Welcome to the February 2023 edition of the DIGIT Movers and Shakers column.

This month features another bumper crop of Scottish awards, relocation, partnership, and recruitment news.

Here’s all the latest news in one place.

Recruitment

Stellar Omada

Edinburgh-based business and technology firm Stellar Omada – which specialises in programme delivery and service management – launched an advisory board in 2022 with experienced financial services executives Mark Smith and Russel Saunders as its first appointees.

Since 2015, Smith has been a special advisor to end clients which have included HSBC, first direct, Santander, Lloyds Banking Group and several large Building Societies. He has also held several Non-Executive Director and Trustee positions including start-up and AIM-listed businesses.

Russell Saunders brings over 40 years’ experience working with global banks, regulators, and technology firms, including the support of firms who specialise in technology and banking Services, and global payment and compliance solutions.

Other appointments to the leadership team include Laura Paterson joining as HR director. Paterson — who spent over a decade with Shell specialising in HR, organisational changes, and learning programmes — is a former Board Trustee at Scotland Women in Technology, and was in a senior role at the Net Zero Technology Centre in Aberdeen before joining Stellar.

To read more, click here.

The Data and Marketing Association (DMA)

The Data and Marketing Association (DMA UK) has announced a new appointment to the DMA Board, Kate Hamilton, Vice President Market, Proximity, and former Board Chair of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).

Hamilton has been an advocate for learning and marketing best practice for over 30 years. An active marketing leader and practitioner, she is a previous DMA Awards Grand Prix winner, and is a Fellow of the DMA’s Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM), awarded in 2003.

Hamilton said: “Throughout my career, I have championed lifelong learning and easier access to education for our amazing profession. To achieve our industry’s full potential, we must cultivate marketers who not only innovate and inspire, but equally, who advocate for best practice and sound ethics.”

To read more, click here.

Brightsolid

Scottish managed hybrid cloud services provider, Brightsolid, has announced the appointment of Andy Laing as its new Chief Financial Officer.

A KPMG trained chartered accountant with extensive senior management experience, Andy has previously worked with various technology investment funds and extensively at director level within VC- and PE-backed deep tech organisations.

Laing said: “Brightsolid has an enviable reputation in Scotland for technical expertise and service delivery. I’m delighted to be joining the Brightsolid team as CFO at a time when the company is pursuing several potentially transformational opportunities.”

To read more, click here.

Optima

Edinburgh-headquartered tech and analytics enabled consulting firm Optima Partners says it’s on course to double its headcount in the next 12 months, bringing its workforce to more than 100 across its UK bases.

Commenting on the company’s plans for expansion, CEO Alan Crawley stated, “We have received a tremendous response to our unique data and insight-led approach to customer understanding and behaviour. We are now striving to fill a number of vacancies within the company to meet growing demand, bringing new SME’s, consultants, technologists and data experts into the business to support our clients in navigating complex customer transformation agendas.”

To read more, click here.

Cloudsoft

Cloudsoft, the Edinburgh-based software and services company, has announced its latest board of directors appointment by way of Dave McCann, the former engineering Vice President at Amazon Web Services (AWS).

With over eight years experience as a key member of the leadership team that scales up AWS, Cloudsoft will seek to leverage McCann’s expertise in line with the company’s projected global enterprise customer base growth.

“Cloudsoft was on my radar, initially as a talented AWS engineering partner but then as a lighthouse example of a Scottish scale-up with big potential,” McCann said.

To read more, click here.

Barclays Eagle Labs

Nick Murray joins Barclays Eagle Labs as Ecosystem Manager this month, supporting and advising Scotland-based startups and scaling businesses in Glasgow with Barclays’ impressive catalogue of business support, investor readiness programmes, and UK-wide specialist advisors.

Nick is no stranger to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Scotland, having worked across business support organisations, tech startups, and most recently with community group Startup Grind Scotland and international programmes organisation Foras, which led startup cohorts to Silicon Valley and Helsinki’s Slush conference last year.

He was also recently identified as an ecosystem ‘Unsung Hero’, in the recent Scottish Founders Survey. Nick joins the team in Glasgow at the recently-opened Eagle Labs hub as part of Barclays’ new Tradeston Campus on the Clyde.

Partnerships

Firefinch Software & i4 Product Design

Two Edinburgh-based companies – Firefinch Software and i4 Product Design (i4PD) – have announced a new partnership to bring together their software and hardware products and experience.

Matt Connelly, Director at Firefinch Software said: “We have worked with i4PD on previous projects and have found them to be the perfect fit for us, their skills and knowledge create a perfect synergy for growth and we look forward to working with them more closely as a result of this partnership.”

To read more, click here.

BR-DGE & Total Processing

Edinburgh-based payment orchestration provider BR-DGE has announced a partnership with payments firm Total Processing to driver better payment experiences for merchants and customers.

Through a single point of integration, BR-DGE’s merchants can access payment providers, fraud capabilities, and alternative payment methods.

Now, merchants will be able to complement these tools with Total Processing’s solutions, offering them access to its network of global acquirers, full-featured dashboard, and risk-based fraud tools.

