Funding and Investment

Innovatium

Scottish renewable energy tech company Innovatium has secured over £900,000 in funding to enhance its pioneering new liquid air battery technology.

Led by Kelvin Capital alongside Scottish Enterprise, the investment round will support the continued development of the company’s Liquid Air Energy Storage System, known as the ‘PRISMA Air Battery’.

The investment will also be used to scale the Innovatium team to assist in the build of productionised units for clients.

Commenting on the funding round, Innovatium CEO Simon Branch said: “Kelvin Capital and Scottish Enterprise are the ideal investment partners for the commercialisation of our proven Liquid Air Battery technology.

“The synergies brought from the Scottish manufacturing and technology space will enhance the value delivered to our clients in this exciting new phase of company growth.”

Read our full story for more

Machines With Vision

Computer vision and geo-spatial mapping firm, Machines With Vision, has raised £2.6 million amid plans to scale operations.

The Edinburgh-based startup revealed the investment will be used to support ongoing product development and drive sales growth.

The firm also plans to bring on a number of new hires across engineering operations.

Old College Capital, the University of Edinburgh’s in-house venture investment fund, former Skyscanner CEO and co-founder Gareth Williams, and Olaf Hesse, one of the company’s commercial team, also participated in the round.

The funding boost marks the second major investment for Machines With Vision in three years. In April 2019, the firm raised £1.3 million as part of a seed funding round.

CEO and co-founder Anthony Ashbrook said: “We are at the forefront of using data to radically improve the efficiency of railways and on the back of this investment round, we’re excited to bring more people on board to deliver on this vision.

“Transport accounts for almost a quarter of global CO2 emissions, so moving travel by air and road to railways is essential for sustainability.”

Our full article has more.

Edinburgh Napier University

Two Napier University School of Computing projects have won funding from a cybersecurity programme developing ideas for the commercial market.

TrueDeploy and Trustd are being supported by CyberASAP, which is itself funded by the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), working with Innovate UK.

Napier’s TrueDeploy project, which develops tech to bring trust and transparency to the software supply chain, has already received backing from Scottish Enterprise as part of its High Growth Spin-out Programme.

Research student Pavlos Papadopoulos, who leads the TrueDeploy technical team, said: “We greatly appreciate Innovate UK’s support and the opportunity to participate in the Cyber security Academic Startup Accelerator Programme 2022-23.

“In the next few months, during this programme, we will investigate more deeply TrueDeploy’s value proposition, validate our chosen market, and develop our novel solution further in combination with the Scottish Enterprise High Growth Spin-out Programme’s continuous support.”

Interested in learning more? Check out our full article.

Glasgow University

A quantum computing project led by Glasgow University has received £3 million in new funding.

The Empowering Practical Interfacing of Quantum Computing (EPIQC) project aims to bring the technology out of the lab and into the real world.

Led by researchers from the University of Glasgow, quantum computing and ICT researchers from academia across the UK will work together over the next four years to co-create new ways to bridge the gap between current quantum computers and information and communication technologies.

The project is being supported by funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), which is part of UKRI.

Professor Martin Weides from the University of Glasgow’s James Watt School of Engineering and leader of EPIQC said: “We’re pleased that EPSRC has chosen to lend their support to this project, which involves many of the leading quantum technology and ICT researchers and industry partners from across the UK.

“Together, we have the expertise and access to facilities which will help us tackle some tricky problems. We expect to develop a robust network of collaboration and co-creation which will produce some exciting results and help further develop the roadmap to realise the potential of quantum computing interfaces.”

For more, read the full story.

Digital Xtra Fund

Scotland’s Digital Xtra Fund has secured £100,000 of funding from the Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland (SDS).

The charity funds extracurricular tech activities for young people through an annual grants programme.

With the next cohort to be confirmed in June, Digital Xtra will match-fund the investment with support from businesses.

