🐮 Biotangents raise, baby bottle washer invention, MSIP Cohort, new EDGE competition
Plus some new offers, events and deadlines!
Here's your Campfire for the 2nd of December, 2024.
💼 Have 3 minutes? Campfire and Shepherd and Wedderburn are looking to develop more resources and content round Share Incentives and want your help to guide what’s next. What do you want to see more of? Tell us here.
🎉 The Tech Startup Founders Festive Party 2024 is tomorrow December 3rd in Edinburgh! If you’re in town, be sure to drop by. More info below or here.
🌊 Updates
💰 Penicuik-based Biotangents (develops veterinary diagnostic tests to detect infectious diseases in livestock) raised £2.3m in a funding round led by Eos and British Business Investments, with support from Kelvin Capital and Scottish Enterprise. ACS IN
🍼 Scottish inventor Andrew Carr has launched the Bebello Washer, an all-in-one machine for washing and sterilising baby bottles and breast pump parts. Inspired by his own parenting struggles, the former Elvie engineer is seeking government support to make the rental and repair business model more affordable. IN
📝 Edinburgh-based software firm Proteus (Xergy) has signed a three-year deal with Aurecon, an Australian design and engineering company, to streamline workflows and optimise project performance. SS
🎯 This year’s Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc (MSIP) Accelerator showcased 12 pioneering startups driving sustainable innovation and decarbonisation. The cohort is addressing key challenges in renewable energy, robotics, AI, and more, with highlights including PEM Technologies’ hydrogen electrolysers, Dundee-based Biome Collective’s urban transformation technology, and SolarSub’s solar cooling systems. Two of the participants have now also joined MSIP’s Innovation Labs. SFN
🌐 Entrepreneurial Scotland has launched its 2025 Saltire Scholars Internship Programme, connecting businesses with Scottish university talent for 10-12 week summer internships. Last year, 195 students joined organisations like Sydney Airport and Network Rail, bringing fresh ideas and building talent pipelines. Over 1,200 students are now being assessed for next year’s placements. Find out how to host an intern here. SFN DGT
🧗♀️ Scottish EDGE has launched a £400,000 Regional EDGE programme to support startups outside Scotland’s central belt, offering up to £50,000 in prizes per region. Backed by the Scottish Government, the initiative targets entrepreneurs in Perth and Kinross, Dundee and Angus, the North East, and the Highlands and Islands. Regional finals will crown five winners per area, with all participants receiving expert feedback. Applications open on 9 December, with finals set for early 2025. DGT
🚀 The British Business Bank’s £150m Investment Fund for Scotland has committed over £10m to 26 businesses in its first year, supporting a range of sectors with loans and equity investments. Backed firms include dental biotech Calcivis, skincare provider The Aesthetics Club, and café Sip & Bark. Recently it announced a £2m loan to biotech company Ingenza, enabling it to double its capacity and create 20 jobs. The fund was established to drive growth and innovation across Scotland’s small business community. SFN
📣 Asks & Offers
📈 Are you an owner or founder involved in 1 to 1 sales? Martin Stellar (Sales Consultant and Author of the ethical sales framework Sales for Nice People) is in Edinburgh next week and is offering three Campfire readers a “Hidden Sales Assets” audit at no cost. 👉 Book here.
🚨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.
👓 PurpleByte is looking to connect with founders who are interested in accessibility. PB is an Edinburgh-based digital accessibility company working with tech companies and digital agencies to create truly inclusive online experiences. Led by a founder with digital experience expertise and lived experience of accessibility barriers, we are bridging the digital divide through practical, cost-effective accessibility solutions while demonstrating that inclusive design drives better business outcomes - from improved SEO and user experience to broader market reach and enhanced brand reputation. For more info, head 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!
We heard some great feedback from the articles we put together with Shepherd and Wedderburn around Share Incentives. Many of our readers said that Rodger and Stephen's insights were helpful.
Having explained how share incentives can help you to attract and retain the right people to power up your startup, Campfire and Shepherd and Wedderburn are looking to develop more resources and content and would appreciate founders sharing their views in a 3 minute questionnaire to help guide what's next.
👉 Take 3 minutes and share your thoughts here.
