Scottish EDGE, a business competition aimed at helping to develop promising startups, has received an additional £1 million in funding from Scottish Enterprise.

Earlier this month, 62 businesses were short-listed to pitch to a panel of judges across the country as part of a three-day long semi-final. More than half of these finalists were selected to progress to the final stage of the Scottish EDGE competition, which will take place next month in Edinburgh.

The fresh funding will be used to add an additional day of pitching to accommodate the increased number of finalists. David Shearer, chairman of Scottish EDGE, said: “While this enables us to double the number of winners we will only do so where the quality of the applicants meets our rigorous funding criteria. We remain resolutely committed to ensuring Scottish EDGE is both a sustainable business and a force for entrepreneurial good.”

The 39 finalists will face a panel of judges chaired by Simon Hannah of Filshill and Kerry Sharp of the Scottish Investment Bank, Scottish Enterprise’s investment arm.

Funding to Help Drive Scotland’s Economic Success

In this final round, the businesses will pitch for a share of the Scottish EDGE’s prize pot of almost £2 million. Other prizes up for grabs include funding of up to £150,000 in the Scottish EDGE, Higgs EDGE, Creative EDGE and Social Enterprise EDGE award categories. Winners of the Young EDGE, a sub-category of Scottish EDGE for entrepreneurs under the age of 30, and Wild Card EDGE for businesses who have yet to commence trading, will be also be announced at the award ceremony in December.

Linda Hanna, managing director of Scottish Economic Development at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Scottish EDGE’s excellent reputation attracts some of the most exciting Scottish entrepreneurial talent to pitch, and that’s why we’re collaborating with them and offering an additional £1 million in funding. With this funding, we can double the number of businesses Scottish EDGE supports and help drive Scotland’s future economic prosperity.”

Evelyn McDonald, CEO of Scottish EDGE, added: “We are delighted and enormously grateful to Scottish Enterprise for their recognition of this with such an astounding gesture of support. The additional funding will allow us to say yes to worthy businesses we would not have been in the position to support otherwise.”

The Finalists Are…

Animation Garden

Araminta Campbell

Beringar; Bespoke Fabrics

Bounce Back Drinks

Boxergy

Captive

Cascade Water Products

Clean Water Wave

ClinSpec Diagnostics

CU Soar

Detailing Factory

Estendio

FreshMex

Good-Loop

Indomitable Leaders

InstaStock

Intelift

Kingdom Scotland

LiberEat

Miligen

Molke

Platinum Informatics

Pyramid WIFI

R3-IOT

RAB Microfluidics

Raven Controls

Revive Eco

Sensalytx

Sentinel Subsea

Spark and Rocket

Splatform

SussMyBike

Tenzor Geo

Teqnox

The Drinks Bakery

Tryit

Trojan Energy

Wootzano