💊 Cumulus & Bevvy Raise, Origami Plant Pots, Spice & Feeling Nice at Work
Plus so many events!
Here's your Campfire for the 15th of January, 2024.
💼 This issue of Campfire is sponsored by Shepherd and Wedderburn's initiative to supercharge start-ups and scale-ups. Be sure to follow the Start to Scale LinkedIn page for useful videos and posts designed to help founders.
🌊 Updates
💊 Edinburgh-based Cumulus Oncology (a biotech creation studio and drug discovery accelerator in the field of oncology) has secured £9 million in seed financing led by Eos Advisory with participation from the Scottish National Investment Bank. SS DGT
🌶️ Two Scottish startups, Edinburgh-based OK Positive (employee mental health app) and Ujamaa Spice (spice CPG), have been recognised in the prestigious Startups 100 list from Startups.co.uk for their innovative concepts and strong customer bases. TS
🪴 Glasgow-based business POTR (a Scottish startup behind the world’s first origami self-watering plant pot) has secured a major distribution deal in Japan, where the ancient art is believed to have originated and will launch its sustainable houseplant products in more than 100 Japanese outlets in February 2024. TH SFN IN
🥃 Isle Of Islay-based Bevvy (the whisky discovery app founded in 2021) has closed a $1.5 million (£1.2m~) seed funding round led by Scottish angel investors, existing shareholders, and a Denver-based family office. DGT SS
📣 Asks & Offers
✍️ Want to sponsor Campfire? We're planning some new initiatives in 2024, so say hello and let's chat!
🤨 Campfire is looking into something: know any foreign founders based in Scotland who are or were on the UK Innovator visa and who used a for-profit organisation to help secure or sponsor it (e.g. not a University)? If so, we'd love to speak with them.
👭 Interested in connecting with possible co-founders? Fill in your listing on Cofounder Curious today! Connect with others for possible cofounder matching here.
✍️ Want to write something for Campfire? Have an opinion you'd like to share? get in touch!
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 to starttoscale@shepwedd.co.uk & set up a chat.
📅 Events
💼 16/01, 11:00 🗺️ Online: Tech Clinic - Unlocking Success: How Data and AI can support your business: Discover how strategic data planning can be a game-changer for your business, whether you’re just starting out or more established. From saving time, minimising errors, and enhancing user experiences, it can bring control, innovation and commercial opportunities. MORE INFO
🎀 16/01, 17:30 🗺️ Stirling: Digital Skills 4 Girls [Stirling]: A monthly workshop for girls and non-binary people who want to learn new digital skills or develop existing skills. The recommended age for attendance is 10-15. MORE INFO
⚖️ 17/01, 14:00 🗺️ Dumfries: Intro to Techscaler (South of Scotland) - Dumfries: If you’re interested in finding out more about Techscaler and what support is available then we’d love to have you join us! MORE INFO
🤝 17/01, 20:30 🗺️ Striling: TechMeetup Stirling: TechMeetup is about meeting other people involved in tech, learning something and chatting. All are welcome and there is no minimum knowledge level needed to attend and all the talks are aimed at people who have no knowledge of the subject.. MORE INFO
💼 18/01, 12:00 🗺️ Online: Selling Your Business Masterclass by Scottish Enterprise: Aimed at business owners considering an exit from their company, this online session will give attendees the opportunity to hear market-leading IT support and solutions company Microtech Group and building supply merchants Caley Timber & Building Supplies explain what they considered in choosing employee ownership and how things have worked. MORE INFO
🍺 18/01, 18:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Glasgow - People, Planet, Pint: Sustainability Meetup: Pop down to your local People Planet Pint meetup to find more about what's going on locally with sustainability and how you can get involved. MORE INFO
🍵 18/01, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Edinburgh Greentech Futures Creative Hackathon: Join the Edinburgh Greentech Futures community for a creative problem solving session with Visit Scotland. MORE INFO
♀️ 19/01, 12:30 🗺️ Glasgow: Founders - Lets Talk Menopause: Join us for an empowering and enlightening menopause meet up. This is designed to foster open conversations and share insights about the menopause journey for those scaling their start-up business. You maybe going through this chapter yourself or would like to learn more to help manage your team.. MORE INFO
⛑️ 22/01, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Startup Founders Meetup: Each month, we'll have a combination of tactical fireside chats with experienced entrepreneurs and plenty of opportunities to network with other founders, potential cofounders, and investors. MORE INFO
🔧 23/01, 12:00 🗺️ Online: Using Tools to Supercharge your Fundraising Process: Join HubSpot for Startups and CodeBase to learn the key elements of managing a fundraising process! MORE INFO
