Partnerships

LendingCrowd

LendingCrowd, an Edinburgh-based fintech will team up with Brismo to provide sophisticated and independently verified performance metrics for investors.

Brismo, a provider of lending performance data, uses detailed loan information to analyse and verify returns, which allows investors to perform like-for-like analysis.

Commenting on the partnership announcement, LendingCrowd’s director of operations, Mike Allan, said: “We are proud of our track record and believe in enabling transparency so that investors can compare performance across the lending sector.

“LendingCrowd has made great strides in scaling the business while remaining committed to robust credit processes and responsible lending.”

Rupert Taylor, founder and CEO of Brismo, added: “We are delighted that LendingCrowd is the latest platform to join Brismo and we look forward to helping illustrate the company’s impressive track record to investors.

“LendingCrowd is scaling its operations and diversifying its funding base at an impressive rate, so we are confident that this new partnership is a win-win for all parties.”

Want to find out more? Read the original article here.

Acquisitions

Cultivate

Edinburgh-based software company, Cultivate, has been acquired by international food delivery company Deliveroo.

Cultivate, which formed in September 2014 following separation from product development studio Neo, has worked closely with Deliveroo in recent years – helping to build the food delivery giant’s payment systems.

Both companies said they will continue to work on improving payments systems used by couriers and partner restaurants, as well as offering additional services in cashflow management. The acquisition marks the opening of Deliveroo’s first tech office in the UK outside of London.

Commenting on the acquisition, Robinson said: “We have a fantastic relationship with Deliveroo, supporting them through an amazing period of growth. We were attracted by the array of interesting problems being tackled by their team, and how they are addressing them using modern and emerging technology.

“We are proud to have built such a great team here in Edinburgh, and today’s announcement is a testament to their hard work and expertise in building world-class software. We are excited to continue this work, create highly skilled jobs, and build a centre of tech excellence here in Edinburgh.”

Dan Winn, VP of engineering at Deliveroo, added: “As a British company, Deliveroo is proud to be investing in Edinburgh and creating more high-skilled jobs in the UK. Edinburgh is one of the UK’s fastest-growing tech hubs, with access to an excellent talent pool of highly-skilled people and university graduates.

“Deliveroo is committed to offering riders flexible, well-paid work and helping restaurants to grow their business. Building on Cultivate’s expertise, we are excited to create new products and services that will help us achieve this.”

Want to find out more? Read the original article here.

FNZ Group 

Edinburgh-based fintech FNZ Group has acquired German investment platform company ebase (European Bank for Financial Services) from Comdirect Bank in a transaction worth €154 million (£138 million).

Under the new ownership, ebase will continue with its strategy to become the leading digital financial services partner in Germany, through sustained investment in technology and customer service.

Adrian Durham, CEO of FNZ Group, said: “This is an important milestone for FNZ Group and reaffirms our commitment to becoming a leader in the provision of B2B digital wealth management technology for financial institutions and their customers globally.

“ebase is a well-established investment platform and leader in the digitisation of wealth management solutions, known for its performance in the German financial services market.

“We look forward to partnering with the highly-capable ebase team to grow their business in Germany and together expand the range of state-of-the-art technology platforms available to support wealth management.”

Want to find out more? Read the original article here.

Funding

Cloud Cover IT

Glasgow-based tech firm, Cloud Cover IT has secured £324,000 funding boost from Scottish Enterprise, UK Steel, and Business Loans Scotland. Scottish Enterprise has awarded a total of £154,069 in Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) and Innovation Grant funding. In addition, UK Steel and Business Loans Scotland has contributed £85,000 each in funding.

The company, which specialises in IT solutions and infrastructure management, said it will use the funds to create new roles and boost innovation by investing in industry 4.0.

Lance Gauld, Cloud Cover IT director, said: “We’re obviously over the moon to have secured investment funding from Scottish Enterprise to bring our Smart Factory technology to life. Industry 4.0 is already having a transformative effect across many industries.

“We’re at the forefront of this space and recognise the huge potential that exists for manufacturers. We have a very close relationship with Clyde Gateway, and we’re pleased to be able to create a notable number of new jobs in the local area to push forward with their economic regeneration remit.”

Mark Newlands, Scottish Enterprise’s regional head of partnerships for Glasgow and the West, said: “The development of industry 4.0 and smart factory technology is of increasing importance to ensure Scotland’s businesses are fit for the future, so I’m pleased that with our funding support, Cloud Cover IT is continuing to make strides in this area.”

Want to find out more? Read the original article here.

