🧪 Clyde Hydrogen's integrated decoupled electrolyser, Regional EDGE reopens, and reports on VC growth and MedTech in Glasgow
Here’s your Campfire for January 19, 2026
💼 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
🧪 University of Glasgow spin-out Clyde Hydrogen Systems has completed its first fully integrated decoupled electrolyser prototype and is now seeking up to £5m seed funding to develop its first commercial product. CE RN
🏴 Scottish EDGE has reopened Regional EDGE, offering up to £50k for start-ups in Tayside, the North East, Highlands & Islands, and the South of Scotland, with applications closing 11 February 2026 at 2 pm. One £50k (70/30 loan/grant split), two £15k (grant only), and two £10k awards (grant only) are available per region. Successful applicants are shortlisted through assessment and then invited to pitch at face-to-face regional finals in March, with 20 businesses funded in total. Application details here. DGT TS SBN
💵 Startups and scaleups raised $23.6bn in VC funding in 2025, up 35% on 2024 and the first annual growth in four years, according to HSBC Innovation Banking UK and Dealroom. The analysis also reports record AI funding at $7.9bn and that the UK remained Europe’s top VC destination. DN
🏴 The Digital Economy team at Glasgow City Council has released a spotlight report on Glasgow’s MedTech cluster - the third instalment in their Why Glasgow? series, which aims to “shine a light on the many innovative sectors of Glasgow City Region’s burgeoning tech ecosystem”. Read here.
📣 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.
👭 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!
📅 Events
👯♂️ 19/01, 09:00, 🗺️ Edinburgh: Coworking Day: Connect & Work Smarter @ Anderson Strathern, a full-day pop-up workspace designed to help founders and startup leaders move forward, unblock challenges, and have the right conversations at the right time. MORE INFO
🚀 20/01, 18:00, 🗺️ Edinburgh: Founders Meetup Edinburgh Tactical fireside chats with experienced entrepreneurs and speed networking with other founders, potential cofounders, and investors! MORE INFO
👨💻 20/01, 17:30, 🗺️ Edinburgh: Personal Websites Code Jam The idea is simple: bring your laptop and spend the evening making real progress on your personal website, blog or portfolio. If your New Year resolution is to “ship the site” then this is your excuse to actually do it! MORE INFO
💾 20/01, 17:30, 🗺️ Edinburgh: Tech Trends Tech Trends is your opportunity to get ahead of the game and discover the key technologies making an appearance in the coming year. MORE INFO
💸 20/01, 09:00, 🗺️ Edinburgh: The Real Reason People Aren’t Buying From You, and What to Do About It A deep dive into the psychology of indecision, and how to build customer-led growth systems that turn hesitation into action. MORE INFO
🎮 21/01, 09:30, 🗺️ Edinburgh (Codebase): Press & Parliament Launch & Briefing: Level Up Scotland Action Plan Brian Baglow (CEO, Scottish Games Network), with representatives from Scotland’s game studios and academic institutions will discuss the Level Up Scotland Action Plan for the Scottish Games Sector. RSVP here
👯♂️ 21/01, 13:00, 🗺️ Edinburgh: The Afternoon Slump Club calm, virtual co-working sessions using body doubling to help you get through the 1–3pm slump with gentle accountability and shared focus. No pressure, just show up and work. MORE INFO
👨💻 21/01, 19:00, 🗺️ Edinburgh: Relaunching Open Tech Calendar - Teacake Tech Scotland James Baster discusses relaunching Open Tech Calendar to list virtual tech events, with a discussion about events online. MORE INFO
🤦 22/01, 19:00, 🗺️ Glasgow: FuckUp Nights Glasgow Vol.6 x Startup Grind Glasgow Innovators, 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
⛓️💥 27/01, 17:00, 🗺️ Edinburgh: Blockchain Scotland Meetup . An industry association empowering Scottish innovation through blockchain technology. Connecting entrepreneurs, developers, and industry leaders. MORE INFO
💡27/01, 17:00, 🗺️ Edinburgh: From Idea to Product: Using No-/Low-Code to Build Working Products. This practical webinar is designed for founders who want to turn ideas into working products using today’s AI and no-code tools. MORE INFO
♻️ 27/01, 09:00, 🗺️ Edinburgh: Greentech Meetup: Sustainable AI at the Speed of Light Join our monthly meetup where you'll hear from a Greentech specialist, mingle with Edinburgh's Green community, and munch on free breakfast! MORE INFO
💻 27/01, 19:00, 🗺️ Edinburgh: Vibe Coding Collective in Edinburgh. This meetup is a social coding jam where we utilise AI to turn fun ideas into functional prototypes quickly. Whether you’re an experienced developer or have never written a line of code, you’ll fit right in. MORE INFO
🧪 29/01, 18:00, 🗺️ Edinburgh: Edinburgh Data Science + AI January Meetup Edinburgh's community meetup for people working in - or just interested in - Data Science and AI. MORE INFO
💻 29/01, 09:00, 🗺️ Perth: Perth Tech Mornings Open to everyone, join us in the Perth Ideas Centre in Perth Creative Exchange to connect with members of the local tech community. Come long for some coffee, networking and building connections. MORE INFO
👯♂️ 29/01, 10:30, 🗺️ Perth: Perth Coworking Day Join us at the Perth Ideas Centre in Perth Creative Exchange for a day of free coworking. This is a great opportunity to connect with the regional tech and business community, use the excellent facilities available and get an extra dose of motivation. MORE INFO
👯♂️ 29/01, 08:30, 🗺️ Edinburgh: Coworking Open Day experience working from our friendly and professional shared workspace at The Melting Pot for an entire day completely free of charge. MORE INFO
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That’s all for this week - have a great one!
Team 🔥 Campfire
Photo by Gavin Fregona