📅 Events
🎄 03/12, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: ProductTank Edinburgh: End of Year Celebration!: Join us for a festive and fun-filled evening as we gather to wrap up an incredible year of ProductTank Edinburgh meetups! This is a chance for our vibrant community to come together, reflect on the milestones we've achieved, and shape the future of our meetups. MORE INFO
🎉 03/12, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Tech Startup Founders Festive Party 2024: Another year of building startups passes us by and what a year it's been! You'll be joined by fellow tech startup founders, operators and investors - so, share war stories, successes and visions for the future! 🎇 MORE INFO
🌐 03/12, 18:00 🗺️ Dundee: EdenTay Founders Community: Join us in a relaxed atmosphere, and participate in inspiring conversations and speakers, drinks, and food. This is your golden opportunity to connect with fellow founders and start building a supportive community. MORE INFO
💪🏼 03/12, 18:00 🗺️ Aberdeen: Be Bold: Women in Tech Meet-up Aberdeen: Join us on the 3rd of December at the ONE Tech Hub for our “Be Bold!” event, an inspiring evening designed to empower women in tech to step into their power, take up space, and communicate with confidence. Learn effective strategies to help you achieve your goals and make a lasting impact in your field. MORE INFO
💻 03/12, 18:30 🗺️ Online: Selling Online series - Using your own ecommerce website - online event: Learn about selling online as a great way to start, diversify or grow a retail business – and anyone can do it! MORE INFO
🚀 03/12, 20:00 🗺️ Online: How to Leverage AI in Your Products: Join us for an informative conversation about how founders can utilize AI in creating world class products. MORE INFO
☕ Series: Unfiltered: An in-person and informal catch-up with people from across the tech ecosystem. Come along for coffee, breakfast and networking!
⛾ 04/12, 08:30 🗺️ Dundee, MORE INFO
⛾ 04/12, 08:30 🗺️ Inverness, MORE INFO
⛾ 04/12, 08:30 🗺️ Edinburgh, MORE INFO
⛾ 04/12, 08:30 🗺️ Aberdeen, MORE INFO
⛾ 04/12, 08:30 🗺️ Stirling, MORE INFO
⛾ 04/12, 08:30 🗺️ Glasgow, MORE INFO
💡 04/12, 09:30 🗺️ Glasgow: Understanding Co-ops – Glasgow: Considering a co-op? Whether starting a new venture or seeking a new approach for your existing business, a co-op could be the perfect fit. MORE INFO
💼 04/12, 10:00 🗺️ Online: Online Office Hours with Digital Dairy Chain: Rachel Mirfattahi: Your chance to meet with one of the Innovation Brokers for Digital Dairy Chain. MORE INFO
👨🏻💻 04/12, 10:30 🗺️ Lauder: Coworking Days [South of Scotland]: Join us at our coworking days with the South of Scotland Community. MORE INFO
💻 04/12, 12:30 🗺️ Online: Unlocking Funding Opportunities for Small Businesses: A webinar with Dell: Join Dell to hear about funding opportunities in the UK, how to apply for funding, and learn about Dell's funding programme! MORE INFO
🚀 04/12, 13:00 🗺️ Online: Nordics Space Data for Industry: Join this webinar and find out about upcoming grant funding for space data companies. MORE INFO
📱 04/12, 13:00 🗺️ Dumfries: Building Apps with No Code - Dumfries: Have you thought about building an app for your business, but don’t know how to code? This workshop is for you! MORE INFO
💬 04/12, 16:00 🗺️ Online: Financial Planning Webinar with Uniflow: Join us for a webinar around financial planning for startups from UniFlow, the decentralised money and data management platform. MORE INFO
🎯 04/12, 17:00 🗺️ Norwich: Unlocking Tech Potential in Norfolk & Suffolk: Explore challenges & opportunities for tech growth in Norfolk & Suffolk, with insights to strengthen the regional tech ecosystem. MORE INFO
⛓ 04/12, 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
🎯 05/12, 09:30 🗺️ Kilmarnock: Improving Your Business Using Lean and Digital Tools: Join our free session as you learn how digital tools are linked to lean and how you can use both in your business. MORE INFO
✨ 05/12, 10:00 🗺️ Online: Inclusive business models: identifying opportunities for plural ownership: This workshop will show how employee ownership and co-operative business models can help organisations with Community Wealth Building (CWB). MORE INFO
💼 05/12, 10:00 🗺️ Online: Office Hours with Potter Clarkson: Our Office Hours are a series of one-to-one sessions with various experts from the legal and accounting sectors to support tech startup founders on their journey. In this one, participants will be able to engage directly with and receive personalised advice from IP Attornies for Potter Clarkson. MORE INFO
📱 05/12, 13:00 🗺️ Hawick: Building Apps with No Code - Hawick: Have you thought about building an app for your business, but don’t know how to code? This workshop is for you! MORE INFO
