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DIGIT Deal Roundup | January 2026
Check out the latest funding, investments, deals, and acquisitions news from across the Scottish tech sector.
Welcome to January 2026’s DIGIT Deal Roundup.
With Blue Monday firmly in the rearview, the Scottish business scene is back to work – as if it ever really stopped – with a run of early-year deals for established firms, and fresh capital for some of the country’s most ambitious scale‑ups.
Last month saw millions invested across Scotland’s fintech, medtech, and cleantech sectors, plus the return of a prestigious prize fund for startups outside of the Central Belt – a reminder that innovation isn’t confined to the M8 corridor.
Rounding out January’s flurry of activity, a global heavyweight snapped up a Scottish energy firm, while one of Scotland’s core public‑sector infrastructure providers clinched a major contract win.
All that, and more, coming up.
Funding & Investment
Glasgow’s Nami Surgical Names New CEO Amid £1.9m Funding Round
Glasgow-based ultrasonic surgery specialist Nami Surgical has appointed Nikki Palfrey as CEO and secured £1.9 million in funding to commercialise its technology for the global robotic-assisted surgery market.
The latest investment round was led by Eos Advisory with participation from the Investment Fund for Scotland managed by Maven Capital Partners, and Scottish Enterprise, and will help Nami take its high-performance miniaturised ultrasonic scalpels to market. The medtech’s platform has been engineered for integration into articulated, wristed surgical robotic instruments, addressing growing demand for compatibility with next-generation robotic systems.
After having served as a non-executive director at Nami since 2023, incoming CEO Nikki Palfrey will lead the company’s commercial strategy and partner engagement as the company progresses towards market entry, drawing on twenty-five years of experience in medtech, leading businesses such as Summit Medical and BOWA Medical UK
“Nami is exceptionally well positioned to become a leading force in the robotic-assisted surgery market,” she said. “Building on the strong foundations established by Nico, Rebecca, and the entire team, I am excited to lead the company as we enter an exciting new chapter focused on innovation, scale, and long-term value creation.”
Read more here.
Financial Regulation Innovation Lab Grant Winners Revealed
The Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL) has announced the fintechs selected to receive £50,000 in grants through its latest Future of Wealth Innovation Call, delivered by FinTech Scotland in partnership with SuperTech WM.
Following a six-week programme where fintechs pitched their solutions to the challenge of helping consumers make informed financial decisions and access more tailored wealth support, while still keeping pace with evolving regulation, FRIL has whittled down twenty-one hopefuls to four winners that will develop their propositions in collaboration with industry and academic partners.
Among the winners are AI-powered compliance platform Finspector; Amplified Global, which utilises AI/ML to help firms demonstrate consumer understanding at scale; behavioural AI and hyper-personalisation platform Planda, and Afternoon Finance, which offers a data and AI-first operating model for advice firms.
“This funding allows us to continue to accelerate our mission: helping advice firms support more clients, more effectively, without compromising quality, compliance or trust,” said Crawford Taylor, CEO & co-founder of Afternoon Finance.
Read more here.
Regional EDGE Returns With £400K for Scotland’s Rural Startups
Scottish EDGE has announced the return of its Regional EDGE competition, giving entrepreneurs outside the central belt the opportunity to win up to £50,000 in funding.
Now in its second year, Regional EDGE awards target entrepreneurial talent in regions with historically lower levels of engagement, including Tayside, the North East, the Highlands and Islands and the South of Scotland, with startups assessed on the strengths of their business proposal, including key areas like value proposition, impact, and funding utilisation.
Led by local partners, each region will host its own live Dragons Den-style final, with awards consisting of one top prize of £50,000, two of £15,000, and two of £10,000, with those pitching also offered the chance to join the EDGE alumni network, gaining access to expert business mentorship and a wide-reaching community of contacts.
“With continued support from the Scottish Government and our dedicated delivery partners, we are proud to again shine a spotlight on high-growth start-ups,” said Evelyn McDonald, CEO at Scottish EDGE. “Being able to provide critical funding and expert mentorship will help a new cohort of ambitious entrepreneurs make their businesses a success.”
