Latest news with #ScottishEDGE
Scotsman
22-05-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
35 winners share prize fund of £1.5 million at 25th Scottish EDGE Awards
Scottish EDGE returned for its 25th round as 35 winners with high-growth potential took home £1.5 million in prize money. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The awards ceremony was hosted by Royal Bank of Scotland at Citation in Glasgow city centre and united entrepreneurs who made it through the competitive pitching process to secure funding. Deputy First Minister, Kate Forbes, delivered a special message congratulating the winners and acknowledged the vital role entrepreneurs play in shaping Scotland's future economy. In her remarks, she highlighted the passion, creativity and determination of all the entrepreneurs who made it to the finals. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The biggest winner at the awards was Vanilla Farms, who cures and supplies premium-quality vanilla using sustainable, high-tech agriculture. The business received a total of £150,000 from the newest addition, Missions EDGE, supported by Scottish Enterprise. Scottish EDGE 25 winners Veteran awards categories also returned for the 25th round, with the £100,000 Scale EDGE Award, supported by Royal Bank of Scotland, going to accredited Royal Yachting Association (RYA) training centre, Ardent Training. Meanwhile, Shifted Group and Swift Aeronautics secured funding as the top £15,000 Young EDGE Winners, supported by Techscaler and IOE Foundation respectively. Those successful in Wild Card, which provides grants to pre-trading businesses, included digital game apparel designer, Haggis Studios, who received the category's top £15,000 award. The STV supported award of £70,000 plus £75,000 worth of ad airtime was given to innovative kitchen provision maker, Goat Rodeo Goods, while Green Crop Tech, an agritech start-up developing a dual-action biostimulant, emerged as winner of the Scottish Government backed Pathways category, winning £70,000. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Round 25 also saw the return of the £100,000 Circular Economy EDGE Award, which is supported by Zero Waste Scotland, and went to New Found Hope for its therapeutic footwear innovations to address the issue of toe-walking in neurodivergent children. Narture CIC, who bakes artisan sourdough while supporting community, creativity, and social inclusion, won £75,000 in the Social Enterprise category, supported by the Postcode Innovation Trust. Elsewhere, the Creative EDGE Award, facilitated by support from Creative UK, which champions, connects and promotes the development of the creative industries across the United Kingdom, gave a boost of £75,000 to SaaS live concert streaming service, Everyday People. Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said: 'Scottish EDGE has played a central role in supporting emerging entrepreneurial talent and innovative business ideas for many years and I am proud that the Scottish Government continues to be long standing partner of the awards. 'I am also pleased that a growing number of businesses and private investors are supporting the vision behind Scottish EDGE. Scotland's entrepreneurs and start-up businesses are the lifeblood of our economy and we must do all we can to encourage and foster the incredible talent and innovation in evidence right across the country.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Judith Cruickshank, MD Commercial Mid-Market at the Royal Bank of Scotland, said: 'Congratulations to Ardent Training and all the winners of the 25th round of EDGE. Ardent is a fantastic example of a business that continues to scale and grow. 'We know that entrepreneurship is key to unlocking economic growth across the country and, through our involvement with Scottish EDGE, we celebrate these successes as well as the innovation and creativity taking place across the ecosystem.' Jane Martin managing director of innovation and investment at Scottish Enterprise said: 'Congratulations to all of the winners as well as the innovative team at Vanilla Farm the winner of the new Mission EDGE award and it will be exciting to see what is next in store for these agritech entrepreneurs. 'Mission EDGE reflects Scottish Enterprise's focus on priorities around energy transition, boosting capital investment and scaling high-growth industries of the future such as industrial biotechnology. We are targeting our support to help deliver transformational change for Scotland's economy and the Scottish EDGE awards uncover talented innovators that will shape the business landscape for generations to come.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Evelyn McDonald, CEO of Scottish EDGE added: 'Reaching our 25th round is a true testament to the resilience, ambition and creativity of Scotland's entrepreneurial community. With every round, we continue to see businesses not just innovating, but actively contributing to a better future, whether it's through sustainability, social impact, or cutting-edge technology. We're incredibly proud to support them on their journeys and excited to see what the future holds for this new group of winners.'
Edinburgh Live
08-05-2025
- Business
- Edinburgh Live
Enterprising Edinburgh bartender launches app to 'bring fun back' to pubs
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info A former bartender who felt pubs were becoming a 'sad place' following the pandemic has launched an app to 'inject the fun' back in. Eilidh Mutch, 25, spent years working behind bars in the capital. After Covid, she set out on enticing punters back into pubs after the sector took a hit. She's now launched an app, Tavora, that offers bar goers a chance to win a prize with every order. Elidih, from Newington, managed to secure funding and trial it at boozers across the city. She said: "I loved working in hospitality, but it was just a sad place to work post-Covid because nobody was going out. 'I wanted to do something to inject fun back into going to the pub and entice people to get back to their favourite locals. I managed to secure funding to create the initial Spin the Wheel type game and trialled it across a few pubs in Edinburgh. Sign up for Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox "It became an instant hit and it's just spiralled from there. People became competitive with their friends on who'd win the most prizes, so it added another dimension to the night out." Eilidh graduated from Dundee University in 2021 with a business degree, and set up the business later that same year. Despite having no tech background, she managed to attract funding for the app. Now a team of four, the business was assisted with funding from Scottish EDGE - a business funding competition. Eilidh, speaking ahead of the Scottish EDGE finals this Friday 9 May, said: "We had big brands getting in touch to say they had no market data to track behaviour at their events. "We create a specific game for each company we work with, telling their brand story for the customer through the game. We can now provide them with data insights on the age demographic of customers. "It works great in the UK and the dream in the future would be to make it a success across the world." Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sentstraight to your messages. Calum Purdie, Technology and Life Sciences Ecosystem Manager at Johnston Carmichael, helps to judge EDGE competitors' pitches, and supports winners with business advice. Calum said: "Eilidh has an amazing back story, and it's been great to see how Tavora has gone from strength to strength in recent years, working with an incredible array of established brands. "Johnston Carmichael and Scottish EDGE are both pleased to have played a small part in supporting the business reach this stage, and we'd like to wish the very best of luck to everyone taking part in this year's finals."
