🛒 Neurolabs, Ace Aquatec raise, Techscaler SV Cohort, Turing this week!
Here's your Campfire for the 5th of May, 2025. Turing Fest is THIS week! If you need a last minuted ticket, remember to use CAMP200 for a discount of £200! You can use that code right here, and check out our Turing Fest guide here.
💼 This issue of Campfire is sponsored by Shepherd and Wedderburn. This month, they’re hosting Building a winning team: How can your tech company recruit and retain the right people? Find more info below 👇
🌊 Updates
💰 Edinburgh-based Neurolabs (turning shop shelf photos into real-time, actionable insights) raised $7.8 million in Series A funding to modernise retail execution for consumer goods brands using Visual AI. Led by Nauta and joined by existing investors LAUNCHub, Lunar Ventures, and Techstart Ventures. The investment will support team growth and expansion across the UK, Europe, and the US. Neurolabs
🚀 Fourteen Scottish startups will head to San Francisco this May as part of Techscaler Silicon Valley, a three-week programme connecting founders with “investors, peers, and global tech leaders”. Participants will also attend SaaStr, and work from a downtown coworking space. Participants include Edinburgh-based Arc53, (custom machine learning tools for enterprises) Glasgow-based LumiAIres, (developing photonic processors to drastically reduce energy use) Practest, (automates admin tasks for NHS GPs) and Glasgow-based Tethered (a mindfulness app inspired by the Scottish landscape). Full list here (DGT)
🎯 Ace Aquatec, a Dundee-based aquaculture technology company, raised £10 million to “grow its team and push forward with AI-driven tech that helps fish farmers improve welfare and efficiency”. The funding is £7.5m in equity and £2.5m in debt. Backers include Stolt Ventures, Scottish Enterprise and Aqua-Spark. SBN SS IN SC
🥃 Glenrothes-based InchDairnie Distillery is merging with Glasgow-based MacDuff International to form a new entity, InchDairnie Whisky Limited. JD
📣 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.
💼 Work with TopHatch: Senior Frontend Engineer (Remote, UK/Finland) Looking for a place where you can bring your whole self to work and make a real impact? TopHatch, a remote-first company behind the award-winning app Concepts, is hiring a Senior Frontend Engineer (Contract, £60–£70/hr) based in the UK or Finland to work with modern web technologies in a supportive, people-first environment. Apply here.
✈️ TravelPerk, a hyper-growth SaaS company revolutionising business travel, is hiring a Senior Software Engineer in Edinburgh. You'll work with modern tech (Python/Django, React), shape product architecture, and join a fast-paced, award-winning team trusted by brands like Wise and Red Bull. Apply here.
☕ 100 Coffees: Barry McDonald is looking to have “100 coffees with 100 different people across the Scottish ecosystem. The reason? To hear from a wide and diverse group about the challenges, opportunities and lived experiences across the ecosystem to develop a deeper understanding from a different POV. I’m blogging as I go.” Email Barry directly here, or book one of these coffees on his calendar here.
💻 Looking for an early-stage fractional CTO? Carlos Fontana is an Edinburgh-based experienced tech leader with over a decade of success guiding teams and defining architecture. He is the kind of technical leader who thrives where vision meets execution. He specialises in defining architecture from the ground up, building systems that are both scalable and secure, and organising technical priorities that set teams up for long-term success. If you’re looking for technical leadership support, connect and reach out to Carlos—let’s build something that matters.
👭 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!
Building a winning team: How can your tech company recruit and retain the right people?
Breakfast seminar
Wednesday 28 May, 8.30AM until 10.30AM
Location: Shepherd and Wedderburn’s Glasgow office, 1 W Regent St, Glasgow G2 1RW
Finding (and, more importantly, keeping) the right talent for your company can go a long way towards unlocking your company’s potential. So, what steps can your company take to get the best people on board and build a positive workplace culture to incentivise those people to stay?
Join Shepherd and Wedderburn’s legal experts as they answer that question and more, before considering industry success stories with guest panellist, Anne-Sofie Lagander. Anne-Sofie is a board-level, commercially savvy Talent and HR professional with extensive experience of recruiting and building effective boards and management teams.
