💊 Glen Cova & Hyble raise, Techscaler one year in, Creative Scotland Funding Shortfall
Plus is Edinburgh's perception as an AI hotspot overhyped?
Here's your Campfire for the 29th of April, 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.
🏕️ Coming Soon, a Campfire Exclusive: “Sometimes it's not possible to run a small experiment for a whole bunch of reasons. You've got to go large on something to get the result you want with the risk that that's a bigger failure. Scotland needs to be willing to take those risks.”
Mark Logan sat down with me for a conversation about vanity metrics, failure, criticism in the Ecosystem, Techscaler, and the current climate. Watch out for more from the conversation later this week.
🌊 Updates
💊 Glasgow-based biotech startup Glen Clova Scientific (developing drugs for chronic inflammatory and autoimmune disorders) raised a £4M Seed round led by Norcliffe Capital with investment from DSW Ventures, TRICAPITAL Angels and Scottish Enterprise to help advance the preclinical development of its initial drug candidates treating senile pruritus, atopic dermatitis, eczema and asthma. Tech EU TS IN
📊 Edinburgh-headquartered martech Hyble (a provider of marketing technology to the global drinks and hospitality sector) raised £2.8m in funding round led by Business Growth Fund (BGF) as a follow-on investment aiming at supporting Hyble's expansion into the USA. DGT
💰 Nearly £100m has been invested in Scottish businesses in Q1 of 2024, according to the latest KPMG Private Enterprise Venture Pulse report. Deals include agriculture tech firm Intelligent Growth Solutions Limited (£28.6 million) and electric and tech focused public transport company Ember (£13.9 million), both based in Edinburgh. SFN DGT
📉 Creative Scotland, the Scottish Government funding arm for the creative industries is facing a £47.5m shortfall for future projects as its funding is reduced. Creative Scotland has said it can only approve a portion of the 281 applications it received because of expected funding cuts from the government. TS
💭Techscaler One Year In: Hit or Miss? Here’s an interesting commentary from Michael Edgar from Digit on the Techscaler report whether its success may be overstated or not. Read here. (DGT)
🤔 Is all the hype about Edinburgh being an AI hotspot just hype? “Being ready doesn’t necessarily mean you will win the game,” Jason Adler offers a commentary on the difference between perceived readiness and actual success. Read here SS
💬 Interesting piece on venture debt financing as an alternative funding option for tech startups, particularly in Scotland, amid a challenging funding environment. Read here. (DGT)
🚀 Space! Coming soon? Unst-based SaxaVord Spaceport has been given permission by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to clear and control the “downrange” zone during launches. IN
📣 Asks & Offers
🎧 Who do you know? Voxblock (improving children’s literacy through audiobooks - 10k so far) is hiring for a COO/Director of Ops. Role includes supply chain and inventory management, scaling processes in operations, coordinating fulfilment, project management, and marketplace management. Competitive salary and share options, full-time/4 days a week, based in Edinburgh. Jobspec here.
🗄️ Want an office AND the diverse membership of a coworking space? The Melting Pot are seeking an organisation to occupy their Hot Office for a long-term rental. Available furnished or unfurnished, capacity for up to six team members at a time. Renting the Hot Office also includes 24/7 keyholder access and discounted Pay-As-You-Go access for any additional team members. For more info, contact Sam Ross.
⚙️Do you dream about prototyping? The University of St Andrews has just opened its Rapid Prototyping Centre with facilities like HD 3D Printing Studio with premium materials, a 3D design office suite, electromechanical engineering equipment and machinery, and an electronics design studio (clean room environment). They offer services like high quality 3D scanning, stereolithography, selective laser sintering, fused deposition modelling and much much more. Campfire readers get a 10% discount (just quote CAMP10). Email them here, and find out more here.
👭 Interested in connecting with possible co-founders? Fill in your listing on Cofounder Curious today! Connect with others for possible cofounder matching here.
👷Are you hiring? Send us a blurb and we’ll include it in the next newsletter!
✍️ Want to write something for Campfire? Have an opinion you'd like to share? get in touch!
