🦪 Onstage applications open, FD Finance funding, Biodegradable Wool from Mussel beards
Here's your Campfire for the 21st of April, 2025.
💼 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
🚀 Onstage S25 Demo Day applications are open for early stage founders looking to raise in the next 6 months: Previously called Focal, Onstage Demo Day is a collaboration of several power-venture VCs, including Edinburgh-based Techstart Ventures. Your pitch gets in front of hundreds of VC partners, and even if applicants don’t make it to pitch, you can still get intro requests from VCs (1800 last year). Application here.
💰 Glasgow-based FD Finance (personal tax automation AI for accountants), secured £200k from UKSE, a subsidiary of Tata Steel. To date, FT Finance’s software, PeTAR is used by 20 of the UK Top 50 accountancy practices. SFN
💸 Global VC investment surged in Q1 2025 to a 10-quarter high, but European VC investments are flat. Global deal volume is down (8,801 deals in Q4’24 to 7,551 deals in Q1’25). The increase in amount is mostly driven by AI investment in the US. DGT
🦪 Seastex (biodegradable ‘wool’-type material from the beards of mussels) has moved to Glasgow. Welcome! Sander, the CEO and founder developed the idea after learning about ancient sea silk, made from the beards of a type of clam that was used over 2,000 years ago. PS
🚋 Cool: Glasgow-based RX Watt has developed a new generation of wireless and battery-less sensors for trains. DGT
🩷 TURING FEST is right around the corner(7-8th of May)! Watch out for our dedicated Turing Fest guide coming out later this week, but in the meantime, grab your ticket (and get £200 off if you use the code CAMP200 at checkout).
📣 Asks & Offers
🚨Start to Scale by Shepherd and Wedderburn is offering eligible subscribers of Campfire exclusive access to their ‘Start to Scale Hub’ which helps companies create template legal agreements in minutes for free. To learn more and request access click here.
👔 Firstport is hiring a Growth Advisor (part-time, 2-year contract) and an Investment Associate (full-time, permanent) to support social entrepreneurs scaling their impact. Both roles are home-based with access to the Edinburgh office. Deadlines and more information: Growth Advisor – 28th March, Investment Associate – 9th April.
💻 Looking for an early-stage fractional CTO? Carlos Fontana is an Edinburgh-based experienced tech leader with over a decade of success guiding teams and defining architecture. He is the kind of technical leader who thrives where vision meets execution. He specialises in defining architecture from the ground up, building systems that are both scalable and secure, and organising technical priorities that set teams up for long-term success. If you’re looking for technical leadership support, connect and reach out to Carlos—let’s build something that matters.
👭 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
🦾 21/04, 11:00 🗺️ Online: The AI-Powered Business: How Businesses Can 10x Their Productivity Webinar: The Best AI Tools to Automate Your Workflow and Free Up Time. MORE INFO
🌎 22/04, 10:00 🗺️ Online: Scale Your Service Business With Tech- Hybrid Event - Dumfries and Online: Do you run a service-based business, and are looking for inspiration on how you can grow and scale efficiently through technology? MORE INFO
🎯 22/04, 13:00 🗺️ Online: The IP Power Hour: IP Essentials for Founders: Join us for a value-packed webinar with Lawrie, where we'll dive into the world of IP! MORE INFO
⛓️ 22/04, 17:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Blockchain Scotland Meetup: Welcome to the Monthly Blockchain Scotland Meetup at the Bayes Centre in Edinburgh. The event takes place at the ground floor in G.03. MORE INFO
🎯 22/04, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Edinburgh Can B: All welcome to join, if you are interested in helping create positive change for people and planet in Edinburgh. MORE INFO
🤝 22/04, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Startup Founders Meetup - April 2025: Tactical fireside chats with experienced entrepreneurs and speed networking with other founders, potential cofounders, and investors! MORE INFO
🍽️ 23/04, 12:00 🗺️ Aberdeen: LUNCH & LEARN EVENT - LEARN HOW TO FRANCHISE YOUR BUSINESS: Discover the ins and outs of franchising your business - let's turn your business into a successful franchise. MORE INFO
