Administrate Teams Up with Zoom Video Communications

Edinburgh based SaaS (software as a service) Administrate has recently partnered up with Zoom Video Communications, an expert in video conferencing to provide virtual instructor-led training capability to its customers. This partnership follows a year of significant growth in 2017. Its customer-base has expanded considerably to include Informa, Saudi Ground Services and GTG Training.

The growing company has had to expand its workforce to meet this new demand. Headquartered at Codebase, Administrate sells its software to large organisations to help them train customers, partners and employees. John Peebles, CEO of Administrate, said: “We’re thrilled to announce our integration with Zoom. We use Zoom daily to communicate and it’s been a critical factor to the success we’ve had scaling our team globally.”

Eric Yuan, Founder and CEO of Zoom, said: “Our mission is to bring the world closer together with video communications, and working with Administrate is a great example of using Zoom’s technology to achieve better outcomes for both teachers and students. We can’t wait to see our customers providing high-quality training to their students located around the world.”

Commsworld Wins £30M Contract with Glasgow City Council

Commsworld, Scotland’s largest independent telecoms firm will be delivering an enhanced Wide Area Network of ultra-fast fibre to the city’s schools, libraries and other council buildings. This new contract with Glasgow City Council is the largest contract Commsworld has signed to date. Not only will the council’s digital services get a big boost but this new network will also provide a backbone for pure-fibre connection to the rest of the city’s businesses and homes.

Ricky Nicol, Cheif Executive of Commsworld, told Digit: “This contract has effectively given the green light for Glasgow to become a truly digital city capable of attracting the most exciting businesses in the world.”

“It’s vital that our Scottish cities and their people are at the cutting edge of technology – so it is fantastic that so many will now benefit thanks to this council’s ambition and foresight.”

Glasgow City Council Digital Champion, Councilor Angus Millar, said: “Having one of Scotland’s big tech SME success stories at the very heart of that transformation is testament to their innovation and will help deliver huge benefits to the whole city.”

Craneware Secures Two New US Contracts

The value of these two contracts combined is expected to add $8.5 million to the Edinburgh based company’s turnover. Craneware is a supplier of software and supporting service solutions for the US healthcare market. The first contact was signed with a large blue chip healthcare provider and sees the firm’s Value Cycle products being deployed across its 20 hospitals.

It is expected to deliver $5m of revenue over its initial multi-year term. The second contract with a surgical hospital will see many of its products including its Trius Platform and Trius Claims Informatics being used in the hospital. This deal is estimated to bring $3.5m to Craneware’s turnover.

Keith Neilson, CEO of Craneware, said: “These contract wins confirm that the positive momentum and financial success we reported in the first half of the year has continued into the second half.”

Mallzee Raises £1.9M in New Investment

Considered to be one of Edinburgh hottest start-ups Mallzee has recently raised £1.9m in new funding to help boost sales of its data insights service, Product Future. The investment came from existing investors Scottish Investment Bank (SIB) and Par Equity along with new investors Equity Gap and London Scottish Investment Group. This new round of funding has raised the company’s total investment to over £5m.

Kerry Sharp Director of SIB said: “Having invested in Mallzee since 2014, it is great to see the company continue to innovate.”

SHE Software Wins £3M in New Funding

After a successful round of funding, the health and safety software company has obtained fresh investment from NVM Private Equity. SHE is the creator of Assure, a software platform that helps business to achieve and demonstrate health and safety compliance while reducing the cost of administration.

Headquartered in East Kilbride, the company plans to use the funding to create 50 new jobs by the end of 2018 and to establish a new office in the US. It will also double the size of its development and support teams in their Scottish offices. This recent success follows on the heels of a successful period of growth for the company. It introduced a multilingual function to its software, it expanded its workforce and welcomed 34 new customers.

Matthew Elson, CEO of SHE Software, said: “We are delighted to work with our new investors at NVM and to seize the tremendous opportunity we have to penetrate the North American market and bring the benefits of Assure to a much wider customer base. Our plans are ambitious but we are confident that this funding boost will enable us to maintain our 60% per annum growth rate while successfully driving international expansion.”

Sofant Raises Nearly £800k

Miniature antenna specialist, Sofant Technologies has secured nearly £800k of new funding from existing investors Kelvin Capital, Newable, Investing in Women, Old College Capital and Scottish Investment Bank. This fresh injection of cash comes after the firm obtained approximately £1.5m in EU funding last year. Sofant, a spin-out from the University of Edinburgh created the world’s smallest smart antenna, which they claim could double the battery life of mobile devices while improving connectivity.

David Wither, Chief Executive of Sofant Technologies said: “We are very pleased to have received such strong support from our existing investors which will enable us to expand our investor base. The Sofant team now has the support it needs to take our leading edge technology to the next level.”

Spire Awarded £4 Million Contract From UK Space Agency

The contract from the UK Space Agency will fund Spire so that they can demonstrate their cutting-edge technology and validate new space-based technologies with the goal of putting UK companies into orbit faster and at a lower cost. The funding is part of the European Space Agency’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Satellites pioneer programme, which supports the space industry.

Theresa Condor, Spire’s EVP of Corporate Development, said: “Spire’s infrastructure, capabilities, and competencies all support our submission to this program. For the launch of our 50+ satellite constellation, we quickly became our own best customer. We’re looking forward to demonstrating our end-to-end service and infrastructure on this series of validation, along with the ongoing development of critical enabling technologies.”

Minister for Scotland, Lord Duncan said: “Spire Global is at the cutting edge of technology, using satellite data to track ships, planes and weather in some of the world’s most remote regions. They’re also an important employer in Glasgow, investing in the area and recognising the talent of Scotland’s world-class engineers and scientists.”

Wave Energy Project Secures £2.5m in Funding

Wave Energy Scotland (WES), a government-backed initiative has awarded Ecosse Subsea System‘s (ESS) wave energy project £2.5m in funding. ESS is working on a magnetic gear project to harness wave movement and convert it to electricity. Led by ESS the project is being developed in collaboration with Bathwick Electrical Design, Supply Design and Pure Marine Gen. Additional support has come from The Unversity of Edinburgh and Applied Renewables Research.

Michael Cowie, ESS’s technical director said: “WES’ funding will support the development and demonstration of the system on a wave energy converter in real-sea conditions- enabling our collaboration to secure investment for the commercialisation of the technology.”

Paul Wheelhouse, Scottish Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy said: “Sustained funding from Scottish Government has allowed WES to provide opportunities for Scottish companies such as Ecosse Subsea Systems and Supply Design to participate in this unique initiative and develop the disruptive technologies that will shape our low carbon future.”