📅 Events
🤵🏾 29/04, 09:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Connecting Black Talent And Employer Brands For Success: The #IAmBlack Conference is a groundbreaking event focused on Unleashing the Power of Black Talent and Employer Brands. This conference will bring together employer brands and Black talents from across multiple industries. The target audience includes Black Students, Professionals and Business Owners, with an expected attendance of around 500 delegates. MORE INFO
🖼️ 30/04, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Big Picture AI Safety: "Good" Futures and Dangers en Route by The Melting Pot: Part of The Melting Pot's Spring - Summer AI & Social Innovation events series. The event will provide a general context of where we are in AI development, what the latest advances are and work toward some big questions that concern social innovators: what are the key threats behind the use of AI? What are the distinctive characteristics of Scotland's AI landscape? And above all, how would look a "good" future for us in our complex relationship with AI and what can you do about it? MORE INFO
👥 30/04, 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
🎯 Series: EIE2024: EIE24 is an exclusive, invitation-only event. Due to high demand, not all those expressing interest in attending EIE24 will be guaranteed a place. To ensure you don’t miss the opportunity for a front-row seat at Scotland’s premium tech-ecosystem event, sign up today:
📌 30/04, 19:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: EIE2024 - Investor2Investor Evening: Experience a night of global connections and networking at the spectacular Edinburgh Castle. MORE INFO
📌 01/05, 08:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: EIE2024 - Showcase Day: At EIE24 you will network with international investors, founders, and industry experts. MORE INFO
📌 01/05, 19:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: EIE2024 - Gala Dinner: EIE24 will end with a fantastic networking dinner in a unique and memorable setting. MORE INFO
🍺 01/05, 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
☕ Series: Unfiltered: Open to everyone, join us to connect with members of the local tech community. Come for a coffee, networking and build connections.
⛾ 01/05, 08:30 🗺️ Dundee, MORE INFO
⛾ 01/05, 08:30 🗺️ Perth, MORE INFO
⛾ 01/05, 08:30 🗺️ Stirling, MORE INFO
⛾ 01/05, 08:30 🗺️ Edinburgh, MORE INFO
⛾ 01/05, 08:30 🗺️ Glasgow, MORE INFO
⛾ 01/05, 08:30 🗺️ Inverness, MORE INFO
⛾ 01/05, 08:30 🗺️ Aberdeen, MORE INFO
💬 01/05, 10:30 🗺️ Aberdeen: Conversations On Connecting The North East Into Scottish Academia: On the first Wednesday of each month these sessions will bring together local businesses and stakeholders to explore relevant topics for people working in innovation. These sessions will facilitate insightful conversations, broaden our networks, and help raise awareness of the resources available for organisations in the North East. MORE INFO
💚 02/05, 14:30 🗺️ Online: Roundtable: Being a courageous sustainability leader: What does being courageous mean in practice for sustainability directors, managers and pioneers? Share your experiences and explore them with your peers. Discover new insights and approaches, support and inspire others. MORE INFO
🤝 02/05, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Public Sector Data & AI Meetup - The DataLab [Edinburgh]: Join us to learn how these technologies are reshaping governance, service delivery and decision-making processes as speakers showcase real-world applications of how data and AI is being used in the public sector. MORE INFO
🍕 02/05, 18:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Tech Meetup Glasgow - May 2024: Join us at Civic House, Glasgow on the first Thursday of each month for our free event featuring two talks on tech with soft drinks and pizza. MORE INFO
🥾 04/05, 10:00 🗺️ Alloa: Sustainability Netwalking at Devilla Forest, nr Kincardine: Join other sustainability leaders and pioneers to enjoy being out in nature and have inspiring conversations with your peers. Share your experience, grow your network, revitalise yourself. MORE INFO
👥 07/05, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Tech Meetup Edinburgh | May: 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
📅 07/05, 18:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Techscaler Takeaways: Tales of Silicon Valley [Glasgow]: Come to hear from Scottish founders and share in our key learnings and reflections from Techscaler Silicon Valley! MORE INFO
🔥 08/05, 17:30 🗺️ Stirling: Fireside Chat with Steven Drost: Join us for an inspiring Fireside chat with CodeBase Chief Strategy Officer Steven Drost, all about destigmatising and embracing failure on your own startup journey. This event is open to all, come to CodeBase Stirling to connect with members of the local tech ecosystem, network and share your own stories. MORE INFO
🍺 08/05, 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
♾️ 09/05, 12:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Neurodivergent Conditions and Reasonable Adjustments with Auticon: Our Neurodiversity Meetup has been created as a space for Neurodivergent (ND) people and allies working in the Scottish Tech Ecosystem to meet and discuss how we can make our spaces more inclusive to neurodivergent individuals. MORE INFO