Current industry partners who have already committed to supporting the fund’s next cohort include Chroma Ventures, Baillie Gifford, CGI, JP Morgan, Scotland Women in Technology, Accenture, Cirrus Logic, Incremental Group, and ScotlandIS.

Digital Xtra Fund Partnership and Development Manager Kraig Brown said: “We are very excited to be able to offer this match funding with support from the Scottish Government and SDS. Scotland has the potential, the resources, and the will to punch well above its weight in tech innovation.

“However, the first step is inspiring young people to learn the digital skills they will need. The Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review highlighted the importance of extracurricular activities to inspire young people to create with tech and not simply consume it.

“Our hope is this funding is a first step to bring industry and government together to give every young person in Scotland an opportunity to positively engage with technology.”

Find out more in our article.

WellFish Diagnostics

University of the West of Scotland (UWS) spinout company WellFish Diagnostics has received a £1.2 million investment from the university, along with Kelvin Capital and Scottish Enterprise.

The group provides health diagnostics in the aquaculture sector through its method of monitoring the health of fish populations via blood sampling.

It is providing its offerings to the Scottish salmon sector, a large trout farm, and to producers in Ireland and Norway.

CEO Brian Quinn, who is also a Professor of Ecotoxicology within the university’s School of Health and Life Sciences said: “WellFish presents a huge opportunity for the aquaculture sector to completely transform its practices for monitoring, responding to and predicting health challenges within the fish population.

“Traditionally, fish farmers would have to undertake a slower sampling and testing process, often requiring fish to be euthanised prior to sampling, to monitor fish health within their farms.”

Gigged.AI

A new campaign from talent platform Gigged.AI will see the tech startup fund digital projects from early-stage companies to help move their businesses forward.

The company will fund four projects, which could include digital marketing (SEO, social media), website development, pitch deck creation, data analysis and much more.

Running across March, the campaign is targeted at small-to-medium-sized companies that are struggling to hire tech talent.

Learn more in our article.

Emblation

Scottish health tech firm Emblation is tapping into an eight-figure investment war chest to deliver rapid European growth.

The microwave treatment pioneer is on an expansion drive after an injection of capital from specialist healthcare investors, which has already seen an increased headcount of over 50% in the recent months and ongoing fit out of a new HQ in Stirling.

Since launching its new treatment device for the podiatry sector in 2016, the Scots firm has enjoyed major success with thousands of practitioners using its microwave technology across the UK, US, Canada and Australia.

However, founders Gary Beale and Eamon McErlean say that having weathered the pandemic, they are now focusing on expanding the company’s success in the huge European market, where its Swift therapy is less-widely used.

Beale, who is also CEO at Emblation, said: “European medical distributors, podiatrists and dermatologists are keen to get their hands on Swift, which has met rave reviews from experts across existing markets.”

FreeFlow Technologies

FreeFlow Technologies (FFT), an East Kilbride-based e-Bike company, has completed a £1.65m funding round led by investment syndicate Kelvin Capital.

The new funding will accelerate the production of the company’s light power to weight e-Bike motor this year. In addition, the new funds will see additional staff recruited across electrical and software engineering, process engineering and design.

The latest round was supported by Equity Gap, Scottish Enterprise and many private individuals.

Martin McCourt, Chairman of FreeFlow Technologies and former Global CEO of Dyson, said: “FreeFlow Technology will soon be on sale, incorporated into a number of leading bike brands, and we are thrilled to have had such enthusiastic support from our existing investors as well as several new ones.”

For more, check out our article.

VectorCloud

Motherwell IT services business VectorCloud is embarking on a significant expansion after securing six-figure funding from UKSE.

The company, which specialises in managed IT services, including business continuity, information security, IT disaster recovery and fully responsive cloud systems, will use the investment to acquire the IT service division of another local business, substantially boosting its client base.

The businesses that will now be supplied by VectorCloud will also benefit from having a specialist IT provider offering a full suite of products and services.

