🚌 New Deal Docs, Converge, Robot Buses crossing the Forth
Here's your weekly Scottish Startup Campfire.
This week the BVCS has published updated model investment documents (deep dive via ShepWedd below), Converge has unveiled its new cohort, funding news from Liftango and IbisVision, and an autonomous bus service starts across the Forth. Plus tons of great events happening all across the country.
But first, a set of questions that might be taking up an oddly large space in your head, especially when you're just starting out.
💬 The founder's internal monologue
By Robert Gelb
Where's the line?
Do I give this a go? What about all the uncertainty?
Do I give up my job, jump off a cliff?
What if I'm wrong?
I'm probably wrong.
Will people laugh at me?
Will they laugh when I fail?
Can I take this chance? Can my family?
Is it worth it? Me, here, now, spending time, building this thing?
Who do I think I am, trying to make this work?
Is my thing better than what came before?
Does the world need this?
Does anyone?
What am I even doing?
Am I actually solving a problem?
Am I building something that could actually work?
How will I know it's working? Who will tell me?
How will I know if I'm a success?
Will I ever be one?
🌊 Updates
💰 Six Aberdeen businesses have been awarded a share of £30,000 of equity-free funding, as part of the Robert Gordon University’s start-up accelerator initiative. Read about the winners here → RGU
📜 The BVCS (British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association) has published updated model documents for early-stage capital investments. Read more about what it means for you + analysis here 👉 SHEPWEDD
📉 Scotland’s in a scale-up slump, with VC investment in Scottish businesses dropping significantly - attributed to a cautious investment climate. SFN
👁️ Glasgow-based IbisVision, which enables remote eye testing, has raised £4.5 million from Compiler VC, Deepbridge, and Scottish Enterprise, with plans to expand into the US and EU. TS
🎓 Converge Challenge has announced the 100 start-ups and spinouts from Scottish Universities, including a bunch of AI-focused businesses. See the list 👉 FS
🤖 Glasgow-founded Healthtech firm Talking Medicines talks about using ChatGPT-based technology to improve their data collection, allowing them to better market their products and services. FS
🚌 Fancy an autonomous bus ride across the Firth of Forth? Next week a live trial of five autonomous buses from CAVForth will begin their first service - for now with a safety driver. UKTN
💳 Edinburgh-based DirectID, a global credit and risk platform, has recently formed a strategic partnership with Smoothpay (payroll loyatly platform), which will leverage DirectID's open banking platform to offer freelancers, contractors, and small business owners a reliable monthly income. DGT
💰Scotland-based ride share startup Liftango has raised £2.5m from Maven and Scottish Enterprise. The sustainable transport solution includes carpools, fixed-route shuttle transit and on-demand buses. Congrats! UKTN
🙏 Asks & Offers
👵 Have a parent or grandparent who you’d love to preserve a memoir from? Get 20% off Storii’s AI Biography Rewrite Tool by using using code CAMPFIRE here. Also available on Amazon in the UK and it's prime-available.
👩🏫 A group of founders who aren’t satisfied with the current offering in Scotland for power-venture investor readiness are thinking about running a week-long sprint, specifically targeting companies who want to understand how to run international power-venture investment rounds, without the bs. 👉 I’m interested
🎓 Useful finds
🤖 Want to try out an AI writer but worried about all the stuff they just plain make up? Katteb is a fact-checked AI-writer and it's available as a lifetime deal right now.
🤝 Have you been interested in the rise of a new swath of personal relationship managers like Dex or Attio? CopperCRM has come out with their take on the PRM and have released Wyndy to try and help you figure out who you should check in on.
💰 Investor and bootstrapped-fan Elizabeth Yin has a great thread diving into the ways you can get ££ for your startup without VCs. Always worth a reminder.
👋 A few questions with Kyle White, CEO of VeryConnect
What's VeryConnect?
All-in-one membership CRM and community software for associations, professional societies and alumni to save admin time and increase engagement.
How did you get involved?
I always loved technology and knew I wanted to do my own thing. While doing a PhD in computing science I had the opportunity to go to New Zealand for an internship as part of Entrepreneurial Scotland's Saltire Scholarship. When I returned I built a system to manage their database and events and this became the foundation of VeryConnect.
What's the problem you're solving?
Many membership societies still have huge levels of manual administration in their processes. Legacy systems and challenging user experiences are common. We automate many tasks from invoicing & payments to member joining workflows. We also integrate with tools like Xero, making everything seamless.
What's your solution?
The reason our approach is different is we supply all the building blocks, and work with our customers to tailor these to the needs of their organisation - enabling, disabling and configuring features to deliver a platform that works for them. Our B2B SaaS platform offers configurable features including: invoicing, payments, events, application forms, forum, groups, messaging, polling/voting, video library, resource hub, reporting, analytics, single sign on, many integrations from accounting to learning management systems.
What current alternatives exist?
There are a number of competing platforms in this space, however they tend to be quite mature, legacy systems which are not being actively developed or enhanced.
What does good look like in this space?
Some of our largest legacy competitors work with several thousand associations. We want to change how membership societies manage themselves, to better achieve their goals.
What do you need help with?
