Movers and Shakers | March 2023

Elizabeth Greenberg

07 April 2023, 02.26pm

Our March Movers and Shakers shows an exemplary array of partnerships, recruitment stories, awards, and expansion across the Scottish tech industry.

Recruitment

Barclays Eagle Labs – Nick Murray as Ecosystem Manager

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.

Keystone Women

A Scotland-based social enterprise supporting female entrepreneurs has today confirmed the appointment of two new trustees to its board.

Rowan Morrison, Co-Founder and Managing Director of strategic brand and communications agency; We Are Rationale and Ailsa Lochhead, an Edinburgh-based artist, coach, and Founder of Move To Feel will play a vital role in supporting Keystone Women towards achieving some ambitious goals for the year ahead.

Current data verified by The Gender Index, confirms that only 16.8% of all active UK companies are female-led. And high-growth companies led by women lag significantly behind their male counterparts with the percentage of those that successfully raise capital from investors even lower. Keystone is working to directly address this gender disparity.

Commenting on her appointment, Rowan said, “I’m delighted to be joining the board of trustees alongside Dani and Ailsa. I strongly align with their values and passionately believe in and support the well-being economy. I’m looking forward to working with them and ensuring Keystone is available to as many women as possible.”

Talking about her decision to join the board, Ailsa said: “What excited me most about Keystone is the integration of business tools, a holistic approach to how wellbeing can be seeded into your working life, and a community of women actively listening in honest support. As a creative, I get high on witnessing and supporting ideas being translated into action, so it’s really exciting and uplifting to work with individuals on the programme.”

Topolytics

Edinburgh-based Topolytics, a data and analytics platform that makes the world’s waste visible, verifiable and valuable, has announced Fleur Ruckley as its Head of Implementation.

Ruckley has wide experience helping large organisations to understand waste and materials flows and adopt circular economy models.

As Head of Implementation, Ruckley will support customers to maximise the value delivered through their subscription to WasteMap.

“We are delighted to welcome Fleur to our growing team. Fleur has highly relevant circular economy and customer engagement experience that will help users of WasteMap to maximise the value of the data and insights that it generates. Fleur has great skills and an excellent reputation so I’m delighted I can now call her a colleague,” said Michael Groves, CEO of Topolytics.

Ruckley joins from engineering professional services consulting firm, WSP, where she was Associate Director focused on circular economy, plastic waste, and legacy chemicals.

Prior to this, Ruckley was Project Director for Scotland’s 2020 Climate Group.

The Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland

Following a recent rebrand and renewed focus on cyber crime, The Cyber and Fraud Centre is looking to make four additions to its board.

The Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland, formally the Scottish Business Resilience Centre is a not-for-profit organisation that delivers education and preventative training to businesses along with raising awareness on how to combat cyber crime. Working in unison with the Scottish government, Scottish police and the business community.

Applicants are not required to have experience sitting on a board, and are encouraged to bring experience from backgrounds such as communications, financial management, human resources, and law.

“We hope our new Board members will work with our existing members and chair to help us grow in a way that allows us to tackle ever-evolving cyber threats,” said Jude McCorry, CEO of the Cyber and Fraud Centre. “These aren’t roles for anyone looking to sit quietly in a room.”

Brightsolid

Brightsolid, the Scottish cloud services company, has bolstered its tech team with the appointments of its new CTO, Andy Sinclair, and new Head of Cyber Security, David Taylor.

A trusted AWS Partner, Dundee-headquartered Brightsolid designs, builds, and manages secure and scalable cloud environments for its customers.

As the Scots tech firm’s new CTO, Sinclair brings over a decade of technical experience across engineering, architecture, and transformation. Sinclair made the move over from iomart — the Glasgow-based cloud computing and IT managed services business — where he served as its Head of Product.

“I’m thrilled to join Brightsolid as it enters its next phase of growth,” Sinclair said on his appointment.

“I was drawn by the opportunity to deliver a compelling managed cloud solution to the market, but what really stood out to me was Brightsolid’s incredible internal culture, which places such high value on our people and our relationships with customers.”

