🐑 Sisaltech raise, first vertical rocket launch licence in Shetland, 3 companies in the Times top 100
Plus Black Tech Scotland, MacRobert Award and more
Here's your Campfire for the 20th of January, 2025.
💼 Johnston Carmichael are a leading accountancy and business advisory firm, with offices throughout Scotland, in Newcastle and London. A partner owned firm for over 85 years, they have grown to offer core and specialist services to business of all sizes. With specialist sector teams, they are fast becoming one of the most trusted advisers for entrepreneurs, founders and businesses that are successfully scaling. Talk to the team today to discuss what growth stage your business is at.
🌊 Updates
🚀 Three Scottish companies—Glasgow-based Utopi (property smart sensors), Rocket-launch pioneer Skyrora, and Inverclyde’s Safer Group (site security tech)—have been featured in the inaugural Sunday Times 100 Tech list, which highlights the UK’s fastest-growing private tech firms. SBN DGT IN
🌕 Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) has received the UK’s first vertical launch licence from the Civil Aviation Authority for its 30m RFA ONE rocket, set to launch from SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands. DGT IN
👩🏼🤝👩🏾 Black Tech Scotland, launching on January 30th at One Tech Hub in Aberdeen, aims to “foster a diverse and inclusive network of tech professionals, startups, and policymakers to support Scotland’s ambition as a global tech leader.” By providing a platform for underrepresented groups, particularly Black, BAME, and Global Mobility communities, the initiative seeks to “tackle barriers to diversity, drive innovation, and create growth opportunities in the tech sector.” DGT
📈 Scottish Enterprise’s US MarketBooster is helping five Scottish firms—Aveni, Cloudsoft, Lupovis, Lasting Asset, and Talking Medicines—scale in the US. The 16-week program combines market preparation in Scotland with immersion in Silicon Valley. DGT
🏆 New fund from The University of Glasgow. The Innovation Cluster Development Fund offers up to £50,000 to support spinout ventures in energy, health, social innovation, creative arts, and critical technologies. Applications close February 3rd, with funds to be used by July 2025. DGT
💰 Midlothian-based Sisaltech (low-carbon insulation using natural and recycled fibres) has raised £800,000 from Tricapital Angels and Scottish Enterprise. Known for its SISALWOOL products, ideal for retrofitting traditional stone buildings, the company plans to scale operations to meet growing demand. Its products are already available at B&Q. ACS
📢 Barclays Eagle Labs is launching a 6-week Funding Readiness Programme for non-London-based founders at pre-seed or seed stage. The programme offers workshops, networking, and investor exposure to help regional startups raise £100k+ within six months. Applications are now open for the first cohort. Apply here.
🥇 Two weeks remain to nominate for the 2025 MacRobert Award, celebrating UK engineering and technology innovation with a £50,000 prize, a gold medal, and national recognition. Open to teams of all sizes, past winners include Google DeepMind and Raspberry Pi. Entries close on January 31, with the winner announced in July. TS
📣 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.
📈 Growth mentoring for businesses with £1m+ rev: Baclays Eagle Labs is offering a new mentoring programme for companies who are at seed/series A, and are growing between 10-20% per year who’ve crossed that milestone. More info 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
🌐 20/01, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Startup Founders Meetup - January 2025: Tactical fireside chats with experienced entrepreneurs and speed networking with other founders, potential cofounders, and investors! MORE INFO
🏷️ 21/01, 06:30 🗺️ Online: Selling Online series - fulfilling your ecommerce orders & returns - online: Learn about selling online as a great way to start, diversify or grow a retail business – and anyone can do it! MORE INFO
🎯 21/01, 10:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Workshop: What is an IP strategy and why do you need one?: Join Potter Clarkson at CodeBase Edinburgh for a 2-hour workshop on IP strategy, hosted by Craig Brownlie and Andrew Pearson. MORE INFO
🛒 21/01, 10:00 🗺️ Online: EOI - Ecommerce: Direct-to-Consumer and Business-to-Business Accelerator: Unlock the potential of direct-to-consumer ecommerce with our accelerator programme, which also offers business-to-business support. MORE INFO
⚡ 21/01, 10:30 🗺️ Dumfries: SOSE AcceleratE Programme - Dumfries: AcceleratE your business! Don’t miss this opportunity to join our business programme designed to help you develop your growth strategy. MORE INFO
💪 21/01, 18:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Start 2025 Strong from Grow Your Money Live: Start 2025 strong with an unmissable evening of financial empowerment! Whether you want to save more, reduce debt, or grow wealth, this event is for YOU. MORE INFO
🎯 22/01, 09:00 🗺️ Perth: Introduction to Lean Workshop: Join this breakfast workshop and discover lean tools and techniques for productivity from the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS). MORE INFO
🤝 22/01, 10:00 🗺️ Aberdeen: Meet the Funder 2025 Aberdeen: Major funding organisations will come together to share their expertise, helping you discover grant opportunities and funding strategies to support your projects and initiatives. MORE INFO
➰ 22/01, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Prewired: Prewired is here to help enthusiastic young coders of any ability to take their ideas and make it into a software reality. MORE INFO
👥 22/01, 18:15 🗺️ Edinburgh: People Peeps Edinburgh: Everyone is welcome to the third meetup of People Peeps Edinburgh (previously known as Organisational and People Development). This month’s focus will be: Leadership traits, transition points and development needs. MORE INFO