🌍 05/12, 17:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: EU Demystified: End-of-Year Mixer feat. Estonia e-Residency: This exclusive, approval-only mixer, hosted by the Republic of Estonia e-Residency team, is for founders serious about scaling into Europe, as well as ecosystem builders and investors eager to learn more about EU opportunities. MORE INFO
🌃 05/12, 18:30 🗺️ Glasgow: FuckUp Nights Glasgow Vol.III: nnovators, rebels, misfits and dreamers! 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
💼 10/12, 10:00 🗺️ Online: Online Office Hours with European Space Agency: Our Online Office Hours are a series of one-to-one sessions with various experts from the legal and accounting sectors to support tech startup founders on their journey. MORE INFO
🛠️ 10/12, 12:30 🗺️ Glasgow: Prototype Workshop: Build your dream app with Builder.ai: Join Builder.ai as they show you how to build your dream app, without coding! MORE INFO
🎊 10/12, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: nocode.scot Festive Meetup: nocode is back in CodeBase for the last meetup of the year - with mince pies and festive cheer. MORE INFO
💻 10/12, 18:30 🗺️ Online: Selling Online series - Using ecommerce marketplaces - online event: Learn about selling online as a great way to start, diversify or grow a retail business – and anyone can do it! MORE INFO
💼 11/12, 10:00 🗺️ Online: Online Office Hours with Digital Dairy Chain: Rachel Mirfattahi: Your chance to meet with one of the Innovation Brokers for Digital Dairy Chain. MORE INFO
👨🏫 12/12, 10:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Sales for Nice People - interactive masterclass: This interactive masterclass introduces the Sales for Nice People system for ethical selling, and it will show you an approach for engaging in buyer conversations that's based on empathy and integrity, and it will transform your approach and ability to the sales process. MORE INFO
🎄 12/12, 18:00 🗺️ Dundee: CodeBase x Dundee Data Meetup Festive Social: Come along to the joint festive social of CodeBase Dundee & Tayside and the Dundee Data Meetup! This will be a chance for everyone in the tech and data community to socialise, reflect on their year and discuss plans for the future. First drink's on us! MORE INFO
🤝 12/12, 18:00 🗺️ Lauder: Tech MeetUp - South of Scotland: This event aims to bring together everyone who is interested in tech, those who want to learn more, and want to meet like-minded people. MORE INFO
🍺 12/12, 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
💼 18/12, 10:00 🗺️ Online: Online Office Hours with Digital Dairy Chain: Rachel Mirfattahi: Your chance to meet with one of the Innovation Brokers for Digital Dairy Chain. MORE INFO
🎇 19/12, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Tech the Halls: Edinburgh & Lothians Festive Social: Join us for a festive social on Thursday 19th December in Edinburgh to celebrate everything the Edinburgh & Lothians community has achieved this year. Let your hair down, hang out with others in the community, and join in with the festivities: you deserve it. MORE INFO
👥 19/12, 18:00 🗺️ Dumfries: Tech MeetUp - South of Scotland: This event aims to bring together everyone who is interested in tech, those who want to learn more, and want to meet like-minded people. MORE INFO
🤝 25/12, 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
🎯 Deadlines
Britain’s Got Startups: an initiative aimed at supporting and promoting innovative startups across the UK. Application Closing Date: 3rd December 2024 Virtual Semi-Final: Mid-December 2024 Regional Final in Edinburgh: Late January 2025 More Info Here.
🪜 Startup Next Steps by Techscaler: A practical course, designed for founders and senior team members looking to scale their product which is already live in the market, with active users. Apply by 16th December.
🚀 Nominations for the ScotlandIS 2025 Digital Technology Awards are open: Celebrating innovation and talent in Scotland's digital economy and marking its 15th year, the awards include 10 categories. Nominate here by 9 January 2025.
🇬🇧 Upcoming Innovate UK deadlines:
Eureka Globalstars Japan Round 3 Applications close 4 December
Launchpad: Bio-based Manufacturing, Scotland – Rd2 CR&D Applications close 11 December
Launchpad: bio-based manufacturing, Scotland – Rd 2 MFA Applications close 11 December
Mindset extended reality (XR): Digital therapeutics for mental health Applications close 15 January
Design Foundations Round 6 Applications close 15 January
Innovate UK Smart grants: November 2024 Applications close 22 January
AI solutions to develop AI competencies in key sectors Applications close 29 January
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That’s all for this week - have a great one!
Team 🔥 Campfire