This session will cover:
Key employment law considerations for founders and first recruits
Visa sponsorship for international workers.
How tax efficient share incentives can form a key part of your recruitment and retention strategy
Anne-Sofie’s industry-informed tips and success stories
Please join us from 8:30am onwards for some breakfast and networking, with the panel discussion starting at 9:00am and finishing at 10:00am. There will then be further networking opportunities after the panel discussion chat has concluded.
📅 Events
💻 06/05, 17:30 🗺️ Galashiels: South of Scotland Low Carbon Workforce Event: Join South of Scotland Enterprise, Borders College and HeatSource for this low carbon workforce networking event. MORE INFO
🗽 06/05, 12:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: US Expansion Lunch feat. Wilson Sonsini - Approval Only: The topic of discussion? US Expansion hosted by Daniel Glazer, who leads the US Expansion group and London office at Silicon Valley-headquartered Wilson Sonsini. MORE INFO
🌟 06/05, 13:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Unlocking Success: Women, Tech & Investment: This exclusive event brings together female founders, investors, and tech leaders to tackle the challenges and opportunities women face in the industry. With interviews, panels, and roundtables, we’ll dive into everything from resilience in entrepreneurship to cracking the investor code, building power networks, and securing funding beyond the usual channels. MORE INFO
🤝 06/05, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Tech Meetup Edinburgh - May 2025: The Tech Meetup is a monthly excuse for the tech community around Scotland to network, learn and share new ideas! Enjoy informative tech presentations from your peers, hear about exciting community projects and create new connections. MORE INFO
🩷 6-8/05, 19:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Turing Fest: Get ready to learn from top tech minds across FOUR tracks, at 2 full days of talks, power network with the best, deep dive at the peer sessions, have in-depth conversations at the speaker roundtables, unwind and network at fringe events, parties, and more! SAVE £200 with code CAMP200! MORE INFO
☕ Series: Unfiltered: An in-person, informal catch-up with the Scottish tech community! Come join us for a coffee!
⛾ 07/05, 08:30 🗺️ Inverness, MORE INFO
⛾ 07/05, 08:30 🗺️ Stirling, MORE INFO
⛾ 07/05, 08:30 🗺️ Glasgow, MORE INFO
⛾ 07/05, 08:30 🗺️ Aberdeen, MORE INFO
⛾ 07/05, 08:30 🗺️ Edinburgh, MORE INFO
🤝 07/05, 10:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Cowork with Antler—For Founders, Operators and Investors: Join us for a focused day of coworking with early-stage founders, operators, and builders on the fringes of Turing Fest. Whether you’re already building, just getting started, or seriously thinking about taking the leap—this is a space for the serious. MORE INFO
🚀 08/05, 11:25 🗺️ Edinburgh: Women of SaaS Pop-Up — Turing Fest Edinburgh: A power-packed conversation you don’t want to miss popping up at Turing Fest in Edinburgh! Join us for a 30-minute roundtable that’s all about real talk on advancing women in SaaS and tech leadership. MORE INFO
🛠️ 08/05, 12:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Robotics Readiness Workshop - May 2025: Join our Robotic Readiness Workshop to assess your robotics adoption and gain tailored tools for seamless integration across your business. MORE INFO
🧗♀️ 09/05, 09:45 🗺️ Edinburgh: Scottish EDGE Round 25 Live Final: Round 25 of the UK's BIGGEST small business funding competition will take place on 9th May at RBS Conference Centre with the latest batch of finalists pitching for up to £100,000 in funding. The event will feature two simultaneous pitching sessions, an exhibitor and networking atrium, sector-specific workshops, and keynote talks. MORE INFO
📌 12/05, 10:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Innovate UK BridgeAI Regional Roadshow: Edinburgh: This dynamic, in-person is designed to be accessible and locally relevant, these events will help individuals and organisations explore how AI can drive innovation and tackle regional challenges. MORE INFO
💼 14/05, 08:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Talent Acquisition and Retention - How to hire and keep the best work force: Join us, as we discuss how Founders can make sure they attract and keep the right talent for their business. MORE INFO