🤖 23/01, 09:30 🗺️ Online: Unleash the Power of ChatGPT/AI for global business growth: Join this interactive webinar and learn more about how you can use AI applications for business growth. MORE INFO
📦 23/01, 10:00 🗺️ Online: EOI - Scaling Internationally with Amazon & Other Global Marketplaces: Looking to further your business internationally? Learn how to succeed on ecommerce platforms like Amazon with our new programme. MORE INFO
🏆 23/01, 11:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Britain's Got Startups: Scotland Regional Final: The Scotland Regional Final is an invite-only event, ensuring a focused and high-quality experience for all attendees. We're looking for active investors with capital to deploy into businesses similar to one's we showcase. There is a questionnaire to be completed and you will need to be accepted to the event to attend. MORE INFO
👨🏻💻 23/01, 17:30 🗺️ Aberdeen: Tech Trends 2025 - Aberdeen: This year we’ll be looking at both pushing the limits of the new, some things that help bridge the gap and, as always, we’ll take a peek at what is just hype and how trends from previous years have fared. MORE INFO
☁️ 23/01, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Cloud Native and Kubernetes Edinburgh January 2025: The first meetup of 2025 is generously sponsored by none other than Coder! We'll do the usual with doors opening at 6pm for food and drink, and then kick off with the first talk at 6:30pm sharp. MORE INFO
🌟 24/01, 09:30 🗺️ Glasgow: Understanding Co-ops for Creative Industry Businesses: Whether starting a new venture or seeking a new approach for your existing business, a co-op could be perfect for your creative business. MORE INFO
🎯 25/01, 17:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Makers gonna make - Episode 4: This is the place where you can start, learn and conquer all the features that have been sitting in your backlog for ages. MORE INFO
🏷️ 28/01, 06:30 🗺️ Online: Selling Online series - managing your ecommerce customers - online event: Learn about selling online as a great way to start, diversify or grow a retail business – and anyone can do it! MORE INFO
🤝 28/01, 18:00 🗺️ Dundee: Dundee Data Meetup: Join us for our monthly Dundee Data Meetup, featuring two expert speakers who will share their insights into getting started with data and sustainable business analytics. MORE INFO
🚀 29/01, 09:30 🗺️ Dumfries: Leadership and Management 6-week Programme: Unlock your leadership potential: join our free 6-week development programme for business owners and senior leaders in the South of Scotland. MORE INFO
🎯 29/01, 12:00 🗺️ Dumfries: AccelerateHER + Techscaler Meetup: South of Scotland: This Meetup will be a space for women and non-binary founders, of all industries, to come together, hear inspiring stories from fellow founders, and connect for ongoing peer-support. MORE INFO
➰ 29/01, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Prewired: Prewired is here to help enthusiastic young coders of any ability to take their ideas and make it into a software reality. MORE INFO
💡 29/01, 18:00 🗺️ Inverness and Online: Ideation Workshop - Hybrid Event: A collaborative, interactive workshop in which we'll explore where tech startup ideas can come from, how to ensure you have a 'good' idea to work on, and techniques you can use to map out your idea in more detail. MORE INFO
🤝 29/01, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Entrepreneurs Social Club (ESC) - January 2025: 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
💻 30/01, 08:30 🗺️ Kinross: Breakfast Networking at the Court House: Open to everyone, join us in Kinross' Court House to connect with members of the local tech and business community and regulars of The Court House's workspace. Come along for coffee, breakfast and networking! MORE INFO
🚀 30/01, 09:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Productivity Tips for Tech businesses: As part of National Productivity Week, Eagle Labs are teaming up with Peers Works, as Eleonora Vanello runs a session tailored to Founders. The Workship focuses on helping Founders to enhance their prioritisation skills and mater time management – helping them to be more Productive! MORE INFO
🤝 30/01, 09:30 🗺️ Kinross: Coworking at the Court House: Join us at Kinross' Court House for a day of free coworking in their space. This is a great opportunity to connect with the local tech and business community, use the excellent facilities available and get an extra dose of motivation. MORE INFO
🤖 30/01, 09:30 🗺️ Online: Mastering Prompt Engineering with ChatGPT: Join this webinar and discover the world of AI communication for improving productivity. MORE INFO
⛓️ 30/01, 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
💻 30/01, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: WORKSHOP - Intro to Hoshin Kanri: Creating strategic clarity. LIMITED SPOTS!: The workshop is ideally suited for Product Managers and leaders who are unfamiliar with Hoshin Kanri. However it is suitable for anyone with a desire to improve the quality of setting strategy and planning at work or in their personal lives. MORE INFO
🍾 30/01, 18:00 🗺️ Glasgow: 2025 Kick Off Mixer: Be Bold, Take Action, Go Global 🌍: This isn’t business as usual. It’s the night we kick-start 2025 with ambition, fun and a little bit of swagger. Expect a vibrant mix of sharp ideas, high-energy networking, and the kind of atmosphere that gets you thinking big. MORE INFO
🎯 Deadlines
🇬🇧 Upcoming Innovate UK deadlines:
Innovate UK Smart grants: November 2024 Applications close 22 January
AI solutions to develop AI competencies in key sectors Applications close 29 January
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That’s all for this week - have a great one, and a happy New Year!
Team 🔥 Campfire