To read more, click here.

STAC & Murphy Wealth

Smart Things Accelerator Centre (STAC) — the Scottish accelerator for Internet of Things startups — has entered a partnership with wealth management specialist Murphy Wealth, in a move that aims to address the funding gap for Scottish early-stage startups.

The CEOs of the two Glasgow-based organisations cited a trend of investors preferring to invest in scale-ups rather than startups as the reason for the collaboration.

Paul Wilson, STAC’s CEO, said: “From the outset, STAC has been strongly supported by the Scottish investment community, but we have to recognise that the successful evolution of Scotland’s angel syndicates, who are now investing more frequently in scale-up companies than seeding startups, means there is a void in access to capital for early stage companies. So, we are working to plug the gap.”

Adrian Murphy, CEO, Murphy Wealth, added: “Paul and the STAC team have made incredible progress in the eighteen months since the accelerator was launched. In common with our own firm, we support entrepreneurs, albeit at a different stage of the entrepreneurial journey, and we share a strong belief in how transformational entrepreneurs and fast-growth tech companies can be to the wider economy.”

To read more, click here.

Chromacity & Edmund Optics

Edinburgh-based laser manufacturer Chromacity announced a strategic partnership agreement with Edmund Optics for the global supply and distribution of its ultrafast lasers.

Edmund Optics is a global manufacturer and supplier of optics, imaging, and photonics-enabled technology for a wide range of sectors. Chromacity’s range of lasers will be actively promoted and distributed through Edmund Optics’ global channels and optical imaging network, creating opportunities for both parties within the biomedical imaging sector.

“We are excited to bring ultrafast femtosecond pulsed fiber lasers into our global distribution network of in stock, ready to ship products and change the paradigm on laser installation and support,” said Ed Kay, Vice President of Catalog Business Line, Edmund Optics.

Awards

Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards 2023

The finalists have been revealed for the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards 2023, the annual celebration of business-academic partnerships, hosted by Interface.

22 nominees have been shortlisted in the eighth Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards, sponsored by Salix Finance. The showcase of impactful collaborations and individuals highlights the remarkable achievements which have the potential to create positive change in Scotland and beyond.

To see the full list of finalists, click here.

Tech Nation

Tech Nation has announced the top 33 early stage scaleups to watch in 2023 in every region, representing the brightest of UK tech with the most potential to scale in the year to come, with three Scottish winners.

The 33 regional ‘Rising Stars’ comprise the three most promising tech companies from 11 regions and nations of the UK including East of England, North East, South West, Midlands,  Scotland, North West, London, Wales, South East, Northern Ireland, Yorkshire & the Humber.

To read more, click here.

Aurum Biosciences

A spinout company of InnoScot Health, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and the University of Glasgow, Aurum Biosciences develops therapeutics and diagnostics in areas of unmet clinical need.

The company was awarded the Innovation Passport thanks to its lead product, ABL-101 — a patented platform technology which has the potential to offer major advancements in the management of acute stroke patients, especially acute ischaemic strokes (AIS). AIS is the leading global cause of disability and the second-leading cause of death.

The Innovation Passport acts as a gateway to the accelerative pathway, which streamlines innovative products to market, helping to improve patient access to new and effective treatments.

To read more, click here.

Converged

Aberdeen-based IT, cybersecurity and internet service provider, Converged Communication Solutions, was a finalist in this year’s CeeD Industry Awards, held on Thursday 2^nd March at the Glasgow Hilton Hotel. Now in its fifth year, the Awards recognise and celebrate the achievements of Scotland’s most outstanding examples of excellent practice from the manufacturing, engineering, and technology sectors.

Converged been shortlisted in the Cyber Resilience category, alongside Aggreko, Cloud Cover IT, and Scottish Event Campus (SEC). This category recognises organisations that can demonstrate examples of improving cyber resilience, knowledge and practice, showcase innovation, and demonstrate skills improvement and development.

Relocations

Invisors

US-based software company, Invisors, has chosen Glasgow for its new European headquarters.

Invisors, a Workday Services Partner, provides initial development, optimisation, and ongoing support services in the UK, Ireland, Canada and the US for Workday’s full suite of products.

The suite of services include human capital management, financial management, adaptive planning, prism analytics, and extend.

Mark Hallan, Director of Global Investment at SDI, said: “Invisors is an innovative company enjoying rapid growth and it’s great news that the firm has chosen Glasgow to continue its global expansion.”

To read more, click here.

Mirador

Managed services provider Mirador has unveiled a new international business hub in Edinburgh in a bid to ‘better serve its non US-clients.’

The firm now has client service personnel on the ground to counsel these clients, choosing Edinburgh for not only the obvious time-zone benefits, but for ‘its business-friendly resources and its thriving tech community.’

“In order for Mirador to continue to deliver exceptional client service, we have to have a shop in Europe,” said Mirador CEO & President Joseph Larizza.

He added: “We thoroughly looked into other sites, and I can say without hesitation that Edinburgh is where we need to be. Senior staff members willingly volunteered to relocate, we have hired our first Scotland-based employee and are actively recruiting additional talent.”

To read more, click here.