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DIGIT Movers and Shakers | December 2023
Welcome to December’s Movers and Shakers, where we delve into the partnerships, appointments, as we ran down the clock on 2023.
The Scottish tech sector rounded off 2023 with a series of appointments, partnerships, and awards to end the year on a high and gave plenty of reason for optimism before well deserved hibernation.
As the new year ramps up and companies continue to look forward, some Scottish companies already had their eye on the future with new hires and deals, while others closed out the year’s end highlighting some special achievements.
Let’s take a look back at what the last month of 2023 had in store for the Scottish tech scene.
Recruitment
Scots Investment Firm EOS Makes Executive Appointments
Eos Advisory, the St Andrews-based impact investment firm, has grown its headcount to 11 with a number of executive appointments aimed at supporting the firm’s growing portfolio, which now totals 18 companies.
Anne Muir joins the firm as director of portfolio from the University of Dundee, where she was deputy director at its research and innovation services, as well as the head of IP and commercialisation. Rob Halliday also joins Eos as investment director from SIS Ventures, where he was a senior investment manager.
They join recent recruits Jill Arnold, the former head of SIS Ventures who is now investment relationship director at Eos, and Calum Keddie, investment executive at Eos, who began his career on Rolls-Royce’s commercial graduate programme before taking up a financial analyst role with Dutch bank ING.
Andrew McNeill, Eos’s managing partner, said: “The growth of the portfolio and the overall quantum of our investments means we needed to build more capacity and expertise.”
To read more, click here.
Scots Spacetech Orbex Appoints Chief Commercial Officer
UK-based orbital launch services company, Orbex, has announced the appointment of John Bone as its new chief commercial officer. This key appointment comes as Orbex advances its preparations for the launch of Orbex Prime, expected to be the UK mainland’s first vertical rocket launch.
John Bone brings a wealth of experience to Orbex, with over 20 years in the space industry, including 18 years in director or C-level positions.
In his new role as chief commercial officer, John will be responsible for driving the commercial strategy of Orbex, leveraging his extensive experience and network to establish and nurture key partnerships and expand Orbex’s presence in the global space market.
John Bone commented on his appointment, “Joining Orbex at this exciting time is a great honour.
To read more, click here.
Brightsolid Announces New Head of Cloud Solutions
To read more, click here.
Scots Cyber Firm Resillion Appoints Executive Chair
Resillion, the engineering and cybersecurity services firm, has appointed Yaron Kottler as its new executive chairman.
Yaron brings 20 years of industry expertise, most notably as a co-founder of quality engineering giant Qualitest. There, he was instrumental in developing and delivering a global growth strategy, including targeted acquisitions and development of strategic alliances.
Resillion, which started life as Edge Testing Solutions in Strathclyde Business Park, was bought by French business group Eurofins in 2018 and has since broken away. In addition to its global locations it has two Scottish offices, on West Nile Street in Glasgow and Mitchell Street in Edinburgh. UK managing director of Resillion, Sharon Hamilton, is also based in Scotland.
To read more, click here.
Partnerships
EDF and Snugg Partner on Energy Efficiency Platform
Snugg, the Scots energy efficiency tech startup, has launched a new digital platform with EDF to help homeowners make their homes more energy efficient.
The Home Efficiency Hub on EDF’s website gives homeowners a view of the best ways to make savings on their energy bills and reduce the carbon emissions of their homes.
It identifies areas where improvements could be made, from air source heat pumps, solar PV panels, and insulation to cheaper options such as draught-proofing. It also shows estimated energy bill savings.
“With the Home Efficiency Hub, we are making it easier than ever to access home efficiency upgrades and the financial support customers need, making sustainability easier for everyone, and helping Britain in the journey towards Net Zero,” Dan Hopcroft, zero carbon heat director at EDF said.
To read more, click here.