Scottish AI Alliance

At the Scottish AI Summit in Glasgow, Ivan McKee MSP and Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise announced the appointment of Catriona Campbell, Client Technology & Innovation Officer at EY UK & Ireland, as the new chair of the Scottish AI Alliance.

Ms. Campbell brings in extensive experience in AI in the private sector, having worked with a range of clients to deliver innovative solutions using emerging technologies. She will be taking over the role of Chair from Gillian Docherty OBE, Chief Commercial Officer at the University of Strathclyde who has completed her two-year term as the inaugural chair of the Scottish AI Alliance.

As the new Chair of the Scottish AI Alliance, Campbell will lead the group in its mission to drive AI innovation and adoption across Scotland. She will work with stakeholders from academia, government, industry, and civil society to promote responsible AI practices, build a diverse and skilled AI workforce, and showcase Scotland as a leader in trustworthy, ethical and inclusive AI.

Campbell said: “I am excited and honoured to take on the role of Chair at the Scottish AI Alliance. AI has the power to transform society, and Scotland has a wealth of talent, expertise, and potential to lead the way in AI innovation.”

Citizen Ticket

Edinburgh-based event ticketing platform, Citizen Ticket, has appointed former Skyscanner executive Carolyn Jameson as its new Chair.

Jameson’s two decades of leadership experience within the global technology sector includes six years as Chief Legal Officer at Skyscanner, where she played a role in its international growth and oversaw its sale to Chinese travel company, Ctrip, for £1.4bn in 2016.

In 2019, Jameson joined LSE-listed Trustpilot where she currently serves as Chief Trust Officer having recently led it through a successful IPO. Carolyn also serves on the boards of the Scottish National Investment Bank and Scottish Equity Partners.

Carolyn Jameson, said of her appointment: “I’m excited to join the team at Citizen Ticket, a company with an innovative, technology-driven offering that is addressing key challenges facing event organisers while enhancing the experience for consumers.”

UK Government and Indo-Pacific Region

During a visit to India, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly met with his counterpart, External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to discuss progress on the UK-India 2030 Roadmap.

While there, he marked the opening of the Young Professionals Scheme, a new partnership between the UK and India which allows up to 3,000 Brits and 3,000 Indians a year the right to live and work in the other country for up to two years.

The Foreign Secretary also announced the creation of the UK’s first Tech Envoy to the Indo-Pacific region, who will boost ties with India as a priority. This envoy is the second of its kind to be announced by the UK (after the appointment of a Tech Envoy to the US in late 2020).

The new Tech Envoy role will seek to boost the UK’s status as a science and tech superpower. The envoy will work with partners in the region on areas of shared interest, including setting global technology standards and helping to solve challenges through innovative technology.

Women Do Cyber

Women Do Cyber partnered with Glasgow Caledonian University, Cisco and SWiT to launch 40 new scholarships to mobilise and bring more women into cyber security career development opportunities from May 2023.

The scholarship opportunity will also offer women in cyber mentoring support from established women cyber practitioners and technology leaders through the Cisco and Scotland Women in Technology (SWiT) networks.

To date, the programme has successfully created more than 20 women graduates, kickstarting their cyber journey and preparing them to take on cyber jobs, apprenticeships, and further learning.

“The cyber skills gap continues to grow in Scotland and globally, and contributing to that skills gap is the lack of diversity in the cyber workforce,” Ketty Lawrence, SWiT Vice Chair said. “Supporting more women to move into cyber careers will both increase the size of our workforce and the variety of skillsets. That variety of skills is crucial for increasing innovation, productivity and ultimately ensuring Scotland is a safe, secure, and resilient nation.”

FDM and Microsoft

FDM Group, which has offices in Glasgow as well as London, has announced a global collaboration with Microsoft.

The technology and professional services firm has been selected as Microsoft’s Global Workforce Development Partner.

As part of the programme, the FTSE 250 professional services firm is formally recognised as a premier solutions provider that can connect its customers with consultants that have been trained on official Microsoft content.

Geoff Hirsch, Microsoft Learning Partner Channel Lead, commented: “FDM Group have played a crucial role in supporting job seekers with the skills required to understand, deploy and manage Microsoft solutions. FDM will continue to help connect businesses to Microsoft officially trained personnel to support their business goals.”

