🏗️ Wordsmith, iGii, OGI Bio, BuildBuddy Raises, Brewdog Founder's new app
Plus some gov criticism from one founder and tons of events!
Here's your Campfire for the 24th of June, 2024.
💼 Want to create template legal agreements in minutes for free? Check out what Shepherd and Wedderburn making available for Campfire readers below in the ‘Asks and Offers section’. Also follow the Start to Scale LinkedIn page for useful videos and posts designed to help founders.
Shameless plug: we’re hosting two events next month as part of the Turing Fest Fringe:
🚀 Founder2Founder Night: Lightning talks and startup founder public office hours. Listen to local startup founders as they teach you something in 10 minutes, and watch as groups of early-stage founders get in-depth advice about their idea from founders who've been there before.
🎁 Pitched Your Idea: Are you super early in your startup journey? Want a fun way to work on your pitch? This relaxed morning event right before Turing Fest begins for the day is a great way to get out of your own head and have some fun while learning a bit about how your idea comes across.
We’ll announce speakers and companies closer to the time. If you’d like to help out, teach something, or get feedback for your idea, just reply to this email and get in touch.
🌊 Updates
⚖️ Edinburgh-based legaltech startup Wordsmith (AI legal assistant platform that enhances lawyers' productivity by addressing overwhelming workloads) raised $5 million in seed funding round led by Index Ventures, with contributions from General Catalyst and angel investors, including Skyscanner founder Gareth Williams. They are also hiring! SFN DGT IN
🔬 Stirling-based nanomaterial producer iGii (developing Gii, a 3D carbon nanomaterial), formerly known as Integrated Graphene, has announced £8.8 million in new funding led by a £4m injection from the Scottish National Investment Bank and a £4.8m from existing shareholders Archangel Investors and Par Equity. ACS PN IN
🧫 Edinburgh-based biotechnology company OGI Bio (specialising in innovative solutions for microbial growth and analysis) has secured follow-on funding of £650,000 led by TRICAPITAL Angels and supported by Scottish Enterprise, Merleview, Apollo Informal Investment, and Old College Capital to accelerate the company’s growth and expansion in the UK, EU, and US biotechnology sectors. DGT
🏗️ BuildBuddy (AI-powered platform that helps UK builders find the best-priced construction materials) raised £1 million in seed funding from unspecified investors. Dubbed by some the 'Skyscanner for construction materials,' BuildBuddy aims to revolutionise the construction industry and now has a former senior executive of Skyscanner on its board. DGT TS
🚀 Brewdog founder James Watt has launched a new business, Social Tip, an app which rewards people for posting about brands. The startup's algorithm calculates the value of posts - based on views, likes and engagement - and rewards users by depositing cash to their Social Tip accounts. Their pre-seed round was led by Haatch. IN TS
💭 Opinion: Founder of fintech startup MoneyMatiX Tynah Matembe criticised the Government’s record on financial inclusion and called for closer collaboration with pioneering fintech companies. Read full opinion here. (DGT)
🙄 Snark alert: Startups aren’t (and shouldn’t be) defined as any new incorporated business. Determining the best place to launch a startup by looking at the ratio of new companies versus number of business closures is absurdly simplistic, leading to conclusions like naming Clackmannanshire as the number one ‘startup hotspot’ in Scotland… (no offence to Clackmannanshire of course, it’s a lovely place). 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.
📜 Edinburgh-based Wordsmith, building a secure AI workplace built for in-house lawyers, is hiring. More info here.
👩⚕️ ERIC is recruiting for key roles across the business from Full Stack Developers, Data Science Specialist, Marketing and Sales. Email hello@erictech.co.uk for more info.
🚀 Drimify is hiring! ✨ 4 new roles are live across various different functions including sales, customer success, design, and development! Find out more about each role here.
👨🏻💻 Looking for a data-scientist job? Glasgow-based PropEco is hiring a full-time data scientist and backend engineer to further develop its data platform, which helps property professionals manage the impacts of climate change. Please email chris@propeco.io if interested.