Kevin Mitchell, co-owner at VectorCloud, said: “After 25 years of operations, VectorCloud has a strong track record of innovation and helping clients to use technology to drive business outcomes.

“More recently, this innovation has been used to build a new strategy of growth following the pandemic, which will see VectorCloud target even more new customers through future acquisitions.

“With UKSE’s support, we have completed our first acquisition and are the strongest we have ever been. We look forward to engaging with our new clients and providing them with the IT services they all need to thrive.”

Miralis Data

Glasgow-based Miralis Data has secured £1.7m in seed funding to accelerate the growth of its electric vehicle charging platform Fuuse, creating more than 30 jobs.

The investment, led by Edinburgh-based Par Equity and backed by a syndicate of angel investors led by SaaS entrepreneur Kevin Beales, will support the company’s strategy to become the enterprise level charge point management system of choice for fleets, workplaces, destinations and installers and create 30-plus further jobs at its Glasgow and Lancaster offices.

The funding will enable Fuuse to expand its sales and customer support operations, bolster its innovation programme, accelerate the platform’s product development roadmap and begin its planned international expansion.

CEO at Miralis Michael Gibson said, “Fuuse is making phenomenal progress with charge points live on our platform from the Walkie Talkie building in London to a recycling site on the Isle of Man, and from the workplaces of national retailers, NHS Trusts and manufacturers to over 250 public charging sites from Cumbria to Dorset.

“This investment not only gives us the financial means but also access to exceptional people with vast experience in software, energy and infrastructure to help us accelerate our growth and continue to thrive”.

Deals and Acquisitions

Giglets

Scottish online literacy software firm Giglets has completed a deal with Sweden-headquartered edtech company ILT Education.

The seven-figure deal will see Giglets CEO and founder Craig Johnstone remain in his role and continue to grow the business from its Kilmarnock base.

Giglet’s deal follows an extended period of growth for the firm, which has recently expanded internationally with a team in Canada serving the North American market.

The company will now work alongside ILT Education to “significantly accelerate” business growth, both domestically and internationally, the company said.

Johnstone said: “Giglets becoming part of the ILT Education family is recognition of the robust and profitable business we’ve been to create over the last 10 years. This private equity backed acquisition comes as we look to accelerate our growth across the UK, Ireland and internationally and at a time when the edtech market has never been more buoyant.

“I’m delighted to be staying at the helm of Giglets and continuing to lead the business in the next phase of our growth journey, whilst remaining focused on delivering world-class teaching and learning experiences for our customers and users.”

Our full article has more.

Ping Network Solutions

Software specialists Sword Group have announced the finalisation of the Ping Network Solutions purchase.

Both parties said they were “delighted about the possibilities” of their formed partnership and can now further boost their combined customer bases.

Ping will provide innovation across several industry sectors, with the firm’s engineering teams offering their skills for clients of both firms, whilst Sword will provide optimisation processes and enhance customer data.

Commenting on the deal, Dave Bruce, CEO of Sword UK said: “I’m delighted to welcome the Ping team into Sword. This deal will allow us to deliver a more complete range of solutions to our customers.

“The Ping team has an exceptional level of skill and domain experience and is focused on delivering quality solutions – they will be a great fit within Sword.

“Our shared core values will ensure we continue to provide an exceptional result for our customers and the wider Sword Group”.

Find out more in our article.

Orbex

Orbex and FORCE Technology have secured a new rocket engine testing contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop an X-Ray Inspection System.

The system will enable the companies to carry out non-destructive, high-energy X-Ray inspections of Orbex’s large-scale 3D-printed rocket engines – enabling them to eliminate internal flaws.

Orbex’s X-Ray inspection tech will now become a key component of future engine testing, helping to test elements of its Orbex ‘Prime’ rocket more safely.

Commenting on the news, Orbex CEO Chris Larmour said: “Orbex is set to be the first launch operator to be able to carry out high-energy X-Ray inspection of rocket engines prior to flight, using the unique technologies and IP we are helping to develop as part of our work with the ESA.

