🚙 FC Labs raise, net zero vehicles, massive supercomputer coming to Edinburgh
Here's your Campfire for the 16th of October, 2023.
Before we begin: Fill out the Founders Survey and share your views about the investment landscape in Scotland. It's an entirely volunteer-led initiative, so we need the support of the community. You can use this link for sharing.
💼 This issue of Campfire is sponsored by Shepherd and Wedderburn's initiative to supercharge start-ups and scale-ups. Be sure to follow the Start to Scale LinkedIn page for useful videos and posts designed to help founders.
🌊 Updates & Opinions
🍕 Edinburgh-based Roslin Technologies (biotechnologies to develop new food systems) was named one of the best funded companies in the UK outside the golden triangle (London, Oxford Cambridge). Since raising $61m in July 2020, the company has closed a further £11m Series A round led by Novo Holdings in November 2022. Full list here. SFT
🐠 Glasgow-based WellFish Tech (fish health diagnostics) received an investment from Ocean 14 Capital . WAA
🧠 Edinburgh-based FC Labs (AI and brain imaging technology to help reduce the risk of workplace accidents) has secured a £150,000 investment from the British Design Fund. IN SS DGT
🏢 The Hunter Foundation has opened applications for ScaleUpScotland2.0. They're looking for 12 scaling businesses with £20m in revenue who are targeting £100m work with fellow CEOs and leadership teams to increase growth over a one-year period, beginning January. IN DGT HS
🖥️ Edinburgh is poised to host a massive super computer. amongst the fastest in the world, with the potential to revolutionise breakthroughs in AI, medicine, and clean low-carbon energy. DGT UKTN
🚙 Building in net-zero and vehicles? The UK gov has announced £89 in funding for 20 unique net-zero projects. DGT
🏦 Glasgow-based Alba Bank (challenger bank dedicated to small and medium sized businesses) announced it's partnered with cloud banking platform Mambu to manage its lending services. FS DGT
🏰 Edinburgh has been named the top place for innovation equity deals in the UK outside outside the Golden Triangle. Glasgow and Aberdeen took second and third for share of equity investment in tech businesses and spinouts. DGT TS
🐿️ New Gov Incubator for Semiconductor Chip Startups. ChipStart is a two-year pilot programme backed by the government providing startups with technical and commercial support to help them bring new products to market. DGT
🔎 Cyacomb, the Edinburgh-based digital forensics company, has received a funding package of £3.8 million from the Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB), Scottish Enterprise, and Par Equity. DGT FS SFN
💷 The winners of the 2023 Scottish Financial Technology Awards have been announced including BR-DGE winning the ‘Fintech of the Year’, Tynah Matembe (MoneyMatix) winning Outstanding Fintech Female Leader, and James Varga (DirectID) winning the Evangelist and Special Recognition awards. DGT
🚀 Scottish Rocket Company Skyrora secured a €300,000 (£259,000) joint contract from the European Space Agency to demonstrate a telemetry relay system in space. UKTN
👩🏾 Finalists have been announced for the Black Scottish Awards, to be held later this month. View all here. TS
New direct flights TH
✈️ EDI -> Athens 🇬🇷 (Aegean)
📣 Asks & Offers
📣 We've launched the Founders Survey! Please fill it out, it takes less time than you spend making that artisanal pour-over coffee in the morning. If you have a mailing list of startup founders, and would be willing to share the survey, let us know!
🏎️ Fancy working for an Accelerator? Geovation Scotland is hiring an Innovation Delivery Lead. More info here.
🔒 Cyber Security Questionnaire: Rada Cyber Security is looking for anyone working in small or medium sized businesses in Scotland to fill out a quick questionnaire about cyber security to help in their research: Answer here.
👭 Interested in connecting with possible co-founders? Fill in your listing on Cofounder Curious today! Connect with others for possible cofounder matching here.
🙏 Looking for a mentor? A senior software engineer with a background working for early to mid stage tech startups as well as running engineering teams for NGOs providing data analytics to public health in the developing world is looking to mentor a junior developer. They have extensive experience in DevOps, API design and implementation, data analytics and cloud security. They are looking to find a junior to mid-level software engineer who would enjoy one-to-one mentoring in technical skills as well as early career development (no cost). Reply if interested.
✍️ Want to write something for Campfire? Have an opinion you'd like to share? get in touch!
🦸 Collaborative, not transactional.
"ShepWedd’s understanding of the unique requirements of a tech startup have been immensely helpful to AdInMo on our growth journey. At each step ShepWedd have provided robust guidance in navigating complex legal and regulatory landscapes, especially around investment and employee compensation schemes.
Their lawyers, particularly Stephen Trombala and Gavin Charlton, have consistently offered astute advice and practical solutions tailored to our unique challenges.
