’s Enterprise Week and the British Library Business & IP Centre. Participants receive mentorship, expert advice, and pitch to investors. Ten spots are available across five UK regions, with nationwide events from June 16-20, 2025. BC
🎯 Scottish academic enterprise programme Converge has announced a £400,000 prize pot, including £305,000 in equity-free funding and £100,000 in business support. In partnership with Challenges Group, the initiative aims to boost early-stage businesses addressing social and environmental challenges. TS DGT IN
💰 Edinburgh-based Lentitek (Gene therapies) raised £700,000 from Equity Gap, bringing its total investment to £1 million in six months. This follows a £300,000 Innovate UK grant to advance its viral vector technology for next-generation cancer treatments. ACS TS
💸 Edinburgh’s Beta Bugs (sustainable insect farming) raised £2.1M from TRICAPITAL Angels and Scottish Enterprise to advance its insect genetics innovations. SBN
💰 Falkirk-based biotech engineering firm uFraction8 has secured £3.4M in funding, led by the Foresight Group. Its microfiltration technology enhances cell and biomass production, offering a sustainable, energy-efficient solution for food, feed, and bio-based product industries. DGT
🥇 Glasgow-based cleantech startup Entropyst (clean hydrogen and high-value carbon nanotubes) has been named a finalist in the EU-Startups Summit 2025 Pitch Competition, selected from over 1,500 applicants. The competition, taking place in Malta on April 24-25, offers finalists a chance to pitch for funding and growth opportunities. EUS
🥣 A nice profile on Karen Robinson, founder of Three Robins: After a career in international development with the UN and DfID, Karen Robinson took a bold leap into entrepreneurship, founding Three Robins—a brand dedicated to nutritious, plant-based oat drinks and smoothies. Inspired by her son's lactose intolerance and the lack of kid-friendly alternatives, she created a range of healthy, sustainable products now stocked in Scotmid stores. Three Robins' selection, including Barista Oat Mylk and smoothie pouches, has won acclaim (and awards) for its taste and nutritional benefits. TS
👩💻 “Big things are coming:” CodeClan is relaunching in 2025 with CodeBase, offering courses in Software Engineering and Data Science. If you're considering a course this year or want to help shape the future of CodeClan, complete this form to stay in the loop.
📣 Asks & Offers
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💰 Getting SEIS and EIS Advanced Assurance done right
By Robert Gelb, written in partnership with Johnston Carmichael
The Enterprise Investment Scheme and the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme are designed to make it more attractive for (mostly) angel and non-institutional investors to invest in risky ventures by offering significant tax relief. It's a pretty sweet deal. For SEIS alone, the investor gets 50% tax relief on £100k invested per year, essentially 0% capital gains tax on profits from SEIS and EIS investments, plus a host of other benefits. If the company fails, it is also possible for them to claim loss relief against income or against capital gains.
As a set of schemes, they are some of the more popular ones that have made the UK a standout in encouraging early stage investing (whether or not that's good for the startup ecosystem is another subject entirely).
When speaking with potential investors, founders rightly want to understand if and how their company qualifies. SEIS and EIS Advanced Assurance is one way to offer an indication (not a guarantee) of this. I sat down with Stephen Oates head of Entrepreneurial Tax at Johnston Carmichael to understand how Advanced Assurance works.
Understanding what the SEIS/EIS qualifications are before you start agreeing or indicating to investors that you qualify
Not any company can qualify for SEIS and EIS. An outline of the list of requirements can be found here and include things like previous funding levels and prohibited trading activities, but one of the main purposes of the schemes is to encourage investment into early ventures with high risk. "When we look at companies that are interested in Advanced Assurance, the two questions that we must address are 1) Is there a risk to the investment? and 2) Does the company have growth ambitions?" Stephen says, "And if we can't meet those two, there's not much point in considering the rest because those are core to essentially opening the door to the next stage."