Loveelectric.cars and Hybervolt

EV salary sacrifice company loveelectric.cars, and Hypervolt, Britain’s preeminent EV charging brand, have today announced their new partnership. The collaboration will save new EV drivers more on a new home charger than the UK Government’s phased-out OZEV (Office for Zero Emission Vehicles) £350 grant that came to an end in March 2022.

Hypervolt’s smart and beautifully-designed charger is now available for loveelectric.cars customers to roll into their EV order – saving the average customer over £500. The collaboration will ensure that getting a new electric car and charger is simple, accessible and affordable for drivers across the UK.

Steve Tigar, CEO of loveelectric.cars, said, “Our partnership with Hypervolt is a game changer for our customers and the EV market. We created loveelectric.cars to ensure electric cars are accessible and affordable for people across the UK. With Hypervolt, we’ve supercharged this offering by ensuring our drivers can access state-of-the-art, affordable chargers, too.”

David Woodford, Head of Partnerships at Hypervolt, said, “March 2023 is a big month for us as we celebrate the second anniversary since launch. However, having this occasion coincide with the announcement of our partnership with loveelectric.cars makes this milestone even more special.”

Saxavord and Plastron

The UK’s first vertical launch spaceport, located on the Scottish Isle of Unst, is entering in a partnership with Plastron UK to develop a new state of the art payload processing facility (PPF).

Plastron will construct two cleanrooms – a space containing a low concentration of airborne particles, necessary for the manufacturing and assembly of satellites.

The launch site, located at Lamba Ness, is designed for small rockets delivering payloads into low earth orbit.

SaxaVord, the launch facility, believes the development of this PPF will give it a commercial edge in the New Space marketplace.

“These cleanrooms will give SaxaVord and the UK the capability to host satellites of up to 1,000kg,” said Scott Hammond, deputy CEO of SaxaVord. “This means we can host a multitude of different satellite sizes and that we are not restricted in our offering to the industry.”

“Using knowledge gleaned from performing launch operations throughout the world, we have designed the most advanced payload processing facility available for the New Space sector,” said Chris Smith, Technical Director of Plastron.

IES and Eaton

Glasgow-based climate tech firm IES has partnered with Eaton, the global power management company, in a bid to identify energy savings and emissions reductions for building owners around the world, it’s been announced.

With its ‘digital twin’ technology, IES is set to help Eaton’s customers make their buildings energy efficient, and assess scope for EV charging infrastructure, energy storage, and renewable generation technologies.

This is a momentous partnership for IES,” said Don McLean, founder and CEO of IES.

“Working with a business the size of Eaton, with customers in over 170 countries, will allow us to reach far more building owners in need of data-driven, tangible roadmaps to meet net zero and navigate the energy transition.”

Delphine Clement, the commercial and industrial buildings segment leader at Eaton in EMEA, also commented on the partnership, saying: “IES’s expertise will enable us to offer even more to our customers, demonstrating how their buildings will perform before and during their energy transition journey.”

Cisco and University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh has partnered with Cisco to launch a new software centre of excellence, focused on quantum and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology.

Over the next five years, the centre will fund projects to deliver leading-edge software solutions, with an emphasis on quantum computing, AI, and cyber security.

Since 2017, the University and Cisco have worked together on a number of projects in areas such as speech technologies, legal implications of AI, network traffic analysis, and quantum programming languages.

The Centre is led by Dr Chris Heunen, Reader in Quantum Informatics at the School of Informatics, supported by Michael Rovatsos, Professor of Artificial Intelligence.

Dr Chris Heunen: “I am delighted to lead the new Quantum Computing & AI focussed Centre of Excellence with Cisco and I look forward to bringing together our expertise to push forward developments in these transformational technologies. Our aim is to combine our collective strengths to help shape the development of software technologies to benefit our economy and society as a whole.”

InnoScot and NHS

InnoScot Health is proud to be part of a forward-thinking group of collaborative organisations who are supporting Scottish innovators taking part in this year’s NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme (CEP).

The second successive year of the programme being open to Scottish healthcare professionals has seen 12 innovation-minded NHS staff selected from across Scotland to take part after a competitive assessment process.