Read more here.
Carbogenics Secures $3 Million Investment for Growth
Edinburgh-based “bio-carbon designer” Carbogenics has closed a $3 million investment and funding round that the firm said will fuel its plans to scale its carbon removal technologies and tackle the biomass waste crisis across the UK, Europe, and the United States.
With the cash injection, Carbogenics plans to scale deployment of its CreChar® biochar and other biocarbon products across key markets, looking to expand manufacturing capacity in the US and scale its UK and European operations, creating new roles on both sides of the Atlantic.
The infusion of capital will allow the firm to engage and partner with client groups across continents to scale its footprint, continue business development and refine production processes, positioning the firm to play a leading role in delivering verifiable, scalable carbon removal.
“This is a period of growth and expansion in Carbogenics and I am grateful for the backing of so many investors at this time. We will continue to innovate and create tailored products for key environmental issues,” said Ed Craig, CEO of Carbogenics.
Scottish National Investment Bank invests £3.5m in Stornoway Port
Stornoway Port has secured £3.5 million from the Scottish National Investment Bank towards a new linkspan for the island’s newly constructed Deep Water Terminal, marking the Bank’s first investment in the Outer Hebrides.
The terminal was built to facilitate larger ships, improve connectivity and create opportunities for local economic growth in the renewable energy and transport, and is also key to facilitating Scottish and Southern Electricity Network’s (SSEN) Western Isles High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Project, which will run subsea cable from the port to the mainland, transporting renewable energy and improving energy security.
“The Deep Water Terminal plays a vital role in accelerating several industries and for growing the local economy,” said Laura Fidao, investment director at the Scottish National Investment Bank. “The linkspan will open up a range of new opportunities for the Port and the community, delivering lasting economic benefits for the Outer Hebrides.”
Deals
Commsworld Wins £8.5M WAN Contract With West Lothian Council
Edinburgh-based telecomms firm Commsworld has secured a 15-year contract worth more than £8 million to deliver and maintain a new Wide Area Network (WAN) for West Lothian Council that will see the firm replacing the council’s existing service with a new network providing a tenfold increase in available bandwidth and access to high-quality, resilient connectivity.
Under the deal, Commsworld will deliver high‑capacity WAN services across West Lothian Council’s entire estate, from schools and libraries to community hubs and administrative buildings.
Commsworld said the upgraded network will serve to strengthen the council’s digital backbone and boost internet access, data security, system reliability, and the performance of critical public‑service applications. The new fibre infrastructure will be linked to Commsworld’s Optical Core Network (OCN), built specifically to boost the security and resilience of digital infrastructure.
“By optimising the total fibre bandwidth within our overall network design, we are creating a step‑change in connectivity across all Council sites – both today and for the future. This enhanced digital foundation will support the delivery of truly transformational services and make it even easier for our communities to access the support they need,” said Ian Forrest, IT services manager for West Lothian Council.
Read more here.
Acquisitions
Drax Acquires Edinburgh’s Flexitricity in £42M Deal
Energy giant Drax has announced its acquisition of Edinburgh-based utility company Flexitricity in a £42 million deal that the energy giant said will support its plans to build a gigawatt‑scale pipeline of battery energy storage system opportunities.
The deal, which will see Flextricity’s 85 staff join Drax, is expected to close over the first quarter of 2026, with Flexitricity valued at £36 million, plus an estimated net working capital and cash adjustment of £6 million.
Flexitricity’s platform manages flexible energy assets and connects them to markets where they can earn revenue, such as wholesale trading and grid‑balancing services, working with both large grid‑connected sites and on‑site systems. Drax said it will build on this offering to ramp up plans for a gigawatt-scale pipeline of battery energy storage system (BESS) projects, covering both its own sites and third‑party assets that need optimisation and market access.
“We are ambitious about growing and developing our FlexGen business and Flexitricity’s technology and team are a strong strategic fit for us,” said Will Gardiner, Drax Group CEO.
Read more here.