☕ 23/04, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: ProductTank Community Flash Talks - Share your story!: This month, we’re mixing things up with a night of community flash talks—short, informal talks from fellow product people about the messy, unpredictable, and very human side of product work. Not only do we want to hear success stories, we want to hear stories about things that didn't go right and learn how to bounce back (while having a little laugh). MORE INFO
📍 23/04, 19:15 🗺️ Edinburgh: Introduction to Improvisation skills at Work with Julia Knight: This session is for people who are interested in people, team, leadership and organizational development and who wants to be share their interest with others. MORE INFO
💻 24/04, 10:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Co-Work Club Glasgow: Tired of the home office grind but not ready for the daily commute? Say goodbye to crowded coffee shops and the endless search for a quiet Zoom spot. MORE INFO
🌍 24/04, 17:00 🗺️ Aberdeen: Latitude 57° Meets Latitude 59°: A Startup Crossroad for Aberdeen & Tallinn: Whether you're an early-stage founder, investor, or part of the Aberdeen startup ecosystem, this is your chance to connect, learn, and grow with one of Europe’s leading startup nations (Estonia). MORE INFO
🤖 24/04, 18:00 🗺️ Glasgow: From Startup Grind Glasgow: AI Builders - Next Big Thing in AI: Agentic Systems & Ethical AI: This event is perfect for anyone curious about building real-world agentic AI solutions, ethical considerations and responsible AI practices, AI career opportunities, networking with forward-thinking AI professionals. Guest speakers include Shiv Kodam, cofounder of UseNeuron, and Sidrah Hassan, AI Ethicist at AND Digital MORE INFO
💬 24/04, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: TestTalks: Edinburgh: Join us at TestTalks: Edinburgh for a evening of engaging discussions and insights on all things testing! MORE INFO
🍻 24/04, 18:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Rust and Friends (evening pub). MORE INFO
🤝 25/04, 09:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Founder Friday Coworking: Join us for a day of networking and inspiration! this is your chance to connect with fellow founders, share ideas, and maybe even spark your next big project. MORE INFO
💡 25/04, 09:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Good Ideas: Camp: Are you passionate about creating change? Whether you're an early-stage innovator or have an idea that you’re unsure how to move forward, Good Ideas: Camp is for you. MORE INFO
🥐 25/04, 10:00 🗺️ Aberdeen: Aberdeen - Small99's People, Planet, Pastry: Meet others interested in sustainability in your community, share local stories and ideas, and accelerate local climate action. MORE INFO
🎤 25/04, 15:00 🗺️ Online: Practicing your Pitch: Storytelling: Our Practicing Your Pitch season is focused on supporting startup founders as they get ready to present their ideas. Through a series of interactive online sessions, we'll be looking at different aspects of pitching and how a good pitch can change the journey of your startup. MORE INFO
👨🏻💻 26/04, 09:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Vibe coding for everyone: Intense, specialist lead, 3 hour long, hands on workshop focusing on teaching you the latest AI tools and how to interact with them to get them to do what you want. MORE INFO
🔎 29/04, 10:00 🗺️ Glasgow: From Risk to Resilience: The Critical Role of Testing & QA in Startups: Join us for a hands-on session showing how smart testing can reduce risk, protect reputation, and boost quality — without slowing you down. MORE INFO
🌐 29/04, 10:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Co-Work Club Edinburgh: Tired of the home office grind but not ready for the daily commute? Say goodbye to crowded coffee shops and the endless search for a quiet Zoom spot. MORE INFO
🩺 29/04, 10:00 🗺️ Aberdeen: Barclays Eagle Labs at One Tech Hub Drop in Clinic Apr 2025: Drop in and let’s have a chat about your business goals and ambitions here at One Tech Hub. MORE INFO
🚀 30/04, 12:00 🗺️ Online: Boost Sales & Streamline Operations Webinar: AI can enhance your Shopify store by automating tasks, personalising customer experiences, and optimizing sales strategies. MORE INFO
🥂 30/04, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Entrepreneurs Social Club (ESC) - April 2025: Skip the talks, presentations and lectures - in favour of going straight to the bar, where real connections are made! MORE INFO