They will now be given focused learning on how to develop the necessary insight and know-how to successfully develop their ideas for the benefit of patients, the public, and the wider NHS.

Staff from NHS Scotland partner InnoScot Health welcomed the CEP’s Scottish cohort at a launch event on Tuesday 28th February, alongside The Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI), NHS Education for Scotland (NES), Scottish Enterprise, and the Scottish Health and Industry Partnership Group (SHIP).

Head of Project Management at InnoScot Health, Gillian Henderson said: “We are delighted to be part of this coordinated programme that invites Scottish health service entrepreneurs to maximise their learning for significant innovation benefits that can be adopted back into the NHS.”

Planner Bee VA Services and Business Gateway’s Growth Programme

An Aberdeen-based Virtual Assistant (VA) service has exceeded its revenue goals within the first year of trading, after receiving support from Business Gateway.

Planner Bee VA Services, which supports sustainability businesses with digital marketing and social media management, was founded in September 2021 by Maya Vertigans, aged 22.

After graduating with a degree in sociology from the University of Edinburgh in June 2020, Maya initially founded a sustainable gift business, supported by Business Gateway’s Growth Programme. She pivoted the business amid the Covid-19 pandemic to combine her passion for ethical businesses and her marketing knowledge, to launch the VA service.

Maya Vertigans, founder of Planner Bee VA Services said, “I had always wanted to start up my own business, and after graduating during a global pandemic I decided to just do it. My ideas from the business developed as I realised the growth of the VA market. With everyone doing business virtually, I saw a unique opportunity.

“Thanks to the support from Business Gateway, I have achieved more than I could have imagined as a business owner. Its expertise in business strategy, pricing models and online security has given me the tools to operate my business confidently and I now have my sights set on becoming the ‘go-to’ VA within the sustainable and ethical business sector.”

Renewable Parts and Ørsted

Glasgow-based Renewable Parts, entered into agreement with Danish energy firm, Ørsted, to increase the volume of parts reused in its UK offshore wind farm operations.

The partnership further strengthens Renewable Parts’ investment to increase sustainability and reduce the carbon footprint of the wind industry supply chain.

Ørsted is an established global player in offshore wind power development, this new collaborative agreement will see Renewable Parts take charge in the refurbishment of their wind turbines.

“Achieving Net-Zero is a commitment for all organisations and wind power is one of the greenest energy sources to achieve that goal. However, it’s vital we ensure our supply chain is as green as the energy it supports,” said James Barry, Chief Executive of Renewable Parts

Scottish Enterprise, BP, and ETZ

Aberdeen-based ETZ, raised £3.25 million between Scottish Enterprise and global energy firm bp to construct an energy incubator and scale up hub (EISH).

Scottish Enterprise invested £2 million while bp put forward £1.25 million. The remainder of the funds for the project will be provided through the Scottish Government’s Energy Transition Fund.

ETZ is a not-for-profit dedicated to establishing north east Scotland as a global leader in energy transition to net zero.

The incubator is meant to be the focal point of an innovation campus, one of five across the Energy Transition Zone in Aberdeen, which will become the largest in Scotland.

“The Energy Incubator and Scale Up Hub will help build on that proud reputation, allowing us to expand our vital energy supply chain, and be an integral part of the Innovation Campus and Energy Transition Zone,” said Sir Ian Wood, ETZ Ltd Chairman.

The VR Hive and Redhill High School

The VR Hive, the Scottish virtual reality (VR) company, has partnered with Redhill High School in a bid to develop and test an immersive environment designed to promote positive mental health for children aged 11-17.

The collaboration between the VR Hive and Redhill High School — an independent, co-ed school in West Wales — aims to address the growing need for effective mental health interventions for children and adolescents. Arisaig Isle, an immersive VR environment, combined with the support of Verbee, an AI coach companion, offers the potential for children to manage their anxiety in a safe space.

Together, Redhill and the VR Hive will work closely during the project’s testing phase, with the school providing feedback to help refine and better the user experience.

“Collaborating with leaders in the educational sector is critical to developing the best solution for the challenges being faced by children today, which is why we are excited to be working with a sector-leading school like Redhill,” said Anne Widdop, the founder of The VR Hive, on the partnership.