“As we move towards series production we will use this new capability to give peace of mind to customers and assurance to licensing authorities that we have a fully comprehensive propulsion testing regime in place.”

Find out more in our full article.

Chromacity

Ultrafast laser manufacturer Chromacity has entered an agreement with photonics and quantum science consulting firm Tematys to develop new industrial opportunities for its lasers in France.

Located in Paris and Marseille, Tematys specialises in bridging the gap between photonics-enabled technologies and emerging industrial applications. The new partnership will see Tematys align the technological sourcing requirements for organisations based in France, with the technical capabilities of Chromacity’s ultrafast lasers.

“Our focus is shifting towards the industrial applications of our ultrafast lasers,” said Shahida Imani, CEO of Chromacity.

She added: “Given their technical expertise, track record, and an extensive industrial network in France, Tematys is the perfect partner in this key territory.”

Want to learn more? Read our full article.

TVSquared

The acquisition of Scottish technology company TVSquared by Innovid has been finalised.

The deal will see the New York-based company purchase TVSquared for $100 million in cash and 12.5 million in Innovid stock. At the time of writing, this was trading at approximately $3.90, bringing the total value of the deal to around $150m.

Innovid, a leader in connected TV advertising delivery, said the acquisition will help “reimagine the future” of cross-platform TV advertising and position it as a single source for ad-serving and measurement.

The transaction will combine Innovid’s ad serving footprint of more than 95 million connected homes, with TVSquared’s TV measurement and attribution platform. This includes TV viewing and ad occurrence data across millions of households globally.

Commenting on the acquisition, CEO & Co-founder Zvika Netter said: “We believe the combination of independent global ad serving and cross-platform measurement sits at the heart of solving TV measurement’s biggest challenges.

“We’ve spent over a decade building foundational ad delivery and personalization technology to power TV across channels and devices. Now, together with TVSquared by Innovid, we provide advertisers a complete view of the total TV and digital universe through a scalable, currency-grade measurement platform.”

For more information, check out our full article.

Criton

Edinburgh-based hospitality technology provider Criton has been acquired by global hospitality technology solutions vendor Nonius.

The deal will see Criton merged with Nonius’s mobile solution GuestU. The merged companies will better serve the hospitality market, which has seen major growth since the pandemic hit in 2020.

Julie Grieve, Founder and CEO of Criton said: “I am delighted that we have agreed on terms with Nonius, a well-respected and innovative player in the hospitality market.

“I’ve been hugely impressed with their Nonius Hub and believe that together, our products will deliver exactly what hoteliers and their guests want, simple and effective mobile solutions bringing much needed digital transformation to a sector that has a challenging technology landscape and has been significantly impacted over the past two years of the pandemic.

“Since starting Criton we have always taken a customer-first approach, I am hugely proud of all we have achieved and I firmly believe this merger will create a world-leading mobile service allowing hoteliers to embrace the digital service their guests are demanding.”

Find out more in our full article.

7 Elements

IT managed services provider Redcentric has announced the official acquisition of Edinburgh-based IT security testing firm 7 Elements in a deal that could rise to a total of $2.4 million.

A CREST accredited and award-winning business, Edinburgh-based 7 Elements provides security testing, incident response management and managed vulnerability scanning across the UK.

Peter Brotherton, CEO of Redcentric, commented: “I am pleased to welcome 7 Elements to the Redcentric group and I am really excited about the skills, capabilities and services that this acquisition gives us, significantly enhancing the Redcentric portfolio.

“We acquired additional capability in the increasingly important security market as part of the recent Piksel acquisition, and the 7 Elements acquisition further enables us to improve and enhance our offering so that we are now able to offer a complete portfolio of security services to our customers.

“We look forward to working with our customers to help ensure that they are secure.”

Learn more in our article.