It's a generous scheme for investors, and as such, there needs to be clear evidence of risk and ambitions for growth. "If it's a one-person limited company and they create this young business, but they have no real growth ambitions to grow the workforce, increase their production or customer numbers or if they have an assured income stream then there may not be a good argument for SEIS/EIS qualification," Stephen adds. Likewise with growth ambitions, "If they're going into an area where there is very little risk of the business failing, or to the point it's got an inherent value already and the price at which the investors are buying shares at is less than or equal to that value already created, then there isn't much risk to that investor."
When working with clients, Stephen and his team understand the importance of making it clear to HMRC that the risk to capital conditions are met. “When doing our analysis, we work closely with the client to ensure the narrative that accompanies the submission explains clearly how these conditions are met. For example, where a company is carrying out research and development (R&D), the value and growth potential of the company is largely based on the R&D work being successful. In these instances, it is therefore often easier to explain to HMRC how the growth and risk conditions are met”.
Next time, we'll dig into when SEIS might not be a good fit for startups.
This is part one of a three-part series of articles covering SEIS and EIS, written in partnership with Johnston Carmichael. Johnston Carmichael is a full-service accountancy and business advisory firm that works with founders and startups (including many spinouts) from pre-launch through exit, and beyond. Find out more information or get in touch with Stephen and the team for a chat here.
📅 Events
🔎 13/03, 13:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Geovation Scotland Annual Showcase 2025!: Join us at Surgeons Quarter, Edinburgh as we hear from the latest cohort of exciting, disruptive and innovative property, land & location technology start ups. MORE INFO
🌱 10/03, 09:30 🗺️ Duns: Seeding Enterprise across our Communities workshop - Duns: Two-day course aimed at exploring early stages of starting a business aimed at women and under-represented groups in our communities. MORE INFO
🌿 10/03, 10:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Edinburgh Greentech Futures: GreenHack: No hacking, tech or environmental experience is required, just a curiosity to learn and an interest in coming up with creative solutions to some of the most pressing environmental issues we are facing today. MORE INFO
🌍 11/03, 00:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Founders Brunch: Go Global, Stay Grounded: We heard you: not everyone lives in the central belt. That’s why this event is hybrid to ensure founders from every corner of Scotland can join. When signing up, make sure to select the right ticket (in-person or virtual). MORE INFO
🌱 12/03, 09:30 🗺️ Dumfries: Seeding Enterprise across our Communities workshop - Dumfries: Two-day course aimed at exploring early stages of starting a business aimed at women and under-represented groups in our communities. MORE INFO
🎬 12/03, 13:30 🗺️ Glasgow: Corporate Connections Sustainability Showcase - Glasgow: The event will include a networking arcade featuring exhibitions and prototypes with the innovators showcasing across different topics, focussing on Social Housing and ways to enhance their sustainability efforts. MORE INFO
📈 12/03, 14:00 🗺️ Online: Margins and momentum: How to balance profit with growth: The tech landscape is not what it used to be. The challenging macroeconomic environment and greater emphasis on cost discipline means CFOs must rethink their strategy — balancing rapid growth with profitability. But where should startups invest, and where should they cut back? How can founders and CFOs navigate these trade-offs? How is AI supporting the drive to profitability and expansion? Join this Sifted Talks as our panel of CFOs share their top revenue strategies. MORE INFO
🔌 12/03, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Prewired: rewired is a relaxed programming club for anyone under 19! MORE INFO
🍽️ 12/03, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Founders Dinners: Where founders & execs of product startups relax together and connect with peers over food and drinks. MORE INFO
🧩 13/03, 08:30 🗺️ Perth: Perth Tech Mornings: This is an opportunity to meet and connect with people from across the tech ecosystem. We like to run these events with minimal structure, to allow conversations to flow naturally over a coffee. You don’t need a background in tech to join us, we welcome anyone who is interested in chatting to our community and learning more. MORE INFO
