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Insider UK
Business
Peter A Walker

Scottish EDGE hands out £1.4 million business boost

A total of 24 businesses with high-growth potential have received £1.4m after winning in the Scottish EDGE round 21 awards.

Among the winners were Glasgow-based Infix Support, which won £100,000 towards its clinician-led, cloud-based scheduling platform that improves NHS theatre efficiency.

Clearwell Technology, a business based in Aboyne which develops exothermic milling systems, also walked away with a prize worth £100,000.

Eight of the prizes went to winners from the Young EDGE Category, where all directors are under the age of 30, with the top Scottish Enterprise prize going to Euro Ticket Club, which provides flight and ticket offers to British fans of European football.

The Institute of Export prize was awarded to LU Innovations, which creates menstrual products and accessories for adventurers in remote environments. Both winners were recognised for their entrepreneurship with prizes worth £15,000.

This latest round saw the return of the Net Zero EDGE category, which rewards the efforts of organisations committed to contributing towards the Scottish Government’s commitment to reaching net zero by 2045. North Berwick-based Frontier Robotics, which works on marine robots’ sensing and autonomous capabilities, won the prize worth £100,000 - which was boosted by support from the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The Circular Economy EDGE award, which was introduced in collaboration with Zero Waste Scotland and recognises businesses implementing more circular business methods, went to Fife-based Seilich, which harvests skincare product ingredients from its own wildflower meadows.

Meanwhile, the STV Growth EDGE award, which guarantees airtime, went to Three Robins, a company creating family-friendly plant-based products, in addition to a financial award of £85,000.

Sharing the accolade of Social Enterprise EDGE winner, Stitch the Gap CIC, which uses sewing tutelage to improve community mental health and environmental impact, and Rhyze Mushrooms, a community mushroom farm and education project, received £50,000 and £20,000 respectively from the Postcode Innovation Trust-supported award.

The ceremony marked the final round of the awards for Scottish EDGE chief operating officer Steven Hamill, who has been involved since their inception in 2013 and has overseen the establishment of partnerships with the RBS, the Hunter Foundation, the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise.

Hamill commented: “Over the course of the last decade, the EDGE awards have acknowledged the innovation, creativity, and future-centred mindset of more than 500 Scottish businesses.

“With over £20m having been awarded so far, Scottish EDGE plays a crucial role in giving businesses with high-growth potential the resources to scale and develop their work.

“It’s been an honour to collaborate with partner organisations to form long-lasting relationships and ensure that Scottish entrepreneurship continues to be rewarded.“

Scottish EDGE winner Duncan Peter, of Novus, with First Minister Humza Yousaf (Sandy Young)

The full list of this year’s winners (alphabetically) is as follows:

Scottish EDGE Award

  • Chorus Training – Aberdeen - £70,000 - Safety training for work in hazardous environments.
  • Clean Water Designs (trading as Novus) – Edinburgh - £80,000 - High-speed, low-energy distillation technology for water purity.
  • Clearwell Technology – Aboyne - £100,000 - Developing exothermic milling systems which aim to transform offshore decommissioning.
  • Fitabeo Therapeutics – Edinburgh - £100,000 - A specialty pharmaceutical company that develops and commercialises medicines.
  • Frontier Robotics – North Berwick - £100,000 - Working to revolutionise marine robots’ sensing and autonomous capabilities with minimum hardware and software modifications.
  • Incharvie Group – Leven - £60,000 - Making Feragaia, Scotland's first distilled, alcohol-free spirit.
  • Infix Support – Glasgow - £100,000 - A clinician-led, cloud-based scheduling platform that improves NHS theatre efficiency.
  • Nooku – Glasgow - £80,000 - Creating an air quality monitor which empowers people to understand and improve their environment.
  • Seilich – Pathhead - £75,000 - Wildflower meadow-harvested ingredients for a range of skincare products.
  • Silver Lion Innovations – Glasgow - £80,000 - The EasyOver product safely turns people with mobility issues over in bed.
  • Three Robins – Edinburgh - £85,000 - Oat milk products that children, their parents and the planet will love.
  • Tuggs – Glasgow - £75,000 - The country's first freshly-prepared, insect-based dog food.
  • WEETEQ – Glasgow - £100,000 - An embedded technology company providing industrial solutions to accelerate sustainable growth of smart technologies.
  • Yaldi Games – Edinburgh - £60,000 - A mission-led developer making meaningful games that inspire real life activities.

Social Enterprise EDGE

  • Rhyze Mushrooms – Edinburgh - £25,000 - A community farm and education project, growing mushrooms from waste and teaching others the skills to do so too.
  • Stitch the Gap CIC – Glasgow - £50,000 - Mental health and environmental impact work at the grassroots of communities, teaching the sewing skills to repair, reuse and repurpose textiles.

Young EDGE

  • 4SB Mobility – Peebles - £10,000 - Engineering a swappable ‘jerry-can’ electric vehicle battery.
  • Augmentum Influencer Solutions – Grangemouth - £10,000 - An influencer marketing agency specialising in growing brands in the health and wellness space.
  • Dastardly Line – Glasgow - £10,000 - A design studio that creates products around problematic textile waste streams produced by UK industry.
  • Euro Ticket Club – Edinburgh - £15,000 - Flight and football ticket offers, via a weekly email newsletter, for British fans who want to watch European football.
  • LU Innovations – Glasgow- £15,000 - Designing sustainable products, education and training to ensure good menstrual hygiene.
  • Nuclevolve – Glasgow - £10,000 - A radiation protection technology company working to achieve advancements in the space and medical industries.
  • Shasha Network – Edinburgh - £10,000 - An online platform that equips secondary students across Africa with soft skills and career development.
  • Studio Lutalica – Edinburgh - £10,000 - A design studio focusing on feminist and LGBTQ+ projects and supporting businesses to create safer workplaces.

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