Digital Catapult and Ofcom

Digital Catapult, working in partnership with Ofcom, has announced the opening of its new Open RAN testing facilities as part of its SONIC Labs (SmartRAN Open Network Interoperability Centre) programme, funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

The programme is driving forward the rollout of a new wireless communication technology known as Open Radio Access Networks (Open RAN), which enables mobile networks to be built using a variety of different equipment suppliers.

The new facilities provide multiple Open RAN vendors with the opportunity to trial, test and accelerate the development of their products in a commercially neutral environment.

Julia Lopez, Digital Infrastructure Minister, said: “Our £250 million investment in facilities like SONIC Labs is boosting competition in the telecoms market and driving the development of new mobile technology.

“These new facilities are another example of how the UK is at the forefront of telecoms innovation, supporting our diversification strategy by boosting business and growing the economy.”

Techscaler and Reforge

Techscaler has launched its first scaleup programme in partnership with Silicon Valley-based Reforge.

A plethora of companies have joined the cohort in March, with a total of 47 individuals from 17 organisations to participate.

Organisations include: Amiqus, Chauffeur Drive Systems, CodeClan, Cyacomb, Dyneval, For-Sight, Grafterr, Krucial, Kythera AI, Phlo Technologies, Loveelectric, MarkToMarket, On-Line Booking Co-Operative for Scotland, Relaymed, Robotical, Valla, and VeryConnect.

Shona Marsh, Head of Education Programmes at CodeBase, said: “The partnership with Reforge brings Silicon Valley playbooks, scaleup experience and best practices to Scotland, to help companies accelerate their growth.”

Ace Aquatec and Ocean Health

Aquaculture technology specialists, Ace Aquatec, have partnered with marine ecosystem restoration specialists Ocean Health to further develop FaunaGuard, which uses academically validated sound patterns with award-winning transducer technology to create temporary exclusion zones around project sites.

This ethical acoustic system is an important tool for safeguarding oceanic wildlife from the risks associated with offshore construction works. The two organisations now join efforts to make FaunaGuard globally available as the go-to mitigation solution for the offshore renewables sector.

Andrew Gillespie, Marine Protection Products Business Manager at Ace Aquatec, said: “We are seeing a marked increase in demand from environmental surveyors, contractors, and developers, who are specifying the need for more ethical solutions for safeguarding marine mammals from harm during construction projects. Our partnership with Ocean Health is accelerating change in the offshore sector to adopt a more species-specific approach to protection, rather than an outdated one-size-fits-all tactic.”

Walther-Meißner-Institute and memsstar Limited

memsstar Ltd., a leading provider of etch and deposition equipment to researchers and manufacturers of semiconductors and micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS), today announced it has shipped its ORBIS™ Alpha XERIC™ oxide etch system for MEMS research and manufacturing to Germany’s Walther-Meißner-Institut for Low-Temperature Research (WMI). memsstar’s surface micromachining tool will be implemented as a central unit for micromechanical structuring of MEMS components, from single chips up to 200mm wafers.

Dr. Stefan Filipp, Ph.D., director of WMI, commented, “We selected the memsstar ORBIS Alpha XERIC oxide etch system to obtain the best etch process capabilities for investigating novel approaches in designing high-quality quantum devices.”

“This project strongly showcases ORBIS’s capabilities and our approach to working with our customers to develop processes that address their specific requirements,” said memsstar CEO Tony McKie. “The truly leading-edge work being done at WMI requires our technology’s advanced control and capabilities to meet their varied application requirements.”

Gigged.AI and OpenAI

Gigged.AI, an AI-driven talent platform, is proud to announce its integration with OpenAI’s Chat API, a powerful natural language processing technology that allows for efficient communication between clients and freelance tech talent.

Gigged.AI CTO Craig Short added: “OpenAI’s Chat API is one of the most advanced natural language processing technologies on the market, and we’re excited to bring its capabilities to our platform. By using this technology, we’re confident that our clients will be able to work more efficiently, create better deliverables, and achieve their business goals faster. A huge well done to our product team for making this integration so seamless through the Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service.”

