💰 22 Investor Databases, Turing Countdown and Well-Versed
Versed raises a pre-seed round, a sharing economy acquisition, lots of networking, some really interesting reads from members of the community, and we countdown to Turing Fest. Here's your Campfire for 19 June 2023.
💼 This issue of Campfire is brought to you by Shepherd & Wedderburn. Read how Shepwedd has helped founders like John Gordon from Incentive Games below.
💁♂️ 22 Investment Databases
By Robert Gelb
If you're building a business that's targeting Regional/EIS VC at seed, you're looking at a minimum of 20 investors that will need to be in your pipeline. If you're building a power venture opportunity, it will be more like 100. There simply aren't enough funds or investors in Scotland to make that number viable, and the risk appetite and term-landscape isn't a fit for everyone. You can't afford not to be looking beyond Scotland for every aspect of your business, including funding.
So we decided to kickstart a resource library by collating 22 different lists of investors based around different sectors, types, and stages.
It's specifically not focused on Scotland-based investors, because if you want to build at scale, you shouldn't be building a Scottish company. You're building a company.
This comes following a few requests from different communities in the ecosystem to start collating resources and make them available to browse. We'd like to add to this resource library with templates, deck examples, reading lists, professional service recommendations, etc. If you have an idea or want to contribute to the resource library, please get in touch.
You can find it here. You'll have to be signed in - let us know if you have any issues accessing.
🌊 Updates
🎮 Edinburgh & Amsterdam based Versed (zero coding game creation through storytelling) raised a €1.6m pre-seed round led by Gradient Ventures. TS
🍼 Edinburgh-based Pa-Rent, an item rental platform aimed at parents, has been acquired by Essex-based RentMy for an undisclosed sum. TS IN
🎙️ Edinburgh-based podcaster maker app Alitu has just added a new AI-powered feature which automatically generates Podcast episode titles and descriptions, long the bane of a podcaster's life - awesome!
🐑 Edinburgh-based Roslin Technologies, developing cultivated meat from stem cells, raised an undisclosed round from Kickstart Ventures. MT
💰 British Business Bank has published its latest small business equity tracker. Investment deals down 7% in 2022, total investment value down 11% to £16.7bn. University spinouts raised the highest amount at 12% of all UK equity investments. Growth stage declined 25% and was 54% lower comparing the first and second halves of the year. LS
🤖 Edinburgh has been named the most 'AI ready city' (whatever that means) after London by the SAS AI Cities Index 2023. The index is based on factors like university courses, meet-ups, and job postings. How many were written by ChatGPT though? FS UKTN
🇮🇪 Nick Freer writes a piece on how Ireland is still kicking our tuchuses when it comes to inward investment. TS
🏝️ Papa Stour, an island off the west coast of Shetland with 7 residents has just switched on super high-speed internet. How's this for your next digital nomad base? FS
🤖 Countdown to Turning
Turing Fest is just around the corner. In the lead up we're highlighting different speakers we're looking forward to:
🚲 Georgie Smallwood , Chief Product Officer, Tier Mobility
💰 Paul Murphy, Partner, Lightspeed Ventures
🔉 Varun Nair, ex Head of AR/VR Audio Software, Meta
🎓 Useful finds & reads
🤿 Danae Shell, cofounder and CEO of Valla wrote an excellent reflection about how hard it is to navigate a space that's filled with preconceived notions about what you're trying to disrupt.
👩🚀 Startups.co.uk assembled a list of female founder-friendly UK investors.
📹 If you have video that you'd like to repurpose into clips for Tiktok, Youtube Shorts, or Instagram, check out Opus Clip.
🦸 "Absolute superheroes"
"John Morrison and Joe Fitzgibbon are absolute superheroes within the Scottish ecosystem. They're always there to help my company and other startups. From free mentoring in the early days, quality advice, even the occasional office space to use in Edinburgh and London, they are genuinely there to help out while still being cost-effective." - John Gordon, CEO of Incentive Games
Shepherd & Wedderburn's innovative and personable approach helps companies from first incorporation onwards (including through to an exit – if that’s the goal). Their global reach means they can scale and grow with you, like they have with clients like Epic Games, FanDuel, Parsleybox, and TVSquared.
👉 To learn more, send an email starttoscale@shepwedd.co.uk & set up a chat.