Commsworld

Commsworld strengthened its partnership with technology provider 8×8 by expanding the reach of its 8×8 XCaaS (eXperience Communications as a Service) cloud communications and contact centre platform to Commsworld customers across the UK.

The move will allow Edinburgh-headquartered Commsworld to add 8×8’s integrated, cloud native contact centre, voice, team chat and video meeting product to its own solutions.

Commsworld will be able to provide clients across all sectors – public, private and third sector – with a fully mobile service that allows them to collaborate anywhere on any device, through fully-integrated communications tools that cover voice, video and contact centre capabilities within the same core cloud platform.

Commsworld’s network, together with 8×8’s enterprise-grade cloud communications, will deliver a leading-edge solution that provides customers with both a superior performance and customer experience in today’s connected world.

Group Sales Director at Commsworld Steve Wood said: “This partnership is excellent news for both Commsworld and Commsworld customers. It perfectly complements our own solutions, helping to further free staff from the constraints of on-premises equipment.

“We very much look forward to working together with 8×8 to deploy and manage this suite of products for our customers.”

AND Digital

AND Digital has started a long-term engagement with the UK Cabinet Office to design and build a Grants Applicant Portal.

The deal will see AND Digital develop a single online access point for all available UK Government grant opportunities with the aim of improving accessibility, transparency and uptake across the civil sector organisation and small to medium-sized organisations.

Club Executive at AND Digital’s Glasgow club Peter Dale commented “We are delighted to have been selected as the delivery partner for this high profile programme of work. In engaging with the Cabinet Office throughout the initial process and understanding their vision, it’s very clear that this project has the potential to fundamentally transform the user experience of citizens, businesses and charitable organisations alike.

“At AND Digital we have a wealth of experience in building applications with a focus on improved customer experience, ease of use for the user and optimisation of the administration functionality. Our Agile approach of working with a team of developers, program managers and coaches, provides a great way to collaborate with the Government Grants Management Function. This shared endeavour will drive a step change in effective and efficient grantmaking by harnessing the full potential of digital technology.”

The project contract will run until March 2023.

South of Scotland Destination Alliance and Traveltech for Scotland

A collaboration has been launched to support tourism and hospitality across the Southern Scotland region through better connected – and more innovative use – of digital technology.

The strategic partnership between South of Scotland Destination Alliance (SSDA), a destination management and marketing organisation, and Traveltech for Scotland (TTS) is designed to help tourism and hospitality businesses recover from the impact of Covid-19 and grow sustainably in the coming months and years.

Ross McAuley, Chief Executive of the SSDA, said: “Travel and tourism is vital to economic growth across the South of Scotland, from coast to coast. Given the impact the pandemic has had on businesses of all sizes in this sector, and communities, good use of innovative digital technology has a major role to play in boosting sustainable recovery and future growth.

“By teaming up with Traveltech for Scotland, we’ll be offering our SSDA member businesses and individuals involved in tourism in the area access to a whole range of digital technology-related products and services in a straightforward and affordable way.

Find out more by reading our article.

Incremental

Spain’s Telefónica Tech has acquired Glasgow-based digital transformation and data analytics company Incremental in a deal worth up to £175 million.

The deal will see Telefónica Tech UK&I increase the scale of its UK operations. In addition, acquiring Microsoft Partner Incremental means the company will grow its offerings of Microsoft technologies, including 16 Gold Competencies and 5 Advanced Specialisations.

By adding Incremental’s roughly 350 employees to its workforce, Telefónica Tech UK& will employ around 1,000 professionals, with the UK contributing almost a quarter of Telefónica Tech’s total workforce.

The deal’s value will include potential contingent payments linked to Incremental’s future performance.

Current CEO at Incremental Group Neil Logan said: “I am immensely proud of what Incremental has achieved since our inception a little over five years ago. As we looked ahead to the next stage of our development, it was important that we secured Incremental the right support for the long term.

“Becoming part of Telefonica Tech propels us into the next phase of our journey and enables us to further scale the business, creating exciting opportunities for our people and our customers.”