💼 13/03, 10:00 🗺️ Online: Office Hours with Potter Clarkson: In this 25 minute one-to one session, you will receive direct, personalised advice from an IP Attorney for Potter Clarkson. MORE INFO
🌐 13/03, 10:00 🗺️ Dumfries: Selling Internationally via Ecommerce - Dumfries: Whether you are starting out, or expanding your retail operations, there are multiple opportunities to going global. MORE INFO
🎤 13/03, 13:00 🗺️ Online: Practicing your Pitch: Investor Q&A: Prepare for pitching to investors with advice from an expert! MORE INFO
🥃 13/03, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Barclays Eagle Labs and CodeBase Quarterly Pub Quiz (March 2025): Join us for this month's pub quiz - bringing together the CodeBase and Edinburgh community for a bit of fun! MORE INFO
🌐 13/03, 19:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: AI Networking Evening in Edinburgh: Join Andersen for the AI Networking Evening in Edinburgh! MORE INFO
💼 17/03, 10:00 🗺️ Online: Online Office Hours with SEIS-GO: Securing SEIS/EIS Advance Assurance: Meet with an expert Legal Consultant from SEIS-GO for direct, personalised advice on S/EIS! MORE INFO
🎯 18/03, 09:00 🗺️ Dundee: SMAS Best Practice Visit to Direct Soccer Ltd: Visit Direct Soccer Ltd and discover how SMAS supported the company on its continuous improvement journey. MORE INFO
💡 18/03, 09:30 🗺️ Glasgow: Clean Heat Retrofit Innovation Challenge Showcase: We’ll bring together public, private, and third-sector organisations to share their expertise and show what’s driving clean heat’s growth. MORE INFO
💰 18/03, 14:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Becoming an Angel Investor (Edinburgh): UKBAA and British Business Bank are launching a series of regional activation events designed to broaden access to angel investing and empower investors to build more inclusive portfolios. MORE INFO
🎙️ 18/03, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: TestTalks: Edinburgh: Join us at TestTalks: Edinburgh for a evening of engaging discussions and insights on all things testing! MORE INFO
💻 18/03, 18:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: March Meetup - Immersive experiences in the browser: Our talks aim to introduce members of the community, fostering networking, mentorship, learning, and collaboration. Everyone is welcome—whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned engineer. MORE INFO
📺 19/03, 10:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: VBI & AIA Joint Showcase Day: This year’s Joint VBI and AIA Showcase Event brings together 35 early-stage companies and 12 later-stage companies to share their ideas, solutions, and business strategies. It’s a unique opportunity to meet founders, academics, investors, and ecosystem partners—all in one place. MORE INFO
🔌 19/03, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Prewired: Prewired is a relaxed programming club for anyone under 19! MORE INFO
🇪🇪 19/03, 18:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Baltic Nights: Estonia Mixer by e-Residency: Enjoy food, drinks, good vibes, and chat to like-minded people that just might change the way you think about the EU and international growth. MORE INFO
🍺 19/03, 19:00 🗺️ Aberdeen: Aberdeen - 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
🍳 20/03, 08:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Continuous Improvement Business Breakfast Workshop: Join our breakfast workshop and learn how lean manufacturing can help engage staff and create sustainable changes that benefit your company. MORE INFO
🎤 20/03, 09:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Practicing Your Pitch: Structuring Your Pitch Deck for Maximum Impact: Join us in this in-person event where we'll be looking at the power of pitch decks, with expert guidance to send your confidence sky high. MORE INFO
🚀 20/03, 10:00 🗺️ Online: Selling Your Business Masterclass: Do you have a business succession plan in place? Have you considered selling your business to an Employee Ownership Trust? MORE INFO
💼 20/03, 10:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Hiring an effective leadership team: Looking to hire the right leadership team or senior executive? Not sure where to start or been unable to attract the right person? MORE INFO
📍 24/03, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Startup Founders Meetup - March 2025: Tactical fireside chats with experienced entrepreneurs and speed networking with other founders, potential cofounders, and investors! MORE INFO
🎯 25/03, 10:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Co-Work Club Edinburgh: Tired of the home office grind but not ready for the daily commute? Say goodbye to crowded coffee shops and the endless search for a quiet Zoom spot. We've got the solution: Welcome to Co-Work Club @ Kimpton Hotel, Edinburgh. MORE INFO