IGS Enters Partnership for New “GigaFarm” in Dubai
Food Tech Valley has signed an agreement at COP28 with ReFarm to start construction on a 900,000 sq. ft. “GigaFarm”. The waste-to-value farm will be capable of recycling more than 50,000 tonnes of food waste and growing two billion plants each year.
ReFarm was established in the UAE by SSK Enterprise and Christof Global Impact (CGI) as a group of companies with a focus on projects with circularity and clean technologies. The brand chose vertical farming technology developed by Scottish infrastructure supplier Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS).
In what’s being dubbed as a global first, six complementary technologies will be co-located on the Dubai Food Tech Valley site as part of a closed-loop circular waste-to-value system, establishing a self-contained ecosystem designed to maximise resource efficiency and prevent any waste going to landfill.
To read more, click here.
FinTech Scotland, Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow
FinTech Scotland has announced the launch of the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL), a new initiative to help revolutionise and shape the future regulatory landscapes in the UK and around the globe.
In partnership with the University of Strathclyde and University of Glasgow, FRIL will deliver a wide-ranging research agenda, led by—and actionable for—the financial sector, to help advance understanding and adoption of new and emerging technologies.
As well as integrating academic research with an industry-relevant agenda, the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab will engage participants in industry-led innovation challenge calls, design and implement a skills and education programme, and facilitate knowledge exchange through workshops, roundtables, conferences, and trade missions.
“FinTech Scotland is uniquely positioned within the Scottish fintech industry to lead such an initiative as it will work to inspire collaborators across Scotland, the UK and globally, enabling those around the world to see Glasgow’s financial services capabilities,” said Nicola Anderson, CEO of FinTech Scotland.
To read more, click here.
Glasgow’s Spire Global Partners with Lacuna Space
Spire Global, Inc., the Glasgow-based global provider of space-based data, analytics, and space services, was awarded a space services contract by Lacuna Space, a leading satellite IoT connectivity provider.
Under the agreement, Spire will initially build and launch six satellites carrying Lacuna Space’s payload and antennna, with the opportunity to scale the constellation to dozens of satellites. Lacuna Space will operate its payloads and receive encrypted data at its Harwell headquarters.
“Satellites play a critical role in providing IoT connectivity across the globe, particularly to remote, underserved, and developing areas of the world. These services are transformational in enabling new applications across a wide variety of industries and solving some of the biggest challenges facing humanity today,” said Frank Frulio, the general manager of Space Services at Spire.
To read more, click here.
Awards
£1.5M Claimed at Scottish EDGE Awards
£1.5 million was invested into 38 early stage, high-growth businesses at the Scottish EDGE Awards.
The investments were dished out during the 22nd round of the Scottish EDGE awards, which took place in Glasgow for the first time since 2019 and was hosted by the Royal Bank of Scotland, and supported by The Hunter Foundation, the Scottish Government, and Scottish Enterprise.
“As businesses across Scotland find themselves facing challenging circumstances, there’s never been a more urgent need to drive creativity and innovation. The winners of the 22nd round of Scottish EDGE are testament to the incredible potential within Scotland’s startup landscape,” said Evelyn McDonald, CEO of Scottish EDGE.
The event saw the unveiling of the £1000,000 Pathways Award backed by the Scottish Government, aimed at empowering female entrepreneurs, which went to a probiotic fermented sauerkraut company, Good Nude Food.
To read more, click here.
Final CodeClan Cohort Graduates from CodeBase
Following Codebase’s acquisition of CodeClan following its sudden closure, the final cohort of Professional Software Development students officially graduated on Friday the 1st of December.
Students were joined by instructors, support staff, friends, and family on the day to toast the accomplishment of completing the course.
Darren Lackie, student representative for the cohort, said: “It was an emotional ceremony that really felt like the end of an era. There was a great deal of emphasis on gratitude to people across the tech community who made it possible, from the instructors who stayed on, the students themselves who persevered, and the likes of FanDuel, who provided a home for lessons to continue.”