For more, read our article.

Commissum

Edinburgh-based cybersecurity firm Commissum has expanded its services by acquiring the digital forensics portion of Eurofins Forensics Services for an undisclosed sum.

Commissum (Eurofins Cyber Security) is part of Eurofins Digital Testing, the leader in independent Quality Assurance and Cyber Security. The acquisition means that Eurofins Digital Testing can provide complete testing services for systems, security, devices, and digital forensics.

The new contracts include a large scale Cyber Incident Response (CIR) plan as part of a cyber transformation project for a European automotive manufacturer; CIR post-breach and emergency strategy for a commercial research institution; and digital forensics and HR dispute services for several NHS Trusts.

Targeting both the UK’s law enforcement agencies and commercial firms, the newly combined Digital Forensics Incident Response team within Commissum, will be headed up by Business Unit Manager, Ceri Walsh, who moves across with the acquisition.

Walsh explained: “We’re excited to now be part of Commissum, which already provides clients with cybersecurity, risk management and governance services, to help protect businesses and meet compliance challenges across a range of technologies and processes.

“Prior to the acquisition, as a digital forensics team, we worked mostly with law enforcement services. However, by combining both forensics and cybersecurity services, our customers have access to investigation, analysis and remediation of cyber-incidents, all from one business. Our services are just as applicable for police forces, legal and criminal justice organisations and commercial businesses.”

Pawprint

Edinburgh-based investment partnership Baillie Gifford has partnered with Scottish eco-tech business Pawprint to help understand and reduce the carbon footprint of its employees.

As a Pawprint Pioneer, Baillie Gifford will trial the Pawprint For Business app before rolling it out to 1,600 staff worldwide, giving them the tools to measure, understand and reduce their carbon footprints at home, at work and beyond.

Christian Arno, founder and CEO of Pawprint said: “Baillie Gifford is known throughout the world for their investment nous, finding and backing transformational companies such as Tesla, Illumina and Spotify. Using Pawprint for Business to support employees’ climate action highlights that this is a firm with future-proofing our planet at its core.”

iomart

Cloud computing and managed services company iomart has announced a new partnership with cybersecurity specialists e2e-assure.

The agreement combines iomart’s cloud infrastructure expertise with an independent, state of the art cyber-defences team to provide a round-the-clock security operations centre (SOC) and proactive response service to the UK market.

iomart Chief Executive Reece Donovan said: “Expanding our ability to support our customers with state of the art cyber security solutions is something we have been targeting for some time now. It’s a vital tool for businesses seeking to stay on top of the ever changing cyber threat landscape and we are excited for this partnership to bring even greater value to our customers.

“e2e-assure’s customer-focused approach dovetails very well with our own focus on service delivery making them the perfect business for us to work with. It was important to us that we found someone we could form a true partnership with, with both sides delivering genuine expertise to give customers a distinctly valuable service beyond just monitoring and alerts.

“Our combined skillsets allow us to give customers full peace of mind that threats are not only identified, but dealt with quickly and effectively by someone who understands their business and their cloud environment. We look forward to working with e2e-assure to help our customers secure their business.”

North

North has been appointed by IT and business consulting firm CGI to support the City of Edinburgh Council’s vision to become one of the world’s leading Smart Cities.

The development of a Smart City Operations Centre will transform and enhance city management and the citizen experience by utilising data captured through a range of emerging technologies to drive transformational change.

Driven by CGI’s industry-leading Smart City Platform, North was selected by CGI to provide the Smart Waste sensors and to provide connectivity for the solution through the IoT Scotland network.

Commenting on the partnership, City of Edinburgh Council Deputy Leader, Cammy Day, said: “The use of intelligent sensors will help us to deliver a more digitally-enabled proactive service and address many of the challenges a rapidly growing city like Edinburgh faces and will support our work towards providing clean and green communities, meeting our net zero targets and improving living conditions and wellbeing for all.”