The AdInMo executive team have been pleased overall with the level of professionalism, attention to detail, and personalised care that ShepWedd offers. Our interactions with ShepWedd have always had the feel of collaboration rather than transactional events, and we highly recommend to any ambitious startup aiming for legal expertise." - Kristan Rivers, CEO & Co-Founder, AdinMo
Shepherd & Wedderburn's innovative and personable approach helps companies from first incorporation onwards (including through to an exit – if that’s the goal). Their global reach means they can scale and grow with you, like they have with clients like Epic Games, FanDuel, Parsleybox, and TVSquared.
👉 To learn more, send an email starttoscale@shepwedd.co.uk & set up a chat.
📅 Events
🏄♀️ 17/10, 13:00 🗺️ Peebles: Women's Enterprise Event: open to all women in business, enterprises and those just starting to consider their enterprise journey! A friendly welcome awaits where you will hear from local women in business and get a chance to widen your business network of support. MORE INFO
🚗 18/10, 18:30 🗺️ Stirling: Techmeetup Stirling: This month the talk will be "Autonomous driving, how hard can it be?" by Douglas McCallum. MORE INFO
🛋️ 23/10, 11:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Celebrating Black History Month: A roundtable with black founders: joined by guest speaker, Tynah Matembe, founder of Moneymatix who will join us as we explore how Scotland’s ecosystem could progress inclusivity of the untapped skills, talent and innovation within BIPOC communities. MORE INFO
🤝 25/10, 09:30 🗺️ Dumfries: Coworking Day [South of Scotland]: you can join us for startup chat, networking, and to get to know you local tech-curious peers. MORE INFO
🧬 25/10, 14:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Foundations of Investment Readiness: This event will provide aspiring companies with a high level introduction into areas for consideration when seeking to raise investment. MORE INFO
📝 25/10, 17:15 🗺️ Edinburgh: Barclays and CodeBase, Edinburgh's monthly quiz!!: Join us for this month's pub quiz - bringing together the CodeBase and Edinburgh community for a bit of fun! MORE INFO
🎂 25/10, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: The Melting Pot - 16th Birthday: From coworking to venue hire, business incubation to events, we’ve helped countless individuals, organisations and start-ups along their professional journey. MORE INFO
👥 25/10, 18:30 🗺️ 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
📡 26/10, 08:30 🗺️ Glasgow: Futurescot - Digital Glasgow 2023: supported by The Times Scotland, will bring together policymakers, business leaders, educators and community stakeholders to explore the opportunities and challenges of economic growth and digital transformation across the city. MORE INFO
👩🎓 26/10, 12:00 🗺️ Glasgow: AccelerateHER + Techscaler Meetup: Glasgow and West: Techscaler is a Scottish Government funded programme, delivered by CodeBase, and offers tailored support for everyone in Scotland who wants to build a startup, whether they are considering a career in startups or are developing, building and scaling an idea. MORE INFO
🏳️🌈 26/10, 12:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: LGBTQ+ Meetup: Our meetup has been created as a space for LGBTQ+ people and allies working in the Scottish Tech Ecosystem to meet and discuss how we can make our spaces more inclusive to queer individuals. MORE INFO
🌐 26/10, 15:00 🗺️ ONLINE: Startup First Steps Explainer Webinar [Online]: This course is designed for current or prospective early-stage startup founders in Scotland who want to learn from and connect with CodeBase representatives, regional partners, ecosystem stakeholders, and members of the tech community. MORE INFO
🎃 26/10, 17:30 🗺️ Inverness: Inverness Monthly Social: The Halloween Edition: The first in our monthly series of social events, to give people in the tech community an opportunity to get together. MORE INFO
🥍 26/10, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Save the Date - The Entrepreneurial Shift: Embracing the Unknown: around entrepreneurship and jumping into the deep end of founding your own company. MORE INFO
👔 30/10, 11:30 🗺️ McLeod St: Scottish Black Talent Summit & Hiring Fair 2023: The two-day hiring fair and summit is designed to host black talent, talent acquisition and HR professionals, diversity and inclusion experts, industry players, government and local authorities’ representatives, as well as university communities. MORE INFO
🤝 30/10, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Startup Founders Meetup: 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
👨⚕️ 31/10, 09:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Skills Workshop: Web Accessibility: explore the foundations of accessible web design for If you are involved in product or service design at any stage, then you are a designer who can make someone's life better or miserable. MORE INFO
💽 31/10, 18:00 🗺️ Dundee: Dundee Data Meetup: a vibrant community-driven event that brings together curious learners, data enthusiasts and professionals to explore the captivating world of data and its applications. MORE INFO
🎯 Deadlines
🇬🇧 Upcoming Innovate UK deadlines:
SSPP: Liquid food and beverages in refillable packaging Applications close 25 October
Collaborative AI Solutions to improve productivity in key sectors Applications close 8 November
MyWorld Collaborative Research and Development: Round 2 Applications close 23 November
Are we missing your event or deadline? 👉 Submit it here!
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That’s all for this week - have a great one!
Team 🔥Campfire