💰 Founders Meetup Edinburgh, Scottish EDGE Round 28, TechTalks Edinburgh, Civic Digits at the Fringe
Here’s your Campfire for Tuesday August 18th
📣 Asks, Offers, Updates, & Deadlines
💰 Scottish EDGE Round 28 is open Scotland’s biggest business funding competition is back with a £1.5m prize pot and a new top award of £200k. Applications are open to businesses across all sectors, from pre-trading startups to businesses trading for up to five years, with a range of awards offering grant and loan funding alongside expert support and connections. Applications close 2pm, 2 September 2026 and require a three-minute video pitch. Learn more and apply here
⚡ TechX Energy Transition Accelerator applications open Calling energy innovators. Applications are now open for the TechX Energy Transition Accelerator, supporting startups developing technologies that can accelerate the transition to a lower-carbon energy future. Successful applicants receive £50k in funding, expert mentorship, industry connections and support to commercialise and scale their solutions. Apply here.
💡 Calling engineers, scientists and researchers developing ‘high-potential technology or spinout ideas’. The Royal Academy of Engineering’s deep tech accelerator. ‘Enterprise Fellowships’, is open for applications until 25 August 2026. This 12 month cohort-based programme offers up to £75k in equity-free funding, ‘expert training, coaching and mentoring to help researchers, academics and founders build scalable engineering ventures’. Learn more and apply here.
🎤 Call for Speakers: Agentic AI Europe 2027 Applications are now open to speak at the 7th Edition of Agentic AI Europe, taking place 16–18 March 2027 in Edinburgh. If you’re building, researching or deploying Agentic AI and have practical insights or real-world experience to share, submit a proposal to speak at ‘Europe’s leading Agentic AI summit’. More info on becoming a speaker 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 or share something with Campfire? Get in touch!
📅 Events
🌍 18/08, 15:00 💻 Online: Global Blueprint | International Market Validation Workshop A workshop for early-stage founders on testing ideas, validating demand and assessing opportunities in international markets. MORE INFO
🎭 18/08, 13:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Fringe 2026: Civic Digits Showcase Join Civic Digits at CodeBase for a short documentary, nibbles and conversation exploring how the digital world shapes life beyond our screens, from audience participation and new tech to creating theatre with purpose. MORE INFO
🥐 18/08, 08:30 🗺️ Montrose: Breakfast Briefing: Making Change Happen in Your Organisation A breakfast briefing exploring practical approaches to leading organisational change and overcoming common barriers to successful transformation. MORE INFO
🚀 18/08, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Founders Meetup Edinburgh An evening of founder networking, fireside chats and speed networking with entrepreneurs, potential co-founders and investors. MORE INFO
🌞 18/08, 14:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Summer Networking Event in Old Town, Edinburgh
An informal networking event bringing together startup founders, entrepreneurs and business professionals with a focus on marketing and advertising. MORE INFO
🧭 19/08, 10:00 🗺️ Hawick: From Vision to Action: Building a Practical Business Strategy An interactive workshop helping early-stage entrepreneurs develop a practical business strategy and roadmap for sustainable growth. MORE INFO
🚀 19/08, 17:30 🗺️ Glasgow: The equIP Collective | From Setbacks to Scale-ups: Navigating Start-up Challenges An evening exploring the realities of building and scaling a startup, with practical insights into overcoming setbacks and navigating the challenges that come with growth. MORE INFO
🤖 20/08, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: TechTalks Edinburgh #9 – Nix & AI-Driven Development Explore how Nix can support AI-driven development, from package management and reproducibility to deployment and collaboration, followed by networking, pizza and drinks. MORE INFO
🤝 20/08, 09:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Edinburgh Professionals Quarterly Networking
A networking event for professionals and founders to meet local connections, with a facilitated activity to encourage introductions. MORE INFO
🎨 20/08, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: CreatorMashup: Creative & Marketing Meet-up in Edinburgh An evening of talks, networking and conversation for creatives, marketers, founders and content creators to share ideas and experiences. MORE INFO