🎧 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
🔌 25/06, 17:00 🗺️ Hawick: Unplugged @ Hawick Business Centre: Open to everyone, CodeBase Unplugged is a networking event for professionals working in, or interested in, tech startups. MORE INFO
🥂 25/06, 18:00 🗺️ Dundee: Dundee Data Meetup 1 Year Celebration: Join us for a special event as we celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the Dundee Data Meetup! MORE INFO
🌍 25/06, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Geomob Edinburgh: Geomob is an event series and podcast for geospatial enthusiasts. MORE INFO
💡 26/06, 09:00 🗺️ Glenrothes: Lean Introduction Workshop: Join this free workshop and explore how Lean Thinking Principles can engage your people and create sustainable change. MORE INFO
💼 26/06, 09:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: How to smash LinkedIn: A Founders Marketing Workshop: Join this workshop to learn how to master LinkedIn so that your own profile and company page becomes a business building machine. MORE INFO
🤝 26/06, 10:00 🗺️ Dumfries: Coworking Days [South of Scotland]: Join us at our coworking days for the South of Scotland Community! MORE INFO
💡 26/06, 12:00 🗺️ Stirling: Idea Factory: No Code Along with Oli Littlejohn: Join us for an insightful event, "NoCode Along with Oli Littlejohn," as part of our Idea Factory series. Discover how to build digital products without any coding skills. Learn what NoCode is, explore its platforms and tools, and understand best practices tailored for tech startups and the broader tech ecosystem. MORE INFO
💬 26/06, 17:15 🗺️ Edinburgh: Barclays Eagle Labs and CodeBase monthly Quiz - Edinburgh (June): Join us for this month's pub quiz - bringing together the CodeBase and Edinburgh community for a bit of fun! MORE INFO
⭐🚀 26/06, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Techno-Solutionism in AI by The Melting Pot: Part of The Melting Pot's Spring - Summer AI & Social Innovation events series, discover how to overcome barriers and make AI better for all. Special 30% off from The Melting Pot for Campfire readers! Use the code "SOCINN" MORE INFO
🤝 26/06, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Entrepreneurs Social Club (ESC) - Edinburgh Startup Meetup: The social club for founders and aspiring entrepreneurs - skip the talks, presentations and lectures - and go straight to networking! MORE INFO
🎯 27/06, 11:00 🗺️ Dundee: Barclays Eagle labs at MSIP June Drop-in Clinic 2024: Drop in, Relax and let’s have an open discussion about your business goals and ambition and learn more about how your ecosystem manager here at Barclays Eagle Labs can support you and your business here at MSIP. MORE INFO
🔌 27/06, 12:00 🗺️ Stirling: Unplugged Cowie: This event aims to bring together entrepreneurs, techies, creatives, students, investors, and other regional stakeholders to network and share ideas. MORE INFO
🔌 27/06, 16:00 🗺️ Westhill: Unplugged - Westhill: This event aims to bring together entrepreneurs, techies, creatives, students, investors, and other regional stakeholders to network and share ideas. MORE INFO
🎙️ 27/06, 18:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Bits & Bytes Series - Lesson’s in building AI Startups: Ever wondered how people build tech startups without any traditional computer science background, or even wanted to know how AI can be used to help us decarbonise faster? In our Bits & Bytes Series we'll be finding out what it truly takes to build an AI startup. MORE INFO
🌊 27/06, 18:00 🗺️ Inverness: Inverness Big Summer Social: Our Big Summer Social will be a great chance to get together with others in the local tech startup community for a fun and informal evening. You'll meet other startup founders, CodeBase staff and people from the local tech and wider business community. MORE INFO
📈 28/06, 09:00 🗺️ Hawick: Scaling Your Service Business Workshop Series: Do you run a service-based business and looking for inspiration on how you can grow and scale through technology? This event is for you! MORE INFO
🥾 29/06, 10:00 🗺️ Linlithgow: Sustainability Netwalking: For sustainability leaders and pioneers. Share practical experience, spark new ideas and acknowledge the (often unspoken) challenges. All so we can make greater progress on sustainability in our work. MORE INFO
🍻 02/07, 17:30 🗺️ Edinburgh: Tech Meetup Edinburgh - July 2024: The Tech Meetup is a monthly excuse for the tech community around Scotland to network, learn and share new ideas! MORE INFO
☕ Series: Unfiltered: An in-person, informal catch-up with the Scottish tech community! Come join us for a coffee!
⛾ 03/07, 08:30 🗺️ Inverness, MORE INFO
⛾ 03/07, 08:30 🗺️ Aberdeen, MORE INFO
⛾ 03/07, 08:30 🗺️ Dundee, MORE INFO
⛾ 03/07, 08:30 🗺️ Edinburgh, MORE INFO
⛾ 03/07, 08:30 🗺️ Glasgow, MORE INFO
⛾ 03/07, 08:30 🗺️ Stirling, MORE INFO
🍻 04/07, 18:00 🗺️ Glasgow: Tech Meetup Glasgow - July 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
👨🏻🏫 09/07, 11:00 🗺️ Dundee: Dundee Presentation Club: Join us in the Abertay cyberQuarter for a chance to practice your pitches and public speaking in a friendly, supportive setting. MORE INFO
🎯 09/07, 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
💼 10/07, 09:00 🗺️ Aberdeen: Understanding and Implementing Value Stream Mapping and Management: Learn to think lean as we support you through the development of a continuous improvement plan aligned with energy transition priorities. MORE INFO
💻 11/07, 08:30 🗺️ Perth: Perth Tech Mornings: Open to everyone, join us in the Famous Grouse Ideas Centre in Perth Creative Exchange to connect with members of the local tech community. Come for a coffee, networking and build connections. MORE INFO
🍳 11/07, 09:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Edinburgh Professional Breakfast - Networking: This, our 3rd meetup, will provide a further opportunity for the room to get to know each other through a networking activity - looking to bring together the professional services network and founders network together. MORE INFO
⛓️ 18/07, 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
📢 23/07, 18:00 🗺️ Edinburgh: Founders Live Edinburgh: For the first time ever in Scotland! Founders Live is an unforgettable competition sweeping the globe where five handpicked companies take the hot seat, with only 99 seconds to pitch their company and describe their value proposition in front of an eager audience. MORE INFO
🎯 Deadlines
🇬🇧 Upcoming Innovate UK deadlines:
Smart Shipping Acceleration Fund Applications close 26 June
UK-Taiwan CRD 2024 Applications close 17 July
Innovate UK Smart grants: April 2024 Applications close 24 July
Europe Quantum Technology CR&D 2024 Applications close 28 August
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