Welcome to the first monthly edition of DIGIT Movers and Shakers this year.

Movers and Shakers gives you the low-down on recent news in the Scottish tech ecosystem, from recruitment and partnerships to expansion and awards.

This month’s column features a mix of cutting-edge organisations and key players doing exciting things — read on to learn more!

Recruitment

Sword Ping welcomes Andrew Cruikshank as Cyber Security Sales Lead.

Andrew will be responsible for the Sales leadership of Sword Ping‘s Cyber Practice including services such as Incident Response, Security Operations Centre, Vulnerability Management Training and Awareness, Virtual CISO and consultancy services.

With 25+ years of working within the Scottish IT market he has developed a vast degree of knowledge and experience with complex solution sales across public/private/hybrid cloud and security technologies.

“I have known the Sword Ping for many years and have always admired the commitment given to skills, solution development and service excellence, as such I am looking forward to developing existing propositions, partnerships and enhancing our service offering to our current customers, as well as expending our relationships within some new strategic vertical markets,” said Andrew.

Pathways Forward Programme Appoints Advisory Group

The Pathways Forward programme, launched in September following the publication of the Scottish Government-commissioned Pathways: A New Approach For Women in Entrepreneurship report, has appointed an advisory group to make further progress on the report’s recommendations.

Carolyn Jameson, professor Eleanor Shaw OBE, and Jo Forster join the advisory board while Darina Garland and Mark Logan OBE have been appointed as advisors, together making up the advisory group. They join Ana Stewart, Pathways Forward chair and co-author of the Pathways report, which highlighted the obstacles women in Scotland face in entrepreneurship.

“Their combined expertise will be invaluable in informing our strategy going forward,” commented Ana Stewart, Pathways Forward chair.

Read more here.

Orbex Announces New CEO and Chair

UK-based orbital launch services company, Orbex, has announced the appointment of two technology and space sector veterans as its new CEO and executive chair.

Scale-up specialist Phillip Chambers joins as Orbex’s new chief executive officer and Miguel Belló Mora leaves his post as director general of the Spanish Space Agency to join as executive chair.

Phillip Chambers, CEO of Orbex, said: “It’s a hugely exciting time to be joining Orbex and the global space industry as we look ahead to a significant period of growth for the business. As we progress towards the completion of the Sutherland Spaceport and our continuing work towards our first launch, we’re about to embark on an incredible journey.

Read more here.

Edinburgh Napier Uni Appoints New Entrepreneur in Residence

Edinburgh Napier University has announced Lynne Cadenhead—a serial entrepreneur, experienced tech sector leader, and chair of Women’s Enterprise Scotland—as its newest entrepreneur in residence.

A Napier alumna with a background in life sciences, professor Lynne Cadenhead has started and grown three successful businesses, and has more than 25 years of entrepreneurial, equity investment, and policy experience.

“We believe Lynne’s expertise will have a profound impact on our students, staff, and alumni as they embark on their entrepreneurial journeys,” said Nick Fannin, head of enterprise at Bright Red Triangle, the university’s enterprise hub.

Read more here.

University of Stirling Announces New Entrepreneur in Residence

Gillian Fleming, a prominent figure in Scotland’s business investment landscape, has been appointed as the University of Stirling Management School’s latest entrepreneur in residence.

Gillian is chief executive officer and co-founder of Mint Ventures, the women-led angel investor group which is making angel investing more accessible to women.

“With an investment background and being immersed in the startup ecosystem, I’m excited to be bringing my perspectives and philosophies to Stirling Management School,” said the Mint Ventures CEO.

Read more here.

Optimum Eco Group has announced New Managing Director

Electronics recycling specialists Optimum Eco Group has announced the appointment of a new managing director, with Jim McNulty taking up the role.

Jim will take over the post from company founder Bruce McLean, who is stepping down after more than 23 years, and will remain with the company as a Director.

The Optimum Eco Group, an active member of the Circular Economy, employs more than 110 staff in Irvine and includes CCL (North), an industry-leading IT & WEEE recycling business focussing in secure data destruction, and Restructa, specialists in refurbishing and recycling TVs, computer monitors and display products.

Ace Aquatec appoints new Head of Sales

Dundee-based aquaculture technology company Ace Aquatec have begun the new year by expanding their team, with the addition of Ben Perry as Head of Sales.

He comes to Ace Aquatec from Benchmark Holdings Ltd, where he held the role of Sales and Technical Manager and most recently worked on developing the company’s genetics business in North America, supporting both land-based producers and net pen farmers across the region.