Scotsman
08-05-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
I worked behind Edinburgh bars before my spin-the-wheel drinks app went down a storm
Watch more of our videos on and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565 Visit Shots! now A former Edinburgh bar worker whose Spin the Wheel-style drinks app has gone down a storm in the Capital's pubs now hopes to make it a success across the world. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Eilidh Mutch, 25, of Newington, spent years working behind bars, and decided to set up a business to help bring fun back to pubs after the sector was severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. She launched Tavora, a digital marketing tool, and created 'Your Spin' — a Spin the Wheel-style game that offered bar goers a chance to win a prize with every order. The game quickly became a major hit in pubs throughout Edinburgh. Eilidh has since worked with some of the world's biggest drinks brands, with the tech providing key market data on how well the games are driving sales at certain events each brand hosts. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad She credits the support from the Scottish EDGE competition as helping to accelerate its trajectory after being crowned a winner last year, and also thanked the support she's received from competition partner, leading UK accountancy and business advisory firm, Johnston Carmichael. Eilidh said: 'I loved working in hospitality, but it was just a sad place to work post-Covid because nobody was going out. I wanted to do something to inject fun back into going to the pub and entice people to get back to their favourite locals. 'I managed to secure funding to create the initial Spin the Wheel type game and trialled it across a few pubs in Edinburgh. It became an instant hit and it's just spiralled from there. People became competitive with their friends on who'd win the most prizes, so it added another dimension to the night out.' Eilidh graduated with a business degree at Dundee University in 2021 and set up the business later that year. She has no tech background but managed to attract initial funding for her games idea and used that to grow the business. She also achieved further funding by winning Scottish EDGE's Young Edge in 2022 and then the main Scottish EDGE competition last year. She's now grown the firm to a team of four, with one team member specifically focused on game development. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The business has supported one top drinks brand on a St Patrick's Day event and, another on a Rugby World Cup activation, as well as working with other large companies from across the UK and beyond. Pub goers can take part in her games by scanning QR codes on menus or provided elsewhere in the venue. The tech has moved from purely fun to providing data insight for brands. Eilidh, speaking ahead of the Scottish EDGE finals this Friday May 9, said: 'We had big brands getting in touch to say they had no market data to track behaviour at their events. 'We create a specific game for each company we work with, telling their brand story for the customer through the game. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We can now provide them with data insights on the age demographic of customers. It works great in the UK and the dream in the future would be to make it a success across the world.' She added: 'Scottish EDGE and Johnston Carmichael have been amazing. Winning Young EDGE in 2022 accelerated visibility of Tavora and the grant helped us refine the product more. In 2022 the judges loved the idea but were concerned we might not be able to secure enough revenue to make it a success. It was fantastic to return last year and show the progress we had made, having secured partnerships with global drink brands. 'Johnston Carmichael has also been a great help. They offered a free pitching workshop ahead of the event, which was vital, and their finance advice has been really helpful as that's not my background and helps make sure we're consistently on the right path. ' Johnston Carmichael has been a sponsor of Scottish EDGE for a decade. In that time, the firm has supported more than 400 businesses with pitch practise sessions and continues to work with 40 of the successful businesses. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Calum Purdie, Technology and Life Sciences Ecosystem Manager at Johnston Carmichael, helps to judge EDGE competitors' pitches, and supports winners with business advice. Calum said: 'Eilidh has an amazing back story, and it's been great to see how Tavora has gone from strength to strength in recent years, working with an incredible array of established brands. 'Johnston Carmichael and Scottish EDGE are both pleased to have played a small part in supporting the business reach this stage, and we'd like to wish the very best of luck to everyone taking part in this year's finals.'
The National
04-05-2025
- Business
- The National
Plans announced for 20-seater sauna on Scottish island beach
Local business Haar Sauna already runs two trailers based at St. Ninian's beach in Bigton, Shetland, and is reportedly set to expand with the addition of two extra saunas in the coming months. One of the new units is set to be based in Lerwick, meanwhile, another 20-seater unit is also to be placed on St. Ninian's Isle. The firm secured a £15,000 funding boost from the Scottish EDGE entrepreneurial awards in March, which has helped the company buy two sauna trailers from the Netherlands, which are expected to be installed this summer. READ MORE: Schools will be made to teach students to 'love Britain' if Nigel Farage becomes PM The company said the expansion will help it offer traditional sauna rituals, known in Scandinavia as aufguss, while also keeping up with the surging demand. Haar Sauna co-owner Callum Scott said the sauna rituals, aufguss, is a 'very new concept for Shetland' but after living and working in Norway for many years, it was his dream to bring the best bits of Nordic culture back home to Scotland. He added that since introducing the rituals in the firm's two Bigton saunas last year, every session has been sold out. 'It's absolutely been really popular,' Scott told Shetland News. 'It's like finding a new way to sauna. 'A lot of people just sit there and sweat, and don't sauna in the right way.' Scott explained the ritual has a master who moves hot air around the sauna 'in a certain motion' with several natural products used to make a 'really good smell inside'. Birch branches are also used to hit or massage the body to help improve circulation, with each session lasting 'approximately 12 minutes' for three or four rounds. Scott added that people 'come out of feeling alive and just incredible'. 'We're bringing something from the north, to the north,' he said. 'People just want to try new things.'