GeckoLabs 

Edinburgh-based software company, GeckoLabs, has secured £1.8m investment from Merica Fund Managers, Scottish Investment Bank’s Co-Investment Fund and existing angel investors.

This latest funding round brings the total raised by the company to £3m and it will go towards helping the firm expand its North America operations and more than double the size of its team. The company, which already has 27 members of staff plans to create ten new roles and to open an office in New York.

GeckoLabs CEO Matt Lanham said: “With the launch of our chatbot earlier this year, we’ve seen a real upsurge in interest from both existing users and from higher education institutions we don’t yet work with. This investment will help us to capitalise on that interest and innovate further in terms of product development.”

Marcus Henderson, investment manager at Mercia, said: “Gecko has a proven product with a loyal customer base and is now entering a critical phase in which it has the opportunity to scale the business in the North American market. This investment will support it through its next phase of growth and development.

“We will be working closely with the entire Gecko team to help them achieve this successfully.”

Kerry Sharp, director of the Scottish Investment Bank, added: “We’re delighted to invest alongside our Scottish Co-Investment partner Mercia Fund Manager in this exciting business as we jointly work with it to realise its growth potential.

“For Scottish Enterprise, the company offers not only the prospect of new Scottish-based job opportunities but also increases the export capabilities of Scotland’s business base.”

Want to find out more? Read the original article here.

Logan Energy

Hydrogen technology company, Logan Energy, has been selected as a partner in the EU-funded SEAFUEL project, which aims to revolutionise sustainable energy generation. The £3.2 million green energy project, based in Tenerife, is co-financed through the European Regional Development Fund and aims to develop fuel solutions for isolated island communities.

As part of the project, Logan Energy will be responsible for designing and constructing a hydrogen generation and refuelling station. This station will turn seawater into hydrogen which can be used by vehicles on the island. After the project has been delivered, the company will then work with SEAFUEL’s other partners to review the project’s workability on other similar island regions.

It will also be responsible for securing all the relevant certificates and ensuring that local staff have the necessary working knowledge of the specialist hydrogen installations to support the deployment and expand the local economy.

Bill Ireland, CEO of Logan Energy, said: “We are delighted that SEAFUEL has been given the go-ahead and that Logan Energy is to be the hydrogen partner for this innovative project. This project is unique in that it examines the conversion of seawater into hydrogen with the specific purpose of being used as transport fuel.

“Our extensive experience in Scotland of connecting renewable electricity generation to hydrogen production and refuelling makes us the right people for the job.”

“It’s important to remember that this project is hugely significant not just for remote communities in Europe but around the world. The islands and their inhabitants rely on imported fossil fuels but can, in fact, become partially or wholly self-sufficient in terms of energy. The SEAFUEL project will go a long way to facilitating the transition to a low carbon economy.”

Want to find out more? Read the original article here.

Machine Labs

The database marketing firm has received £800,000 in seed funding from Techstart Ventures, with additional funding from Scottish Enterprise. The company says it will use the funding to locate to a new office space in the centre of Edinburgh and will recruit eight more staff members.

The angel investors were three of Scotland’s most experienced technology investors; Kevin Dorren, who will assume the position of chairman, Bill Dobbie, and Richard Freedman, who will also join as VP of business development.

Andrew Veitch, founder and CEO of Machine Labs, commented: “For most of us, database marketing is spam or junk mail. Machine Labs want to use machine learning to make marketing messages relevant so consumers get the right offers, at the right time, instead of being irritated by marketing they are not interested in.

“It’s great to have the chance to develop the software I always wished I had when I saw spending £30 million on marketing at Diet Chef. I’m very grateful for all the financial support and hands-on help we’ve had from our investors. We are looking forward to the launch of our product in Autumn 2019.”

Want to find out more? Read the original article here.

M Squared Lasers

Scottish Enterprise has awarded the Glasgow-based tech firm £2.9m in funding to help the company accelerate its groundbreaking research into laser and photonics systems development. In addition, the company says it will use the cash to create a total of 24 new jobs, 18 of which will be highly skilled scientific roles.

David Smith, director of national opportunities at Scottish Enterprise, commented: “M Squared is a pillar of our cluster of photonics companies in Scotland and a catalyst in bringing that community and others together to prepare to exploit the emerging market opportunities associated with quantum technology.

“This award underlines the continued innovative nature of the company and the great example of the Scottish capability in this area.”

Founder and CEO, Dr Graham Malcolm, said: “We take great pride in our Scottish roots. Our ambition is to create the world’s most important photonics and quantum technology company independently headquartered in Scotland.