Speaking about his appointment, Ben Perry said: “This is a great opportunity to combine my clinical knowledge and practical experience with a purpose-driven, innovative mission to provide intelligent, ethical aquaculture products to customers.

Earth Blox Appoints Katie Critchlow as non-executive director

Edinburgh-based Earth Blox has appointed Katie Critchlow to its board as a non-executive director. Katie brings over 20 years of experience in green business growth and innovation for impact. She has held c-suite positions at several cutting-edge green startups, most recently as CEO of NatureMetrics, where she led the company through a period of 10x growth.

Katie Critchlow said: “This is an exciting time to join Earth Blox. When it comes to nature, many institutions have been paralysed by the idea that there is no data or overwhelmed by how difficult it is to get hold of and analyse.

“The Earth Blox solution removes these barriers to action. It puts petabytes of carbon, nature and other spatial data into the hands of the people within financial institutions and corporations to accelerate the move towards reporting and performance improvement on nature, climate.”

Muckle Media Bolsters Corporate Team with Two Senior Hires

Creative communications agency Muckle Media has welcomed two new employees, Michael Scobbie and Hannah Blackford, following a period of continued growth. The pair will join the agency’s B2B, crisis and corporate communications specialist team, with Scobbie joining as Head of B2B and Corporate Communications and Blackford being appointed as Senior Account Manager.

Scobbie joins the agency from Scottish SPCA where he was Head of Communications and Marketing, bringing a wealth of experience in strategic communications and reputation management. Under his leadership, the team won ‘In-House PR Team of the Year’ at the 2021 CIPR PRide Awards in Scotland. Blackford joins the agency as Senior Account Manager from a London-based strategic communications agency, where she led campaigns for Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and AstraZenca.

Commenting on his new role, Michael Scobbie said: “I’m over the moon to join the team. Muckle has gone from strength to strength in recent years, as evidenced by the slew of awards in 2023 for industry-leading communications campaigns.”

i4PD Appoints New Managing Director

i4 Product Design (i4PD) have announced that Ryan Fenton has joined the company as its new managing director. Fenton takes over from Brian Combe who in 2003, along with his Co-founders, started the Scottish design and engineering consultancy. i4PD began as an Industrial Design and Mechanical Engineering consultancy that was owned and operated by its four founders.

Under Combe’s leadership the consultancy has added electronics and software design capabilities to the team and is now Scotland’s largest turnkey development partner, working with some of the world’s most innovative brands. Combe has also led the company’s transition to Employee Ownership to which the business credits its resilience to the challenges presented by COVID and the Cost of Living Crisis.

Ryan Fenton Managing Director at i4 Product Design – “i4PD have already built an enviable reputation in the Scottish technology eco-system and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to lead the team into the next exciting stage of growth.

Awards & Expansions

CEO of Scottish Company Named Talent Acquisition Tech Leader

Terry Baker, CEO of Daxtra, which is a provider of AI-aided software for the talent acquisition sector, has been chosen by the Association for Talent Acquisition Solutions as part of the TAtech Top 100 Most Influential TA Thought Leaders.

Baker has over 25 years of experience in tech companies within the recruiting domain. His leadership at Daxtra continues to improve the recruitment process through the application of artificial intelligence.

“Terry is one of the talented professionals in our industry, making a difference every day. We’re excited to recognize him again on our Top 100 Most Influential TA Thought Leaders,” said Peter Weddle, CEO of TAtech.

Read more here.

MSP Abacus Opens Edinburgh Office with Plans to Expand

Abacus Group, a managed service provider to alternative investment firms, is opening a new office in central Edinburgh to expand its research and development and customer support capabilities while leveraging the rich local talent pool in the area.

The move follows the company’s 15% growth in revenues last year, building on the 21% recorded in 2022.

“There is a consistent cadence of talent coming through the education system in Scotland and the new office directly enables us to capture a share of those skills,” Tom Cole, managing director, UK & Europe, Abacus Group, said.

Read more here.

JACK RYAN Unveils New Glasgow Headquarters

JACK RYAN, announced the opening of its new headquarters in Glasgow’s Golden Z, situated within the innovative Glasgow Avenues project. The company has strategically chosen the historic restored McClellan Galleries for its state-of-the-art office, occupying the first floor of this building.

