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South of Scotland Launches £100K Space Tech Fund
Backed by South of Scotland Enterprise, the fund aims to spark innovation, drive new markets, and create local jobs in space technology.
A new £100,000 challenge fund has been launched to help Scottish space tech firms develop cutting-edge solutions that boost natural capital in the country’s southern reaches.
The Satellite Data Challenge for Natural Capital Enhancement aims to foster collaboration between space tech enterprises and partners in the South of Scotland, while unlocking more economic business opportunities.
With the fresh investment, South of Scotland Enterprise (SoSE) said it wants to encourage the use of Earth observation data to provide Scottish space tech firms with new market opportunities, drive socio-economic growth, and support long-term sustainability.
The fund will provide grants of up to £30,000 towards staffing costs and equipment for projects set to be completed by March next year that address market needs or market failure in the region.
SoSE said that the plans build on the South of Scotland’s label as Scotland’s ‘Natural Capital Innovation Zone’, a nationally recognised region spanning from Dumfries & Galloway and across the Scottish Borders, established to accelerate solutions to the challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change.
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It also follows the launch of the South of Scotland space strategy last year, which outlined regional plans to spark local job creation by establishing innovation hubs and drawing space-focused businesses to the area, supporting the Scottish Government’s aim to create 20,000 sector jobs by 2030.
“The new Satellite Data Challenge fund builds on the South of Scotland Space Strategy, which aims to awaken entrepreneurial opportunities, inspire new thinking, and create space jobs in the region,” said Jane Morrison-Ross, chief executive of South of Scotland Enterprise.
“SOSE wants to support start-ups, scale-ups and businesses that see opportunities to develop new products in the space supply chain.”