Expansion

Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT) Launched Innovation Hubs

Backed by £5.5 million of Treasury and City of London Corporation funding, CFIT aims to create “time-limited ‘coalitions’” of experts across finance, technology, academia, and policy-making to identify and eliminate barriers to fintech sector growth, support the creation of high-income tech-based employment across the UK, and enable fintech companies to scale globally.

The Centre was created in response to the Kalifa Review of UK Fintech — a review which highlighted ways in which the UK could retain its place as a global fintech player.

Sir Ron Kalifa, author of the Kalifa Review, said: “The Centre will be instrumental in fostering collaboration between industry, academia and policymakers, promoting innovation, and turbo-charging the adoption of new technologies for businesses and consumers.”

Emtelle

Scottish telecoms group Emtelle signed an agreement to build one of the world largest factories to manufacture fibre optic ducting and pre-connectorised solutions in Abu Dhabi.

The facility will be created following a £42 million investment from the Hawick-headquartered Emtelle under a build-to-suit agreement with Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (KEZDA). This investment is a statement project from Emtelle as they look to expand their worldwide footprint in the Fiber Optic industry.

“(The agreement) is a huge statement of intent by Emtelle as we will have the manufacturing space needed to ramp up our capacity,” said Tony Rodgers, CEO of Emtelle Group. “This will significantly shorten supply chains and guarantee both existing and new customers security of supply. This will allow countries across the Middle East and Asia Pacific the ability to significantly enhance their fibre networks at rapid speed,” he said.

According to Emtelle, the facility will export 95% of its manufactured products globally to markets, leveraging the end-to-end infrastructure from KEZAD.

Kin + Carta

Global digital transformation consultancy business Kin + Carta is set to open their newest office in Edinburgh.

The Princes’s Street location is meant to be a hub for the UK-based side of the company. It is well situated to connect Kin + Carta’s Americas central office in Chicago with the rest of the world. The company will also be expanding into Bristol to develop a hub with a new team.

Many high ranking members in Kin + Carta already call Edinburgh home including David Tuck, group CEO of Europe who said Edinburgh will be key to their long term growth. “We have a number of our leaders who call the city home,” he said, “so building out our offering here made perfect sense.”

Along with an already-established group of employees in the city, Edinburgh is now considered the data capital of Europe which will offer Kin + Carta a deep talent pool to choose from.

CuanTec

CuanTec — the Scottish biotech company — has established a new manufacturing plant in Glenrothes, with the expansion set to create around 20 new jobs.

As a circular economy company, CuanTec — which has R&D labs in Oban — uses innovative tech to create new materials from natural resources, thereby reducing waste, pollution, and carbon emissions.

The biotech firm’s new separation plant has been leased at the premises of the Fife Food & Business Centre on the Southfield Industrial Estate. Here, CuanTec will take advantage of shellfish waste — which would otherwise be incinerated — to extract chitin. Chitin is a naturally occurring biopolymer found in the exoskeletons and shells of a range of organisms, and has a multitude of applications in industries including pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

“We are delighted to be in Glenrothes and see Fife as our future long-term manufacturing base from which every stream of the process can be managed,” said CEO of CuanTec, Craig Sterling, regarding the news.

SnapDragon

SnapDragon Monitoring — the Edinburgh-based, female-led online brand protection company — has announced plans to grow its international reach by 25% in 2023 following a successful business year.

With its proprietary software, Swoop, the Scottish firm enables brand owners to monitor the web for fake and copycat goods, thereby protecting the business’ reputation and revenues, as well as end-consumers from unwittingly purchasing counterfeits.

The A.I.-propelled tech also helps brands to search the web to find infringing content, and work to have them removed before further damage is done.

SnapDragon’s announcement of international reach expansion comes off the back of the company’s annual turnover increasing by 29% last year, as well as an exports increase of 49%.

“We are delighted with our success over the last year, which has seen our businesses grow not just in figures, but also in Dragons,” said Rachel Jones, CEO of SnapDragon Monitoring.

Data Lab CEO Recognised in DataIQ 100

Brian Hills, the CEO of The Data Lab, has been included in the DataIQ 100 – a list of the most influential people in data and analytics.