We’re building out a new product for mentoring, connecting & networking as part of Scotland’s CivTech 7 program. Keen to chat to any network/community leaders who are looking to develop a mentoring offer for their community.
How should folks get in touch?
Connect on LinkedIn here
You can find out more about VeryConnect by going to veryconnect.com.
📅 Events & deadlines
🇬🇧 Upcoming Innovate UK deadlines:
Feasibility studies for Artificial Intelligence solutions Applications close 24 May
Analysis for Innovators (A4I) Round 10 – Stage 1 Applications close 24 May
Net Zero Heat: Design Engineering Innovation Lab Applications close 31 May
Innovate UK Smart Grant: Jan 2023 Applications close 14 June
🔒 15/05, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Cloud Native and Kubernetes Edinburgh. CNKEDI's May event will have a very practical security theme, with talks from Adrian Mouat and Matt Jarvis. MORE INFO
🎯 15/05 🤖 Edinburgh University's AI Accelerator's next cohort applications are open until EOD 15 May. MORE INFO
❓16/05 12:00 🗺️ Oban: Techscaler Information Drop-In Session. Interested to know more about Techscaler? Join for an informal drop-in session. MORE INFO
👩🏿💻 16/05 17:00 🗺️ Aberdeen: Black Founder Accelerator Roadshow - Aberdeen: Panel discussion and resource session. MORE INFO
🏳️🌈 17/05, 14:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: LGBTQ+ Tech Ecosystem Meetup: This month's theme is 'Preparing for Pride' MORE INFO
🧐 17/05 17:15 🗺️ Edinburgh: Barclays & CodeBase Edinburgh's Monthly Quiz. Bringing together the CodeBase and Edinburgh community for a bit of fun MORE INFO
📜 17/05, 10:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Startup Leadership Workshop: Fundraising Legals. The terms attached to every £ you raise can have a huge impact on your growth, exit plans and day-to-day. MORE INFO
✈️ 17/05, 18:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Connecting Communities and Collaborators. Join the Traveltech for Scotland team, industry partners and guest speakers for an evening of networking and conversation MORE INFO
💰 17/05, 18:30 🗺️ Glasgow: Wealth By Innovation Glasgow Event. Networking, pitching, and talks bringing together startups, investors, and industry leaders. MORE INFO
🤓 18/05, 15:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Lawtech UK | CodeBase & Legal Geek Launch Event. anyone interested in learning more about LawtechUK. Whether you’re a startup founder, legal professional, investor, government, student, or academic–everyone is welcome! MORE INFO
♾️ 18/05, 13:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Neurodiversity Tech Ecosystem Meetup: a space for Neurodivergent 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
💼 19/05, 17:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Fireside chat with Shaf Rasul: If you're a Black entrepreneur in Scotland and are looking for some guidance, gain inspiration and insights in this intimate fireside chat. MORE INFO
🇨🇳 22/05, 10:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Succeeding in China: How to Mitigate Intellectual Property Risk. The session is suitable for companies from all sectors and of all sizes seeking to explore a range of opportunities in China. MORE INFO
⛓️ 22/05, 17:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Monthly Scottish Blockchain Meetup: Speakers announced soon. MORE INFO
🎨 23/05, 12:00 🗺️ Stirling: Marketing Meetup: Open agenda and networking. MORE INFO
💻 23/05, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: NoCode Scotland Meetup #4: Whether you're a NoCode enthusiast or just looking to get started learning how you can build software without writing code, you're very welcome to come along! MORE INFO
🇳🇴 25/05, 18:00 🗺️ Aberdeen: Nordic Scot Business Network: Networking drinks. MORE INFO
🏄♀️ 25/05, 18:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Role models of leadership panel event: Panel event with 4 women in business: Amy McCuscker (WeeBox), Mehalah Beckett (Lead Powerful Impact), Siobhan Molloy (Soccer Stars Academy), Tracey Chrystal (Tracey Chrystal HR & Chrystal Coaching). MORE INFO
🐍 29/05 - 02/06 🗺️ Edinburgh: Django Con Europe: 5 days of talks, sprints, and tutorials in Edinburgh. MORE INFO
Save the Dates
📜 07/06, 08:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: [Investors] Series A and beyond – insights for investors & founders into the new BVCA Model Documents: in-person session reviewing the key changes to the British Venture Capital Association (BVCA) model form documents for early-stage investments, and discussion points that are likely to arise in deals papered with the new model forms. MORE INFO
📜 14/06, 16:15 🗺️ Edinburgh: [Founders] Series A and beyond – insights for investors & founders into the new BVCA Model Documents: in-person session reviewing the key changes to the British Venture Capital Association (BVCA) model form documents for early-stage investments, and discussion points that are likely to arise in deals papered with the new model forms. MORE INFO
Deadlines
🎯 31/05 🧠 The Great British Entrepreneur Awards nominations are open and close on the 31st of May 2023. MORE INFO
🎯 15/06 ♻️ MSIP Accelerator for companies building in mobility and decarbonisation. 12-week programme, based in Dundee. Applications close 15 June. LNC MORE INFO
🎯15/06 🧱 Product Builder programme from Barclays Eagles Labs: online programme to teach how to develop a digital product and then test, validate and evolve it using customer feedback. 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
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That’s all for this week - have a great one!
Team 🔥Campfire