Scotland has placed considerable emphasis on trying to become an attractive location for entrepreneurs to build their business.

The support available is varied, from funding grants to general business support and programmes, such as the Royal Bank of Scotland Accelerator, to help firms scale up.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Scotland have been taking advantage of programmes and funding such as this to help them survive during the pandemic, and to boost growth – thus contributing to wider health of the Scottish tech industry.

However, despite this support, some companies still find it difficult to settle in Scotland. Whether it be due to shortages of staff, or struggling to gain access to the aforementioned business support or programmes, there are areas where Scotland could do more to help fledgling owners.

Cybersecurity company PolyDigi Tech was one such candidate that struggled to find a footing here.

Despite the company being founded in Edinburgh and taking advantage of the RBS Accelerator, PolyDigi Tech has now looked to Asian markets to sell their product after hitting roadblocks here.

DIGIT sat down with Curtis Chan, PolyDigi Tech co-founder, to discuss his business journey, the roadblocks he faced, and how Scotland can improve in the future.

Making Scotland your home

Chan has spent the last 15-years in product development, blockchain, and cybersecurity, and previously founded a mobile gaming company.

During this time, he faced many challenges with cyber-attacks, which led him to build his second business PolyDigi Tech. The firm specialises in cybersecurity and provides protection to business services.

“In December 2018, our HK Company received a grant award in the DIT’s competition. DIT invited us to setup a company in the UK,” Chan comments.

“One of the main reasons [we picked Scotland] is that we were accepted onto the RBS accelerator.

“We chose Edinburgh also because it is a well-known hub for financial innovation and education with a network/ecosystem that could possibly add value to PolyDigi as we developed our solutions,” Chan adds.

The funding support available in Scotland through the government is available to businesses of all sizes to help them find a place here, whether in Edinburgh or further afield.

These include the Scottish Growth Scheme, which is a £500 million package of financial support for Scottish businesses, or the Scottish Loan Scheme which offers loans to businesses looking to grow.

Businesses have the option to apply to the Scottish Loan Scheme for loans of between £250,000 and £2 million.

Chan adds that Scotland is a good place boost innovation, and a solid home to improve his product, with both the government and the ecosystem being very supportive of start-ups like PolyDigi Tech.

Scottish roadblocks

However, it was not all plain sailing, Chan says. The pandemic hit all industries hard, and PolyDigi Tech was as affected as any other, but at that stage the firm was still relatively small.

Before Covid-19 struck, Chan, along with his co-founder Alexander Chow, took advantage of the Royal Bank Accelerator, which looked to support UK entrepreneurs to scale their businesses.

Chan says: “In 2019, our RBS mentors had doubts that our first-generation solution could meet product-market-fit. As such we looked at what was trending in the market and started to think a new solution that would be more suitable.”

However, then the pandemic struck: “In 2020, Covid-19 happened, and all physical meetings were cancelled, limiting the opportunity for us to meet and connect with more ecosystem partners.”

Additionally, the company struggled to find key people in Scotland to support them. Chan says: “When the RBS accelerator turned virtual, they restructured a lot in Scotland, with key people leaving and limited services, thus our ability to access its network of contacts and potential partners, investors and customers diminished.

“We basically had to start again from the ground up through cold leads and cold calling.”

A large part of the problem they faced with staffing was due to the well document skills gap that is currently impacting the tech sector in Scotland.

Even before the pandemic, it was revealed that the skills gap was costing the UK billions per year. This was due to a lack of industry regulation, according to Accenture.

Chan says: “Previously our team was predominantly made of technical and operational members. We lack a strong business development counterpart, which would have help in PolyDigi Tech, penetrating the market.

“Recently, we’ve attracted new talents such as Johnathan Lee, a 20-year business veteran to drive more commercialisation for PolyDigi Tech globally,” he added.

Scotland’s strengths

Chan continues that Scotland has been a great place to engage in the R&D process of his product.

PolyDigi Tech received a lot of industry and regulatory knowledge from the network here, for example Fintech Scotland, ScotlandIS, Barclays Eagle Lab and the programmes run by the regulators (FCA and PSR) which helped them to further develop their technology.

“We were able to develop world class solutions because of the UK’s stringent regulatory requirements when it comes to identity authentication, how it interacts with the financial sectors, how it impacts the users, and more,” Chan says.

PolyDigit Tech now does a lot of its business in the Asian markets, although it still has its base here, in Edinburgh. However, Chan still believes firms in Asia are “playing catch up” to the rest of the world, with a strong need for digital transformation.

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“They are hungry for better and more affordable solutions. We have been able to capitalize on these opportunities. Companies in Scotland are slightly slower to change or when it comes to adopting better technologies, especially when they are already using a competing solution.”

He adds: “With the challenges mentioned earlier, we are still finding out footing here in Scotland. We have started to gain more traction in Asia. Hopefully, with this track record, we can attract more UK companies to work with us.”

How can Scotland improve its support network?

Chan closes by discussing how people in a similar position to him could look to build their start here in Scotland: “Always do your homework – find out what is the type of support you need or on offer before embarking on the journey.”

He concludes: “Spend time learning about the market, the needs, the competitors, and ensure you have the right financing to last the journey, to build a start-up to success may take two to five years.”

Due to his experience in Scotland, Chan believes that he can offer some advice for how support could be improved, and for how businesses should seek out that support as they look to join the tech sector.

“I hope the Scottish government can setup an adoption and promoting centre for new technology with the private sector similar to those done in the US, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia,” he says.

“Programs such as “Open Innovation” or subsidies to private companies to run proof of concepts with start-ups will help faster technology adoption.”

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