The company says this significant move not only marks a new chapter in JACK RYAN’s story but also demonstrates its commitment to innovation, sustainability, and community. The new headquarters also joins esteemed neighbours such as Experian, CALA Homes, and the Glasgow School of Art in this renovated landmark building dating back to 1855.

“We are thrilled to open our new headquarters in the heart of Glasgow’s Golden Z,” said Ryan Dunlop, Strategy Partner at JACK RYAN. “This move is not just about a new office space; it’s about embracing the city’s rich history and its dynamic future. Our new home is a symbol of our commitment to innovation, sustainability, and the community. We are excited to contribute to the vibrant tapestry of Glasgow and to continue driving creativity and excellence in the advertising industry.”

Partnerships

Smart Things Accelerator Centre Partnership Aims to Make Glasgow Smart Things Hub

A partnership between the UK Government, Glasgow City Council, and the Smart Things Accelerator Centre (STAC), including significant government investment, has been launched with the aim of transforming Glasgow into Europe’s largest smart things and Internet of Things (IoT) innovation hub.

Centring around new a 250-desk facility at SkyPark, Finnieston in Glasgow named “thebeyond”, the £2.5m private and public sector investment includes £257,000 of grant funding from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

“Glasgow can be a powerhouse in the key technologies that will enhance life and industry for the next decades,” Paul Wilson, CEO and co-founder of STAC, said about the partnership.

Read more here.

Eureka Solutions Starts Partnership with ADF

East Kilbride-based Eureka Solutions has partnered up with AFD as part of a strategic move to enhance its Sage 200 cloud accounting solution. AFD, also known as The Postcode People, will fortify Eureka Solutions’ cloud accounting solution with an innovative Lookup and Validate Add-on.

According to Eureka, the integration of AFD’s data verification tools can eradicate human errors in data input tasks such as stock control, order processing, and invoicing.

“We’ve created a seamless way for users to verify critical contact and payment information,” said Mike Hall, Eureka Solutions head of product.

Read more here.

Aveni.ai enters a partnership with Cavendish Online

Aveni.ai, an artificial intelligence fintech company based in Edinburgh, enters a strategic partnership with Cavendish Online, which is looking to become one of the first protection distributors to leverage AI technology aimed at enhancing customer experiences.

Aveni’s Generative AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology platform will be deployed to analyse and learn from customer calls, which Cavendish Online says will improve the way it interacts with its clientele.

“This collaboration marks a significant milestone both for us and for the entire protection market,” says Rose St Louis, protection director at Lloyds Banking Group and CEO Cavendish Online

Read more here.

Abertay Uni Signs Video Games Collab with Mumbai Uni

Led by Abertay University and École Intuit Lab, the agreement signed at Vibrabt Gujarat Global Summit in India on 10 January contains a commitment to work towards collaborative R&D, and innovation for the video games industries in Dundee and Mumbai, as well as joint degree programmes, student articulation, and cultural exchange opportunities.

The Memorandum of Understanding agreement was signed by Naman Merchant of Abertay’s School of Design and Informatics and Yan Garin, country head & director at École Intuit Lab, Mumbai, during a special event at Vibrant Gujarat – an international forum for business networking, knowledge sharing, and strategic partnerships, opened by prime minister of India, Narendra Modi.

“This partnership will add significant value to both Dundee and Mumbai as we build on the strong ethos of international collaboration fostered between Abertay and our overseas partners,” said professor Liz Bacon, principle and vice-chancellor at Abertay University.

Read more here.

Blackford Partners With Nurea

Blackford, a Scottish strategic healthcare AI platform solutions provider added Nurea, a Bordeaux-based company building cardiovascular AI solutions. The two companies engaged in a commercial partnership, in a bid to make Nurea’s PRAEVAorta® 2 solutions accessible to healthcare professionals through the Blackford platform.

Blackford’s enterprise AI platform has a portfolio of over 100 medical AI solutions designed to enhance clinical efficiency and improve patient outcomes. Nurea’s AI tools will give health care providers the capability to automate the analysis of CT images.

“Nurea’s commitment to the detection and prevention of cardiovascular accidents fits perfectly with our mission to improve the lives of patients and populations by leveraging AI to drive healthcare efficiencies. We’re delighted to add Nurea’s PRAEVAorta® 2 application to the extensive portfolio of solutions available via our tried-and-tested AI platform,” said Ben Panter, founder and CEO of Blackford

Read more here.