🧑🏫 23/01, 12:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Presentation Club: A space to practice presenting and pitching in a safe, low-stakes environment, with the opportunity to get feedback from peers. MORE INFO
🧘 23/01, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Find Your Focus: Preparing For The Year Ahead: Start the new year feeling energised, motivated and with clear goals to guide you through 2024. MORE INFO
👔 23/01, 19:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Building Feedback Loops with Jobs to be Done (JTBD): Join us at ProductTank Edinburgh to kick off the new year with an inspiring and engaging meetup! We're excited to welcome product professionals, enthusiasts, and newcomers to our first event of the year, themed around Jobs to Be Done. MORE INFO
👨💻 24/01, 10:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Commercialisation with Data and AI: The second of four workshops that will help Scottish SMEs leverage the power of data and artificial intelligence to support business growth. MORE INFO
👨💼 24/01, 11:30 🗺️ Online: Fair Work Workshop by Scottish Enterprise: What's the event about? This is a fully funded workshop which will help participating companies to understand the benefits of fair work. MORE INFO
🏡 24/01, 12:00 🗺️ Galashiels: Hometown Hub + Techscaler Launch | Stow: The new partnership between Techscaler and Hometown Hub is bringing the Techscaler programme south and will ensure delivery of all Techscaler events and support throughout the Scottish Borders! MORE INFO
🍕 24/01, 18:00 🗺️ St Andrews: Eden Tay Founders Community: Join the EdenTay Founders Community for entrepreneurs coming from the Tay Cities universities 🚀 .Join us for an exceptional collaboration between the entrepreneurial centres from the three renowned universities in the region: Abertay (Bell Street Ventures), St. Andrews (St Andrews Innovation), and Dundee (Centre for Entrepreneurship). MORE INFO
🗃️ 25/01, 10:00 🗺️ Paisley: How AI and Chat GPT Can Make Your Business More Productive: Join digital guru and award-winning entrepreneur Stephen Whitelaw for a masterclass in AI as he shows you how to transform your business. MORE INFO
⌛ 25/01, 17:15 🗺️ Edinburgh: CodeBase monthly Quiz - Edinburgh (January): Join us for this month's pub quiz - bringing together the CodeBase and Edinburgh community for a bit of fun! MORE INFO
🍺 27/01, 13:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Edinburgh - People, Planet, Pint: Sustainability Meetup: Pop down to your local People Planet Pint meetup to find more about what's going on locally with sustainability and how you can get involved. MORE INFO
🔋 30/01, 09:00 🗺️ Aberdeen: Energy Transition Business Improvement Academy: For Companies in the Energy Transition space looking to improve processes to gain an advantage in the renewable energy supply chain. MORE INFO
🤝 30/01, 18:00 🗺️ Dundee: Dundee Data Meetup: Welcome to the monthly recurring Dundee Data Meetup, a vibrant community-driven event that brings together curious learners, data enthusiasts and professionals to explore the captivating world of data and its applications. MORE INFO
🌉 31/01, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Bridging Communities by The Melting Pot: Be part of this transformative gathering. Unleash your potential, connect with like-minded professionals, and contribute to Edinburgh's thriving business community. MORE INFO
♣️ 31/01, 18:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Entrepreneurs Social Club (ESC) - Edinburgh Startup Meetup: Welcome to our monthly Entrepreneurs Social Club (ESC) gathering - skip the talks, presentations and lectures - in favour of going straight to the bar, where real connections are made! MORE INFO
🍺 01/02, 19:00 🗺️ Aberdeen: Aberdeen - People, Planet, Pint: Sustainability Meetup: Pop down to your local People Planet Pint meetup to find more about what's going on locally with sustainability and how you can get involved. MORE INFO
👥 06/02, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Tech Meetup Edinburgh: The Tech Meetup is a monthly excuse for the tech community around Scotland to network, learn and share new ideas! Come along to enjoy informative presentations from your peers, listen to exciting projects in the community and make some new connections. MORE INFO
🎯 Deadlines
🧘 Gearing for Growth and Foras are running a Leadership Renewal Retreat, 21 - 24 March for scaling startup leaders. Applications are open until February 2nd.
🇬🇧 Upcoming Innovate UK deadlines:
Smart Grants September 2023 Applications close 17 January 2024
Innovate UK Net Zero Living Digital Applications close 24 January
UK and South Korea data driven urban innovation Bi-Lateral Applications close 21 February 2024
Creative Catalyst 2024 Applications close 6 March 2024
Eureka collaborative R&D: Eurostars 3 Call 6 Applications close 14 March
Are we missing your event or deadline? 👉 Submit it here!
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That’s all for this week - have a great one!
Team 🔥 Campfire