🌱 25/03, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Growth Meetup Scotland | March 2025: Connect with Scotland’s startup growth community! MORE INFO
🤝 25/03, 18:00 🗺️ Dundee: Dundee Data Meetup: March 2025: Whether you’re a data practitioner, a student, or simply interested in how data shapes our world, come along and be part of our growing community! Stay tuned for updates on speakers and topics! MORE INFO
📈 25/03, 18:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Founders Dinner: Fundraising made simple: This exclusive dinner dives into the investment landscape, from venture capital to alternative financing, and how to choose the right path for your company. MORE INFO
🍃 26/03, 09:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Clean Heat 2025: Come along to Scotland’s largest annual clean heat event in March 2025. MORE INFO
🍀 26/03, 09:00 🗺️ Dumfries: South of Scotland Hydrogen Innovation & Brokerage Event: Join us at Easterbrook Hall on March 26th for the South of Scotland Hydrogen Innovation & Brokerage Event, featuring expert speakers and net. MORE INFO
🌐 26/03,10:00 🗺️ Dumfries: Selling Internationally via Ecommerce - Dumfries: Whether you are starting out, or expanding your retail operations, there are multiple opportunities to going global. MORE INFO
💭 26/03, 10:00 🗺️ Online: Solutions to Your Tech Challenges – Techscaler and Digital Dairy Chain: In partnership with Techscaler, Digital Dairy Chain is hosting an online event for farms and dairy supply chain businesses to connect with and hear from a range of technology companies who are looking to break in to the industry. MORE INFO
📢 26/03, 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
🛡️ 27/03, 08:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Scot-Secure 2025: The conference hosts 350+ cybersecurity attendees, 30+ speakers and 25+ exhibitors. MORE INFO
🩺 27/03, 10:00 🗺️ Aberdeen: Barclays Eagle Labs at One Tech Hub Drop in Clinic Mar 2025: Drop in and let’s have an open discussion about your business goals and ambition and learn more about how your ecosystem manager here at Eagle Labs can support you and your business here at One Tech Hub. MORE INFO
💼 27/03, 10:00 🗺️ Online: Online Office Hours with Lawrie: Managing and Protecting Your IP: Meet with a Director and Patent Attorney from Lawrie for direct, personalised advice on IP! MORE INFO
👔 27/03, 10:00 🗺️ Online: The Employee Ownership Transition: A Deep Dive: Do you want to deepen your knowledge of the EOT process when considering a transition to employee ownership. Attend an interactive workshop. MORE INFO
⛓ 27/03, 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
💥 27/03, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Breaking Barriers: The Path to Bravery & Better Products: Whether you’re a Product Manager, Designer, Engineer, or just curious about how great products come to life, this event is for you! MORE INFO
🍺 27/03, 18:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Edinburgh - 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
🍸 27/03, 18:30 🗺️ Glasgow: FuckUp Nights Glasgow Vol.IV x Startup Grind: Join us at FuckUp Nights Glasgow to laugh, learn, and embrace the beauty of mistakes – because failure is simply a stepping stone on the journey to success. There will be tons of networking, good vibes, and the best company around! MORE INFO
🛡️ 27/03, 18:45 🗺️ Edinburgh: 2025 Scottish Cyber Awards: The Scottish Cyber Awards honours the outstanding talent in Scotland and unites the cyber community for an evening of networking and celebration. MORE INFO
👨🏻💻 28/03, 09:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Founder Friday Coworking: Join us for a day of networking and inspiration! this is your chance to connect with fellow founders, share ideas, and maybe even spark your next big project. MORE INFO
💻 29/03, 10:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Makers gonna make - Episode 6: Whether you're a coding novice or a seasoned pro, have a recurring monthly revenue or none at all. Prefer the latest JavaScript framework, the magic of no-code, or maybe just a single index.php file, all are welcome. MORE INFO
💰 31/03, 09:00 🗺️ Glasgow: How to Find Funding in the Low Carbon Sector: Learn about the upcoming 2025 research and innovation funding that’s available through Horizon Europe and other international programmes. MORE INFO
🚀 31/03, 13:00 🗺️ Online: Innovation, Culture and a Growth Mindset: Join this webinar led by John Metselaar and discover how to better engage and empower your people. MORE INFO
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That’s all for this week - have a great one!
Team 🔥 Campfire