🔌 13/05, 11:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Unplugged Glasgow: Open to everyone, CodeBase Unplugged is a networking event for professionals interested in or working in tech startups. MORE INFO
👥 13/05, 18:30 🗺️ Inverness: Tech Meetup Inverness: Inverness Tech Meetup is back for in-person chats, talks and snacks. MORE INFO
💼 14/05, 13:00 🗺️ Stirling: Marketing Meetup with Scunnered Digital [Stirling]: Join us for a six-month event series dedicated to elevate your marketing skills, build connections and exchange ideas with fellow marketers. MORE INFO
🎤 14/05, 14:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab Glasgow Pitch Day: The Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab (MSIVL) is an intensive 5-month in-house start-up accelerator program promoting financial inclusion and providing entrepreneurs of technology and technology-enabled startups with access to capital (£250,000), along with the tools, resources and connections to help further develop and scale their companies. MORE INFO
🌱 15/05, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: #WorldProductDay - Let's Talk Product-Led Growth (PLG): oin us on this year's World Product Day for an enlightening session on Product Led Growth (PLG). In this meetup, we'll dive into how PLG leverages product usage to attract, convert, and retain customers, fundamentally shifting the traditional marketing and sales paradigms. We'll explore real-world examples from leading companies that have successfully implemented PLG strategies to achieve scalable growth. MORE INFO
🍽️ 15/05, 18:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Founders Dinners: Where founders & execs of product startups relax together and connect with peers over food and drinks. MORE INFO
🥂 15/05, 18:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Tech Week Drinks: Drinks with Cooper Parry, Foresight Group, Harper Macleod & Virgin Money. Email kirstyi@cooperparry.com to register to attend. MORE INFO
🌐 16/05, 18:00 🗺️ Glasgow: TecTonic: Night Summit (Glasgow Tech Week):
Special discount for Campfire readers here! This debut event is a unique blend of conference and live community gathering, promising an inclusive, energised, and vibrant showcase of innovation and connectivity within Scotland’s digital business community and startup ecosystem. There will be inspiring and entertaining on-stage activities, interactive exhibitors and a dedicated business growth mentorship area for Founders to get tailored support. MORE INFO
🔌 16/05, 17:00 🗺️ Aviemore: Unplugged - Aviemore: This event aims to bring together entrepreneurs, techies, creatives, students, investors, and other regional stakeholders to network and share ideas. It is open to individuals from all sectors, from early-stage startups to established companies, as well as educators, employees and other business professionals looking to engage with more startup activity and looking to learn more about the type of Techscaler support available across Scotland. MORE INFO
🔌 20/05, 16:00 🗺️ Turriff: Unplugged Turriff: Open to everyone, CodeBase Unplugged is a networking event for professionals working in, or interested in, tech startups. MORE INFO
🔥 21/05, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Startup Founders Meetup - May 2024: 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
🤝 22/05, 08:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: European Coworking Day 2024 by The Melting Pot: Join us and our vibrant community as we celebrate coworking here in Edinburgh and across Europe. Get a ticket and Come and cowork with us for free all day in the heart of Edinburgh city centre (08:30-17:30), Join us for a special lunch where you will hear from some of our members about why they cowork at Scotland's Centre for Social Innovation and the benefits coworking can have, Lunch is on us! You'll try the best soup in the whole city. Vegan and gluten-free! MORE INFO
📢 29/05, 08:30 🗺️ Glasgow: DIGIT Expo West 2024: DIGIT Expo West is Scotland’s largest gathering of technology personnel coming to Glasgow with over 1000 delegates. Themes of discussion will include Cyber Security, Data, AI, ML, Analytics, Cloud Services, Networks, Connectivity and much more. MORE INFO
🔗 29/05, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Entrepreneurs Social Club (ESC) - May 2024: 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
🌃 30/05, 17:30 🗺️ Glasgow: FuckUp Nights Glasgow Vol.I: Fuckup Nights is a global movement and event series that shares stories of professional failure. Each month, in events across +200 cities and 65 countries, we get a couple of speakers to get up in front of a room full of strangers to share their professional fuckup. The stories of the business that crashes and burns, the partnership deal that goes sour, the product that has to be recalled, we tell them all. MORE INFO
🎯 Deadlines
🗺️ 6 May 2024: Geovation Scotland Accelerator. Application here
🤖 19 May 2024: Edinburgh University AI Accelerator. Info here
🏗️ 28 May 2024: Shott Scale Up Accelerator (Royal Society of Engineering). Info here
🇬🇧 Upcoming Innovate UK deadlines:
UK-Switzerland CR&D Round 2 Applications close 1 May
UK - Germany Bilateral: Collaborative R&D Round 3 Applications close 3 June
Are we missing your event or deadline? 👉 Submit it here!
Thanks for reading Campfire! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work.
Think someone would like this issue? Forward it to them! Check out previous issues by subscribing.
That’s all for this week - have a great one!
Team 🔥 Campfire