Vodafone and Microsoft Sign 10-year AI and Cloud Partnership

The mobile operator Vodafone has just sealed a 10-year partnership with the tech giant Microsoft, in a bid to reshape digital services for over 300 million businesses and consumers across the UK, Europe, and Africa.

Under the deal, Vodafone said it will inject $1.5 billion (£1.18bn) into the partnership, to focus on the development of cloud and customer-centric AI services. The significant investment is expected to elevate customer experience by leveraging Microsoft Azure OpenAI, providing real-time, personalised experiences across all Vodafone customer touchpoints.

“This new generation of AI will unlock massive new opportunities for every organisation and every industry around the world,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO, Microsoft.

Read more here.

Techscaler Partners with Hometown Hub for South of Scotland

Techscaler, the Scottish Government’s technology startup support programme, has partnered with Hometown Hub, a provider of collaborative workspaces in the South of Scotland to help drive entrepreneurial activity in the region.

This partnership marks a significant milestone in the Techscaler programme and the development of a burgeoning tech ecosystem in South Scotland, combining dynamic workspaces with a commitment to fostering tech innovation and entrepreneurship.

“I’m thrilled that we’re launching this partnership and starting our engagement across the Borders. Techscaler is here to support the skills development of people, whatever their sector or background, to build and develop tech products and companies,” said Techscaler head of regional engagement for the South of Scotland, Sarah-Jane Burns.

Read more here.

Blackford Enters Partnership With APAC Company See-Mode

Blackford, the strategic AI platform and solutions provider, has entered a commercial partnership with See-Mode, which offers deep learning and computational modelling assisted breast & thyroid detection solutions to healthcare professionals.

The partnership will have See-Mode’s technology integrated in Blackford’s enterprise AI platform, which offers healthcare professionals access to a portfolio of over 115 AI solutions.

“Blackford continues to proactively enhance our AI portfolio to provide healthcare professionals with tools to help enhance clinical efficiency and decision making,” said Ben Panter, Founder and CEO of Blackford.

Read more here.

Social Investment Scotland Partners with Third Sector Lab

Social Investment Scotland (SIS) has joined forces with Third Sector Lab in a bid to boost the digital skills of Scotland’s social enterprises.

The partnership between the two Scottish third sector organisations will provide SIS’s customers with free access to Third Sector Lab’s annual online training scheme, The Curve, throughout 2024.

Kieran Daly, head of market building at SIS, said: “Given the pace of technological change and its impact on the way we work and live, digital skills are now a must-have in the workplace. For social enterprises, however, it can be challenging to access the training and support needed to accelerate their digital skills. Many may not even know how to get started.

Read more here.

Salt Security Join AWS Lambda Ready Programme

Salt Security, announced that it has been accepted to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Lambda Ready Program. Salt now supports and simplifies deployments to AWS Lambda, allowing customers to capture API traffic flowing through serverless environments using Amazon API Gateway, both REST and HTTP, with no risk for any latency or overhead. Salt is the only AWS Lambda Partner in the API Security space.

“By joining AWS Lambda Ready Program, we strengthen our existing alliance with AWS, helping our joint customers to easily deploy, monitor, and secure their Lambda-based workloads,” said Gilad Barzilay, head of business development for Salt Security.

Salt’s new Lambda extension supports the majority of Lambda runtime setups, including multiple Python versions, Node.JS, Java, .NET and Ruby. Deployment of the new Lambda extension can be automated, discovering all relevant Lambda functions, and reducing the amount of time and resources required for manual configuration.

RM Technology, SaxaVord Spaceport & ViewSonic partner to launch space STEAM programme

RM Technology, SaxaVord Spaceport, and ViewSonic, have announced a partnership to cultivate the next generation of talent for the space industry.

This collaboration will kick start the innovative Starflight Academy 2.0 this summer, building on the success of 2023’s hugely successful launch at Goodwood FOS. The initiative, aimed at addressing resource challenges in schools, will provide interactive and inspiring STEAM resources centred around space education. The four-week programme, curated by renowned Astronaut teacher Mike Mongo, offers a unique opportunity for children to delve into the world of satellites and space exploration.

Ricky Kumar, Country Manager UKI at ViewSonic added: “We are excited to continue our journey with RM and SaxaVord after the successful Future Lab event at Goodwood Festival of Speed. Learning is a journey into a world of limitless possibilities, and at ViewSonic, we are committed to supporting all our partners in making this journey as enriching as possible and making learning engaging and deeply relevant to meet the diverse needs of learners and educators.”