Latest news with #Techscaler
The Herald Scotland
03-06-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Former Skyscanner chief raises $25m for Edinburgh start-up
Ross McNairn, a former head of product at Edinburgh-based Skyscanner, has secured the backing from Index Ventures to scale Wordsmith AI, an artificial intelligence tool that is rapidly gaining traction within in-house legal departments. The Edinburgh-based company, which counts Trustpilot, Deliveroo, Multiverse, and Docplanner among its growing customer base, is planning to open offices in London and New York later this year. Its growth comes as AI technology is transforming processes across the legal sector. Mr McNairn, chief executive and co-founder of Wordsmith, said: 'For the first time, AI infrastructure can be embedded across companies, with fleets of agents that you can train to support every corporate function - cutting deal cycles, answering queries, and processing complex workflows. Our Legal Enablement Platform is like air traffic control for GCs and in-house teams, helping them guide teams to the right decisions faster.' Read more: Mr McNairn launched Wordsmith after being involved in the development of three unicorns – companies that achieve a valuation of $1 billion. As well as Skyscanner, which was sold by founders, including chief executive Gareth Williams, to Ctrip of China for £1.4bn in 2016, Mr McNair helped to scale TravelPerk and letgo to that status. It is understood that Wordsmith achieved a valuation of $100m faster than any other Scottish start-up, underlining the potential of the Scottish technology sector. Mr McNairn, a lawyer turned engineer who has previously secured backing for Wordsmith from Scottish Enterprise, added: 'While we are the fastest-ever Scottish start-up to reach a valuation of over $100m, what's more important is that we're scaling a technology company from a base in Scotland that will in itself help to build an AI ecosystem here.' Hannah Seal, partner at Index Ventures, said: 'AI is revolutionising the legal profession, and Wordsmith is leading that charge. They are not just building a co-pilot, they are creating the foundational infrastructure for how entire organisations interact with legal. This is about reshaping enterprise operations, not just supporting legal teams. We are excited to back Ross and the Wordsmith team as they define a new category at the intersection of law, technology, and AI.' Kate Forbes, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic, said: 'Private investment is an essential building block of a strong and growing economy – and fundamental to ensuring businesses can grow and succeed. Scottish companies bucked the UK trend last year by attracting more than £700m of investment – up by a fifth on 2023 - and it is fantastic news that Wordsmith AI, a Techscaler member, has secured its $25m Series A funding round in such a short space of time. 'There can, must and will be many more success stories like this. From the Techscaler programme and our wider pipeline of support for entrepreneurs, to continuing to position Scotland as an investment destination, the Scottish Government will continue to help our start-up companies grow and prosper.'
Scotsman
17-05-2025
- Health
- Scotsman
How we're putting AI power into hands of postgrads
AI is unlocking new possibilities that will transform healthcare Sign up to our Scotsman Money newsletter, covering all you need to know to help manage your money. 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... It was good to see international press coverage last month for a CodeBase-run deep tech initiative aimed at bridging the innovation gap between university postgraduates and NHS Scotland. AI Discovery, delivered by CodeBase via its Techscaler programme in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, and NHS Scotland, will help postgrads harness the latest AI technologies and build AI-enabled startups that can address some of the greatest challenges faced by the NHS. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad As Yaheya Shafti, a University of Glasgow research assistant working on radar and machine learning for healthcare applications, puts it: 'AI is unlocking new possibilities that will transform healthcare. In my work, I see researchers developing a wide range of AI-driven innovations, each with unique potential to improve healthcare delivery.' Postgrads from Scottish universities are one route to AI startup success (Picture: Stewart Attwood) In my own spheres, I've seen firsthand the growing success of AI-enabled startups like Infix Support, led by consultant anaesthetist Dr Matthew Freer, who also happens to be one of my younger brothers, as the company rolls out its operating theatre efficiency software across Scotland's NHS Health Boards. The equation starts to get even more interesting for startups like Infix when they begin to gain international traction, and Infix has some exciting news along these lines in the pipeline. As David Lowe, Director of Clinical Innovation at the University of Glasgow and Clinical Lead Health CSO at the Scottish Government, framed things when commenting on the recent NHS Scotland AI initiative: 'We believe that by empowering innovative minds with the tools, resources, and support they need, we can accelerate the development of transformative technologies that will address some of the most pressing challenges facing the NHS and global healthcare systems today.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Of course, in addition to healthcare, AI is empowering every other sector of business and the economy. While no one could doubt Scotland's impressive credentials in AI research and academia, we are never going to be a superpower in artificial intelligence. However, there's no reason we can't be part of the global conversation. VC-backed startups can help Scotland to AI success, says Nick Freer (Picture: Stewart Attwood) One pathway to AI success for Scotland is via VC-backed startups that can scale, providing future economy jobs and economic value for the nation. As sagely pointed out by Wordsmith AI CEO and founder Ross McNairn in this column a few weeks' back, there are certain pieces that need to be put in place to position Scotland to reach its potential, not least around the people talent required to fuel an AI economy here. 'AI is a talent game', wrote McNairn, 'and its most critical asset is its people. The best AI engineers, researchers and entrepreneurs are highly mobile, well paid, and in global demand. Countries that understand this are creating the most favourable conditions to attract talent.' Lawyer turned coder and tech founder, Ross McNairn is a voice that should be listened to in this area, having previously helped to scale three tech unicorns - TravelPerk, letgo and Skyscanner. And backed by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Index Ventures, Wordsmith's AI platform for in-house lawyers is set to make a big impact in the world of corporate law.
The Independent
06-02-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Capital raised by tech start-ups under Government scheme doubles
The amount of capital raised by Scottish start-ups under a Government scheme has doubled, figures show. The Techscaler programme was launched two years ago offering services to burgeoning companies, including mentorship. Membership of the scheme has almost doubled from 502 companies in 2023 to 978 in 2024, a report has found. Those companies raised £118 million in capital last year, compared to £54 million the previous year. Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes praised the work of the scheme. 'The Techscaler programme – which I am deeply proud to have launched just two years ago – is contributing to Scotland's reputation as one of the best places in the world to launch a tech start-up,' she said. 'While this is a relatively young programme, what this report makes clear is that it is delivering results and helping entrepreneurs to unleash their ability to innovate, spearheading Scotland's presence in expanding new markets.' The programme is run by the Edinburgh-based company CodeBase, whose boss Stephen Coleman said: 'We're proud of our collective achievements over the first two years of Techscaler, delivering strong support for our ambitious founders and start-ups both here in Scotland and increasingly as they target global markets, building on our position as a catalyst driving innovation, partnerships, and collaboration across the Scottish tech ecosystem.'