“Our home city of Glasgow has a great tradition of science and engineering, where local companies have been developing optical technology for around 100 years. We are creating high-value jobs for graduates outside of academia, currently employing 100 staff, of which over 85% are graduates.

“The support of Scottish Enterprise will enable M Squared to scale its operations locally but equally continue stepping into new global markets.”

Ivan McKee, Innovation Minister for the Scottish Government, said: “Scotland has a long tradition of being at the forefront of scientific and technological advances, and our investment will ensure this continues.

“M Squared is a company we can take great pride in – their innovation has led not only to an incredible rate of growth for the company but also to enabling technological development in many fields including medicine, space technology and advanced manufacturing.”

Want to find out more? Read the original article here.

Neatebox

Edinburgh-based startup, Neatebox, has announced a new partnership with Serco NorthLink Ferries to provide its ‘Welcome’ app – which helps to improve travel experiences for people with accessibility requirements.

NorthLink said the move is the latest is a series of new measures aimed at improving the journey experience for travellers. Earlier this year, the company introduced its ‘Recite Me’ accessibility tool to its website, which also helps people with accessibility needs.

Neatebox founder Gavin Neate said: “Our app helps disabled people to receive a better service, communicate with ease and travel with confidence. Even staff at companies with excellent customer service, like NorthLink, can struggle sometimes to know how best to support customers.

“We are delighted that they have seen how the product can help both passengers and staff, and hope that other operators will follow suit.”

Seumas Campbell, Serco’s customer service director at NorthLink Ferries, added: 2We use the Welcome app to make staff aware of the specific needs of their visitors in advance of their arrival.

“We can greet customers by name and offer them the assistance they may require. This greatly improves the confidence and interactions between customer service teams and passengers, helping to build lasting relationships.”

Want to find out more? Read the original article here.

Novosound

Novosound, a spin-out company of the University of West Scotland has secured a £1 million grant from Scottish Enterprise. Located at the Biocity incubator just outside of Glasgow, the company says it will use the grant to rapidly scale up its research and development activity. It will also use the cash injection to create 17 new highly-skilled STEM jobs, which will bring the firm’s total staff to 30.

In April 2018, the company, which develops hi-tech sensors for industrial and medical markets raised £1.5m in seed funding. Early investors in the company include Par Equity, Kelvin Capital, the Scottish Investment Bank and Investing Women.

Commenting on the funding announcement, co-founder Dr Hughes said: “The global opportunity for Novosound is enormous with the ultrasonic market now valued at $45 billion and growing at over 10% every year, and this funding will allow us to scale up and significantly accelerate our R&D and production activity.

“As well as bolstering our existing R&D team, it allows us to create 17 new highly-skilled jobs for technical people with STEM skills, which we are looking to fill in the coming months. Currently, our R&D team is 50% female and we hope to build on this with the new recruits.”

David Smith, director of National Opportunities at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Novosound’s innovative work in developing ultrasound sensing technology for applications in the biomedical and industrial markets is really exciting. Since spinning out of the University of the West of Scotland, Novosound has made excellent progress.

“This £1 million grant from Scottish Enterprise will not only allow Novosound to increase its R&D capability but create 17 skilled jobs in the process.”

Want to find out more? Read the original article here.

QuantIC

QuantIC has received a £28m funding boost from the UKRI’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The investment will enable the centre, led by the University of Glasgow, to continue its research into emerging technologies and develop new partnerships over the next five years.

The funding for this second phase is part of a £94m UK Government investment, which is intended to strengthen ties between the UK’s Quantum Technology Hubs and businesses – bringing together academics and industry.

Commenting on the funding announcement, QuantIC director Professor Steve Beaumont said: “We are pleased to have the support of EPSRC for our second phase of work at QuantIC.

“We’ve had an enormously successful first five years, making significant technological breakthroughs and forging 39 project partnerships with industry across the UK. We’ve also worked hard to encourage the next generation of pioneering quantum engineers, investing more than half a million pounds in 12 industry-led studentships.”

Professor Miles Padgett, principal investigator at QuantIC, said: “When QuantIC started up in 2014, we had 30 industry partners. Today, we actively engage with more than 70 companies, an expansion of our user network which we’re immensely proud of.

“It shows that there is huge commercial potential for the kind of quantum-enhanced technologies we’re working on. We’re delighted that we’ve received the funding we need to continue helping the UK keep its place on the world stage in cutting-edge research and development.”

Want to find out more? Read the original article here.