💬 15/05, 12:00 🗺️ Online: Key Worker Homes in the South of Scotland – Findings and Recommendations: Learn about the barriers to key worker homes, potential solutions, who is considered a key worker, what employers have said and Q&A. MORE INFO
🍺 15/05, 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
🚀 20/05, 10:00 🗺️ Dumfries: SOSE AcceleratE Programme - Dumfries: Scale your business with expert-led strategy, branding, sales, and leadership training in our 6-day accelerator programme. MORE INFO
📌 20/05, 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
📍 20/05, 18:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: May Meetup - State machines with XState: 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
🎯 21/05, 09:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Edinburgh Professionals Quarterly Networking - Let's talk about AI.: We wanted to bring together our local network or professionals and Founders here in Edinburgh as a way of introducing them to each other. MORE INFO
🌐 21/05, 10:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Pitching Workshop: Understanding Investors: Join us for this in-person workshop to understand investor psychology and criteria! MORE INFO
💻 22/05, 08:30 🗺️ Perth: Perth Tech Mornings: An in-person and informal catch-up with the Perth tech community! MORE INFO
🚀 22/05, 09:00 🗺️ Online: Scale Your Service Business With Tech- Hybrid Event - Dumfries and Online: Do you run a service-based business, and are looking for inspiration on how you can grow and scale efficiently through technology? MORE INFO
💻 22/05, 10:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Co-Work Club Glasgow: 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 Coworking Club at Yotel, Glasgow. Last Tuesday of the month.. MORE INFO
🤝 22/05, 10:30 🗺️ Perth: Perth Coworking Day: A free coworking day in the Famous Grouse Idea Centre for the tech and business community. MORE INFO
📝 22/05, 05:15 🗺️ Edinburgh: Barclays Eagle Labs and CodeBase Quarterly Pub Quiz (May 2025): Join us for this month's pub quiz - bringing together the CodeBase and Edinburgh community for a bit of fun! MORE INFO
📍 23/05, 10:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Good Ideas: Catalyst: Our Good Ideas: Catalyst is the perfect way to explore the potential of a new idea for social or environmental change. If you’re an early-stage innovator, in need of a change of direction or just passionate about finding a way to address a cause, Good Ideas: Catalyst is an entry point for you to explore the feasibility of a new idea. MORE INFO
🚀 26/05, 18:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Kicking off Glasgow Tech Week: From Scotland to the World. Scotland’s tech ecosystem is thriving, and the world is watching. Join us for a fun summer evening with Startup Grind Glasgow full of inspiring conversations, valuable connections, and insights on taking your startup from Scotland to the world. RSVP here
💻 27/05, 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
📌 28/05, 08:30 🗺️ Glasgow: Building a winning team: How can your tech company recruit and retain the right people?: Join Shepherd and Wedderburn’s legal experts as they answer that question and more, before considering industry success stories with guest panellist, Anne-Sofie Lagander. MORE INFO
💸 28/05, 12:00 🗺️ Online: Pre-seed Funding Masterclass: Raising from Angels: Join us for a practical, founder-focused Pre-Seed Funding Masterclass, where we’ll demystify the early-stage investment process. MORE INFO
🎪 29/05, 09:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Fusion Fest: Attendees of Fusion Fest will have the opportunity to network with colleagues and peers in a conference designed for actionable learnings at the same time showcasing talent and expertise in Glasgow. MORE INFO
📍 29/05, 17:00–22:30 🗺️ Glasgow: TecTonic Night Summit at Barras Art & Design: An immersive evening of curiosity, connectivity, and community. Join 400+ founders, creatives, tech professionals, and ecosystem builders for exhibitions, innovation showcases, mentorship sessions, and more as part of Glasgow Tech Week. MORE INFO
🤝 30/05, 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
🎯 Deadlines
Royal Academy of Engineering – Shott ScaleUp Accelerator Now Open
Are you looking to take your DeepTech business to the next level? Apply now to join the Shott Scale Up Accelerator, a programme empowering senior leaders with the insights and leadership skills needed to scale successfully. Apply by 20th May.
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That’s all for this week - have a great one!
Team 🔥 Campfire