🎯 30/04, 18:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: MLOps Meetup Apr 2025: 🍺 Beer and 🍕 Pizzas this evening come from our Sponsor, Skyscanner. MORE INFO
💡 01/05, 08:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Financial Services Technology Summit 2025 – Edinburgh: The conference will host 300+ attendees, 20+ speakers and 15+ exhibitors. The Summit will explore the transformative impact of technology on the modern FS enterprise and examine advancements in Cloud, AI, Blockchain and Payments, to the regulatory impact of Customer Duty, SDR, DORA & NIS2. MORE INFO
💼 01/05, 12:00 🗺️ Online: Online Office Hours with Lawrie: Managing and Protecting Your IP: Meet with a Director and Patent Attorney from Lawrie for direct, personalised advice on IP! MORE INFO
👨🏻💻 01/05, 12:00 🗺️ Galashiels: Borders Tech Connect Launch MeetUp: A new community of students, businesses, and technologists working together to build digital skills and tools for the Scottish Borders. MORE INFO
💻 06/05, 17:30 🗺️ Galashiels: South of Scotland Low Carbon Workforce Event: Join South of Scotland Enterprise, Borders College and HeatSource for this low carbon workforce networking event. MORE INFO
🗽 06/05, 12:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: US Expansion Lunch feat. Wilson Sonsini - Approval Only: The topic of discussion? US Expansion hosted by Daniel Glazer, who leads the US Expansion group and London office at Silicon Valley-headquartered Wilson Sonsini. MORE INFO
🌟 06/05, 13:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Unlocking Success: Women, Tech & Investment: This exclusive event brings together female founders, investors, and tech leaders to tackle the challenges and opportunities women face in the industry. With interviews, panels, and roundtables, we’ll dive into everything from resilience in entrepreneurship to cracking the investor code, building power networks, and securing funding beyond the usual channels. MORE INFO
🤝 06/05, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Tech Meetup Edinburgh - May 2025: The Tech Meetup is a monthly excuse for the tech community around Scotland to network, learn and share new ideas! Enjoy informative tech presentations from your peers, hear about exciting community projects and create new connections. MORE INFO
🩷 6-8/05, 19:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Turing Fest: Get ready to learn from top tech minds across FOUR tracks, at 2 full days of talks, power network with the best, deep dive at the peer sessions, have in-depth conversations at the speaker roundtables, unwind and network at fringe events, parties, and more! SAVE £200 with code CAMP200! MORE INFO
🧗♀️ 09/05, 09:45 🗺️ Edinburgh: Scottish EDGE Round 25 Live Final: Round 25 of the UK's BIGGEST small business funding competition will take place on 9th May at RBS Conference Centre with the latest batch of finalists pitching for up to £100,000 in funding. The event will feature two simultaneous pitching sessions, an exhibitor and networking atrium, sector-specific workshops, and keynote talks. MORE INFO
🚀 26/05, 18:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Kicking off Glasgow Tech Week: From Scotland to the World. Scotland’s tech ecosystem is thriving, and the world is watching. Join us for a fun summer evening with Startup Grind Glasgow full of inspiring conversations, valuable connections, and insights on taking your startup from Scotland to the world. RSVP here
📌 28/05, 08:30 🗺️ Glasgow: Building a winning team: How can your tech company recruit and retain the right people?: Join Shepherd and Wedderburn’s legal experts as they answer that question and more, before considering industry success stories with guest panellist, Anne-Sofie Lagander. MORE INFO
📍 29/05, 17:00–22:30 🗺️ Glasgow: TecTonic Night Summit at Barras Art & Design: An immersive evening of curiosity, connectivity, and community. Join 400+ founders, creatives, tech professionals, and ecosystem builders for exhibitions, innovation showcases, mentorship sessions, and more as part of Glasgow Tech Week. MORE INFO
🎯 Deadlines
Royal Academy of Engineering – Shott ScaleUp Accelerator Now Open
Are you looking to take your DeepTech business to the next level? Apply now to join the Shott Scale Up Accelerator, a programme empowering senior leaders with the insights and leadership skills needed to scale successfully. Apply by 20th May.
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
£200 off Turing Fest is quite the deal! 👍