The annual list, published following an awards ceremony on 2 March, includes a list of those making significant strides in data innovation.

Hills commented: “To be included among such stellar talent not only nationally, but internationally for the second year running is an honour, not just for myself but for The Data Lab. It reinforces our position as a leading innovation centre on a national stage and is a testament to the work that the entire team does in our vision to create the world’s most impactful data community.”

Scotland Women in Technology

Just in time for International Women’s Day, Scotland Women in Technology (SWIT) has announced the categories for their 2023 SWIT Awards.

Aiming to champion, celebrate, and invest in women in technology within Scotland, SWIT, which was founded in 2008, is a not-for-profit organisation driving gender equality in the tech ecosystem.

Silka Patel, Founder of Scottish Women in Tech, said: “Given that just 26% of the UK tech workforce are women, there’s a clear opportunity to close the growing technology skills gap by encouraging more of us into the sector. We started the awards in 2017 to celebrate those who are putting the work in to do this – and it’s fantastic to be back.”

Their 2023 Awards will have ten categories to celebrate and honour women in the tech ecosystem who are making a difference for gender equity in Scotland and the globe.

Nominations are now open, and will close on August 18th.

ScotlandIS Digital Tech Awards Shortlist

Showcasing the ‘Magic of Tech’ the shortlisted candidates for the 2023 awards fall under categories ranging from tech for good to start-up of the year.

The shortlist of nominees for the 2023 ScotlandIS Digital Tech Awards has been announced in anticipation of the 13th annual celebration.

ScotlandIS, the cluster management organisation for Scotland’s digital technology industry, will celebrate individuals and organisations across the length and breadth of the country in their awards, showcasing tech talent within the Scottish sector.

This year saw an unprecedented number of nominations for the Unsung Hero category, aiming to recognise those that give up their won time and resources to give back to the community but don’t usually get the credit they deserve.

Karen Meechan, ScotlandIS CEO, commented: “I am continually astounded by the quality of the entries we receive and some of the fantastic success stories we hear from across our industry.”

Kingussie High School

After competing with over 660 schoolgirls from 144 teams across Scotland, the winner of both the Growing Future Assets Competition’s junior and senior categories has been announced: Kingussie High School.

The students, who are aged between 14 and 18, came out top in the annual competition aiming to inspire Scottish schoolgirls to consider careers in investment management.

Participating teams had to research, analyse, and pitch companies they thought would be a lucrative long-term bet.

Kingussie’s senior (16-18) team — Gabi, Kirsty, Catrin, Zoe, and Sasha — delivered a pitch on TOMRA, the sorting and recycling company. The school’s junior (14-16) team — Lucy, Tia, and Jess — presented on SolarEdge, the renewable energy firm.

On the double win, Helen Bradley, Future Asset CEO, said: “This is an exceptional result for Kingussie High School. The fact that they have won both the junior and senior categories is outstanding.”

Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards

The winners of the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards — the annual celebration of business-academic partnerships — have been announced, spotlighting a selection of impactful collaborations benefiting the economy, society, and the environment.

The 2023 finalists — previously covered by DIGIT — were chosen by a panel of judges from across the business support ecosystem. Alongside championing collaborations that demonstrate innovation, impact, and transformation, the Awards also aim to recognise the people contributing to valuable knowledge exchange.

“Today’s awards showcase the impactful collaborations between businesses and the academic community and their role in translating Scotland’s world-class research into knowledge that makes Impact,” said Mr Ivan McKee, Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise, on the announcement of the winners.

Biscuit Tin – Shortlisted UK StartUp Award

Dunbar-based startup, Biscuit Tin, has been named a finalist ahead of the Scottish Final of the StartUp Awards.

The StartUp Awards has been launched to recognise the booming startup scene across the UK which has accelerated since the 2019 pandemic. Over 800,000 new businesses were founded in the UK since 2021, a 4.3% increase from the year before.

A record number of businesses applied to this year’s StartUp Awards, with 1,100 firms shortlisted across ten UK nations and regions. The contribution of these firms – all of which were started in the last three years – is significant, having created over 5,000 new jobs since they were established and generating annual sales of £584 million.

Tags: movers and shakers