First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced a welcome boost to Scotland’s entrepreneurial future with a £650,000 investment in Entrepreneurial Scotland. The investment aims to help drive entrepreneurial networks so that aspiring Scottish innovators can share ideas and experience, seek support, investment and expertise.

The First Minister announced the funding boost while speaking at the first Scotland CAN DO Festival at Barras Art and Design in Glasgow.

Investing in Innovation

The Scotland CAN DO Festival brought together over 400 entrepreneurial leaders, innovators and creative minds to share ideas and discuss the future of Scottish industry in an ever-changing world. Speaking at the event, the First Minister said: “Scotland is known for its vision as a world-leading entrepreneurial and innovative nation, one in which growth and innovation go hand-in-hand with fair work and delivering in a way which benefits everyone.”

Nicola Sturgeon said she wants Scotland to be a “country that is at the forefront of social and technological progress – to invent, design and manufacture the technologies and products of the future – not simply consume them.”

Investment in Scottish industry and innovation has been a key focus of the Scottish Government over the past several years and with the recent announcement that the Scottish National Investment Bank will receive £2 billion in funding, the future looks bright for Scottish industry and entrepreneurs looking to to make their presence felt in global markets. Scotland CAN DO initiative aims to raise awareness of the innovation across Scotland and promote the entrepreneurial spirit that Scots are known for the world over.

From its beginning with the publication by the Scottish Government of Scotland CAN DO: Becoming a World-leading Entrepreneurial and Innovation Nation in November 2013, the initiative has become a crucial component in further developing a number of vibrant industry eco-systems in Scotland; working with and supported by partners from across a range of sectors.

First Minister Sturgeon noted at the event that in recent years the government has placed a “heavy emphasis on encouraging more people to be entrepreneurs – to set up new businesses and social enterprises and for the government itself to be more entrepreneurial.

She added: “With partners from across all sectors we have championed this vision through Scotland CAN DO. It is a platform for us all – across all sectors – to sharpen our focus on enabling sustainable economic growth and to deliver a Scotland that is a CAN DO place for business.”

A Strategy for The Future

Entrepreneurial Scotland welcomed the investment from the Scottish Government, which will provide it with an opportunity to grow and continue assisting budding Scottish entrepreneurs.

Responding to the First Minister’s announcement today, Entrepreneurial Scotland’s Chief Executive Sandy Kennedy said: “Today at the Impact Fest we have seen first-hand the ambition and determination of Scotland’s future leaders and entrepreneurs.

“It was a fitting occasion for the First Minister to announce the Scottish Government’s long-term investment in Entrepreneurial Scotland.

Sandy Kennedy suggested there is still much work do be done in the future, but Scotland is on course to becoming one of the worlds leading entrepreneurial and innovative nations, stating: “We have much still to do and will work ever more closely with like-minded organisations across the public, private and third sectors.

“We have a long way to go but I believe we are now on the path to becoming the most entrepreneurial society in the world.”

Bruce Walker, Co-Founder of FutureX shares Sandy’s ambition: “We have one of the most entrepreneurial governments in the world based on their ability to be nimble and focus on the issues and that is a good thing

“What we want to see is the creation of an entrepreneurial mindset, whether that’s starting a business or applying that mindset in another way.”

Bruce added that collaboration between the public and private sectors is crucial to the future of Scottish entrepreneurship, highlight the need for “a strong mixture of public funding, but also private investment to match what the government is providing.”