📅 Events & deadlines
🇬🇧 Upcoming Innovate UK deadlines:
SBRI: Quantum Catalyst Fund Phase 1 and phase 2 Applications close 27 June
ARMD2 - Late Stage R&D towards net zero automotive futures Applications close 28 June
📯 19/06, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Pitch it to me: Casual evening of pitching to peers within Tech startups - practice your pitching and receive valuable feedback in a welcoming environment. MORE INFO
🤖 20/06, 11:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Unleash the power of ChatGPT and AI for business growth: This masterclass, led by Stephen Whitelaw, will delve into how you can utilise AI tools to help your business become more efficient and productive. MORE INFO
🥇 20/06, 17:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Appin Entrepreneurship Award: shining a spotlight on the entrepreneurial students and recent graduates from Edinburgh Napier University who have demonstrated exceptional potential and ambition. MORE INFO
🇨🇳 21/06, 10:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Selling to Chinese consumers through cross-border eCommerce: Workshop to help understand accessing the China opportunity through cross-border eCommerce. MORE INFO
🤝 21/06, 17:30 🗺️ Glasgow: Bridging Communities: Cross-community networking event. We’re bridging communities to help you spark new connections and collaborations. Speakers include Martin Avila, CEIS, Alison Savill, Codebase, and George Tah, Jambo! Radio Scotland. MORE INFO
🤝 21/06, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Good Time Station 3.0: A quarterly purpose-driven, stress-free business meet-up featuring good ideas, good discussion, good local food and drinks for GOOD. MORE INFO
🤓 21/06, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Tech Social June: We are back in June for another great event! Come join us at Uno Mas for a drink and some networking. MORE INFO
🏳️🌈 22/06, 13:00 🗺️ Online: What can organisations do to protect the LGBTQ+ rights of their employees?: Join CodeClan for a panel discussion around LGBTQ+ rights in the workplace. The panel is represented fully by the LGBTQ+ community. MORE INFO
🎤 22/06, 18:30 🗺️ Glasgow: Shaker Session: Connecting Tech with Glasgow: Calling all Glasgow-based tech meet-up organisers and anyone who wants to be part of a wider conversation about Glasgow's tech ecosystem. MORE INFO
💸 22/06, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Unlocking Compliance: Fintech Mixer: An evening of drinks for those in the fintech industry to meet and connect, along with a panel discussion on a relevant topic. MORE INFO
🤗 27/06, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Techscaler Summer Sessions: Edinburgh & Lothians: Join us to celebrate the growth of the tech startup community. MORE INFO
🤖 28-29/06, 0900 🗺️ Edinburgh: Turing Fest 2023: Europe's best tech event for product, growth & startups. MORE INFO
🏄♀️ 28/06, 08:45 🗺️ Edinburgh: Business Connections, BWC Edinburgh: Network with likeminded businesswomen, meet the BWC Edinburgh team and enjoy a coffee, breakfast and collaborate with members and non member. MORE INFO
🚀 28/06, 11:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Funding routes for high growth technology companies: Lunch and learn focusing on funding routes for high growth technology companies. MORE INFO
🤖 28/06, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Diverse AI Launch: Official Scottish launch event for Diverse AI, a not-for-profit community interest company working to support and grow diversity in AI. MORE INFO
🤝 28/06, 19:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Entrepreneurs Social Club (ESC): The social club for entrepreneurs - skip the talks, presentations and lectures - in favour of going straight to the bar to connect! MORE INFO
♻️ 29/06, 08:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: GreenTech Meetup: A chance for all those in the sustainability space, or those who want to become more sustainable, to get together and learn for each other. MORE INFO
✏️ 29/06, 17:15 🗺️ Edinburgh: Barclays and CodeBase, Edinburgh's monthly quiz: Join us for this month's pub quiz - bringing together the CodeBase and Edinburgh community for a bit of fun! MORE INFO
⚡ 29/06, 19:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: People, Planet, Pint: Sustainability Meetup: Come and meet others interested in the Net Zero, Bcorp and Environmental space! MORE INFO
💻 04/04, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Edinburgh Tech Meetup: We have some interesting speakers, talks and games lined up with lots of time for networking. MORE INFO
🎯 Deadlines
🎯 Open 💡 Applications are open for the RBS Accelerator programme MORE INFO
🎯 20/06 📱 KPMG has opened submissions for Tech Innovator in the UK 2023. Initial heat will take place on 20 June to find a shortlist of innovators representing Scotland. Finalists UK-wide will be announced at Web Summit 2023 in Lisbon. MORE INFO
🎯 30/06 🚀 Barclay's Entrepreneurship Awards 2023 are open for nominations across 8 categories: Startup, Sustainability, International Expansion, Scale-up, Social, Eagle Labs Innovation, Barclaycard Payments, Games MORE INFO
🎯 01/09 🤓 Applications are now open for the Scottish Cyber Awards. MORE INFO
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That’s all for this week - have a great one!
Team 🔥Campfire