Yasmin Sulaiman, VP of partnerships at CodeBase said: “Collectively, we are so thankful for the widespread support across Scotland, without which we wouldn’t be celebrating these graduations.”
To read more, click here.
Professor Bill Buchanan Wins Award for Innovative Teaching
Professor Bill Buchanan OBE, the cryptography and cybersecurity academic teaching at Edinburgh Napier University, has been named Most Innovative Teacher of the Year at the 2023 Times Higher Education (THE) Awards.
The Times Higher Education awards are recognised as the “Oscars of higher education” and its judges praised Buchanan on his curriculum, rapport with students, his dynamic external speakers, and the promotion of cybersecurity literacy beyond higher education.
The award is but the latest accolade for the Scottish professor. Buchanan was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2017 for his services to cybersecurity. He’s also a fellow of the British Computer Society (BCS), a principal fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA), and has won multiple student-voted awards for teaching excellence.
Speaking on the award win, Buchanan said: “The past year or so has been amazing – with such great students who have been so eager to learn.
“In fact, it has been great fun, and I have loved every minute of it.”
To read more, click here.
Heriot-Watt Announced Global Innovation Challenge Winners
More than 500 innovators from across four continents have unveiled solutions to tackle a range of global challenges, including crop disease management, sustainable shopping, and healthcare.
The international university competition, organised by Edinburgh-based Heriot-Watt University, trains new student and academic-led companies across sectors with 13 winners receiving a share of £30,000 to progress their businesses and prototype development.
Following a competitive pitch event, Heriot-Watt Online student Annie Mamvura, founder of GreenGraceWear in Nairobi, Kenya, won the Health and Care-led Business award.
“Heriot-Watt has a long track-record of supporting entrepreneurs along a growth pathway,” Danielle Moran, enterprise manager at Heriot-Watt University said.
To read more, click here.
UK Fintech Innovation Challenge Winners Announced
The challenge aimed at discovering innovative solutions to strengthen the relationships between financial institutions and their SME clients.
Fintech companies Xpand and Skwile Ltd have each been awarded £50,000. This investment will fuel the development of their propositions, fostering innovation, and supporting the economic growth within central Scotland.
FinTech Scotland has a track record of running successful innovation calls for established financial firms and, thanks to its collaboration with Smart Data Foundry, it has sought to take those calls to the next level.
Bryn Coulthard, chief product and technology officer at Smart Data Foundry commented: “We are delighted with the success of our first innovation call in partnership with FinTech Scotland, the first in a joint programme of innovation calls to help drive economic growth in Scotland’s fintech sector.”
To read more, click here.
Microplate Dx Wins Best ‘Startup’ Business at Barclays 2023 Entrepreneur Awards
Glasgow-based healthtech company Microplate Dx has won a best “startup” award at the Barclays Entrepreneur Awards 2023.
The startup award, sponsored by FreshBooks, aimed to honour new businesses that are challenging the current “status quo.”
Microplate Dx won the award for their antimicrobial resistance technology which combines hardware and software to test antibiotic susceptibility testing for urinary tract infections.
At a separate event in December, the firm’s co-founder Dr Poonam Malik also won the “Woman of the Year” award at the 16th Scottish Asian & Business Awards event.
Fife College Lecturer Receives Awards from Adobe
Fife College Creative Industries Lecturer Colin Maxwell has been honoured with a special award from the global leader in creative software, Adobe.
Colin’s contributions to the software giants’ education and online training offering, through Adobe Training Partner Edge Gain, have earned him the title of Instructional Excellence Trainer for 2023.
Colin, who teaches on Fife College’s animation and computer games courses, provides online training for teachers worldwide across a wide range of Adobe including Photoshop, Illustrator, Animate, After Effects and Adobe Express.
“Receiving this award is a tremendous honour, particularly given the high calibre of tutors associated with Edge Gain. I strive to tailor my courses to the right level and incorporate feedback so I’m very pleased that these efforts have been acknowledged,” Colin said.
