Scotland’s entrepreneurial community showcased its best big ideas from high growth small businesses as the winners of Round 27 of Scottish EDGE were revealed on June 18 in Edinburgh, hosted at the Royal Bank of Scotland Conference Centre.
As the UK’s
largest funding competition for high growth enterprises, Scottish EDGE has now
supported 759 businesses, providing a platform for companies to scale, create
jobs, and drive significant economic impact across the country.
The 32
successful businesses covering sectors from healthtech to clean energy, and
food and drink to creative technology, were crowned worthy winners following a
gruelling competitive pitch process in front of some of Scotland’s most notable
business leaders.
Taking the
top prize of £150,000 in the Future EDGE category, supported by Scottish
Enterprise, was MedAscend, whose AI platform enables healthcare students to
practise lifelike patient conversations through simulation in preparation for
real clinical care.
They were
closely followed by Nudge Innovations, a business designing practical solutions
that remove the everyday friction that makes reuse difficult, which won £90,000
in Pathways EDGE, sponsored by the Scottish Government; GreenFlip, making
decarbonisation investable by providing instant retrofit ROI assessments, who
took home £90,000 in Circular Economy EDGE, sponsored by Zero Waste Scotland;
and Real-E-Racing, who turn live motorsport data into interactive digital
experiences, securing £80,000 in Creative EDGE, sponsored by Creative UK.
The STV
supported Growth EDGE award of £70,000 plus £75,000 worth of ad airtime was
given to PEAT’D, the world’s only range of peat-smoked tomato sauces.
Meanwhile, Glasgow Community Sauna CIC, which provides affordable and
accessible saunas where locals can improve their mental and physical wellbeing,
emerged as winner of the Social Enterprise EDGE category backed by the Postcode
Innovation Trust, taking home £75,000.
As founding
funders of Scottish EDGE, the main sponsors of the event are The Hunter
Foundation, Royal Bank of Scotland, the Scottish Government and Scottish
Enterprise, each of whom have provided financial and operational support of the
initiative since its inception.
XYNQ took
top spot amongst the pre-trading businesses in the Wild Card category, winning
a grant of £15k which will help develop its digital notary platform which
records every automated decision that a system makes.
Young EDGE,
the category recognising companies whose directors are all under 30, awarded
grants to ten companies. Three received the top £15,000 award, with each award
supported by a different organisation: Sendix, an AI-assisted GovTec compliance
engine, received the award supported by the Scottish Government; Techscaler
supported the award presented to Narrasight, which uses AI to create rich
descriptions of online images for visually impaired people; and Barbara Bell,
which is developing discreet jewellery technology for women’s safety, received
the award supported by Mettle.
Tom Arthur,
Minister for Business and Fair Work, addressed the finalists, praising their
ambition, resilience and contribution to Scotland’s economy, and reaffirmed the
Scottish Government’s commitment to backing entrepreneurs across every part of
Scotland.
Sir Tom
Hunter, founder of The Hunter Foundation, said: “Scottish
EDGE demonstrates the massive economic potential of Scotland’s entrepreneurs -
congratulations to them one and all …The landscape of support for them going
forward however, is both cluttered and confusing, hence I hope our new
Government sorts that out so these and thousands of other entrepreneurs can
accelerate their growth and economic contribution.”
Darren
Pirie, Head of Accelerator & Partnerships, Royal Bank of Scotland, said: “The 27th
Round of the EDGE Awards was another incredible showcase of Scottish innovation
and entrepreneurship. These Awards are vital in giving Scotland’s startups and
scaleups access to the funding and exposure that they need to grow and expand.
As a founding partner, we are consistently impressed each year by the strength
of the Award entries. Congratulations to all of the winners and to everyone who
took part.”
Jane Martin
MBE, managing director at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Congratulations
to all this year’s winners, and especially to MedAscend on receiving the Future
EDGE award.
“MedAscend
demonstrates the strength of new ideas coming out of Scotland, using AI to help
healthcare students practise realistic patient conversations, get tailored
feedback, and prepare more safely for clinical care. It’s a strong example of
the ambitious, innovation-led businesses we’re backing to help scale Scotland’s
high-growth potential future industries and support long-term economic growth.
“We look
forward to seeing MedAscend and all this year’s EDGE winners build on this
success as they continue to develop and grow.”
Evelyn
McDonald, CEO of Scottish EDGE said: “Our Round
27 winners are a powerful reflection of the ambition, innovation and resilience
driving Scotland’s entrepreneurial economy forward. This exceptional cohort is
not only building bold, high-growth businesses, they are shaping a more
sustainable, inclusive and enterprising future for Scotland and beyond. Backing
founders with the vision and determination to turn big ideas into lasting
impact is exactly what Scottish EDGE exists to do.”