Part of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the Higgs Centre is co-located with the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) and Edinburgh University’s Institute for Astronomy at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh.

With a focus on businesses in the big data and space sectors, the Higgs Centre is playing an important role in the growth and success of Scottish technology start-ups.

Benefits to Business

Tenants of the Higgs Centre gain affordable access to its research facilities, technical expertise, office space and specialist business support they need to take their technologies and businesses to the next level.

Ultimately this support, which is typically out of reach to small business, is in an effort to help them overcome their technology challenges, which reduces risk, cost, and time to globally competitive markets.

Robotics, Satellites, and Beyond

Current tenants Gibson Robotics specialise in development of drones for security applications such as supplementing police helicopters with an environmentally and budget friendly alternative or, in extreme circumstances, capturing hostile drones which can ruin holiday plans and cost airports millions in downtime.

Gibson Robotics founder and Managing Director, Joe Gibson said: “Higgs have been supporting our growth for almost a year and it has been incredibly valuable.

“Being part of the Higgs ecosystem alongside other high-tech start-ups is great as we share knowledge, experiences and our networks.”

Important Milestone

Speaking about the investment and jobs milestone, STFC’s Dr Julian Dines, Head of Innovation at the Higgs Centre, said: “It’s fantastic to have reached such an important milestone with £10 million in investment and over 100 jobs.

“We’re always incredibly proud of the Higgs Centre’s role in assisting young tech companies at the start of their journey.

“Though we are excited by what we have achieved, we continue to look to the future, supporting small businesses and start-ups by providing access to knowledge, technical skills and facilities. And we look forward to announcing further successes and even more investment over the coming months.”

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Removing Obstacles

STFC’s Ruairidh Henderson, Business Incubation Manager at the Higgs Centre, said: “We’re all about getting hi-tech start-ups, started here at our home on the hill. We try to remove as many obstacles, and offer as much guidance, as possible so the companies can focus on reaching their goals.

“Credit to the businesses – good ideas, well executed get investment – and we wish them all very well as they continue to scale into the future.”