🚀 21/08, 09:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Founders Hub: by Bayes and ScotlandIS A co-working morning for founders building scalable tech businesses, with networking, round-table asks and offers, peer support and time to work alongside fellow startup leaders. MORE INFO
🧑💻 25/08, 11:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Co-Work Club Edinburgh Swap the home office for a day of coworking at The Hoxton, with a comfortable workspace, unlimited coffee and tea, pastries and the chance to connect with other local professionals. MORE INFO
💬 25/08, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Tech Meetup Edinburgh
A community meetup featuring networking, a tech demo, keynote speaker and updates from across Scotland’s tech ecosystem. MORE INFO
🇺🇸 25/08, 18:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: U.S. Expansion Founders Dinner feat. Wilson Sonsini An invitation-only dinner for founders exploring US expansion, with discussion on scaling, hiring, fundraising and entering the American market. MORE INFO
👩💼 26/08, 09:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: She Scales A networking and co-working day for women founders, offering dedicated time to connect, collaborate and work alongside other entrepreneurs. MORE INFO
💡 26/08, 09:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Sustainability Challenge Exchange
Got a sustainability challenge you’re trying to solve? Bring it to this collaborative breakfast at CodeBase, where founders, businesses and sustainability experts come together to share ideas, tackle real-world challenges and learn from one another. MORE INFO
⛓️ 26/08, 17:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Blockchain Scotland Meetup
Join developers, founders, researchers and blockchain enthusiasts for an evening of talks, networking, dinner and drinks at the Bayes Centre. MORE INFO
🏭 26/08, 09:00 🗺️ Blantyre: Reimagining Retrofit: Unlocking Resource Efficiency and Growth A practical session exploring how retrofit and high-performance buildings can improve resource efficiency, reduce emissions and support growth in manufacturing. MORE INFO
📸 27/08, 11:00 🗺️ Dumfries: Better Photos, Better Business Learn how to create professional photos and videos for your business using just your smartphone or camera, with practical tips to improve your visual content. MORE INFO
💡 27/08, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Product Circles: 5 Tables. 5 Topics. Real Product Experience. Skip the slides and join ProductTank Edinburgh for an evening of practical, peer-led discussions. Rotate between two themed tables, share real-world product challenges and learn from others in Edinburgh’s product community. MORE INFO
📈 27/08, 10:00 🗺️ Galashiels: Business and Enterprise Expo – Scottish Borders A free event for entrepreneurs, aspiring founders and early-stage businesses to build sales confidence, connect with local businesses and discover practical support to help them grow. MORE INFO
💻 27/08, 15:00 🌍 Online: How to Successfully Launch and Scale in the United States Thinking about expanding into the US? Join this practical Techscaler session with In2America to learn what it takes to successfully launch, hire and grow across the Atlantic, with insights from founders who’ve done it. MORE INFO
🧑💻 28/08, 09:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Founder Coworking Edinburgh A full day of coworking for founders and executives at scalable product companies, with dedicated workspace and plenty of opportunity to connect, share ideas and work alongside fellow founders. MORE INFO
⛓️ 01/09, 09:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Edinburgh Decentralised Finance Summit 2026 A full-day summit bringing together developers, researchers, founders, investors and industry professionals to explore decentralised finance, with talks, networking and opportunities to connect across Scotland’s blockchain ecosystem. MORE INFO
💡 03/09, 11:00 💻 Online: The Secret to Selling What You’ve Built A free webinar for research and deep tech founders on turning complex technology into a proposition customers, pilot partners and investors understand and want to buy. MORE INFO
⚡ 07/09, 09:00 🗺️ Glasgow: The Power Hour Three experts share practical advice on accountancy, legal and intellectual property topics to help businesses avoid common pitfalls and support growth. MORE INFO
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That’s all for this week - have a great one!
Team 🔥 Campfire