North start-up firms among the winners at Scottish EDGE awards

Start-up businesses from the North-east and Highlands and Islands were among the winners in the latest round of funding in the Scottish EDGE awards.

Backed by the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Hunter Foundation and the Scottish Government, the scheme awarded grant and loans totaling £1.3million to firms from around Scotland this week.

Among the big winners was Ellon-based subsea technology company Exnics Ltd, which received £150,000 in the Higgs Edge category for science and technology companies with global commercialisation potential.

In the main Scottish Edge awards, oil and gas sector flow consultancy GM Flow, of Peterhead, won £45,000.

Laurencekirk disruptive cashless payments start-up Qpal Limited was awarded £40,000 in the same category.

The awards were made following a day of pitching by the companies to a panel of judges, chaired by Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne, of Genius Gluten Free, in Edinburgh.

Afterwards, Gavin Munro, of GM Flow, said:  “Winning Scottish EDGE makes a world of difference to GM Flow Measurement Services Limited.

“It means we can now work towards dramatically exceeding the organic growth, which we could normally expect to see from a recovering oil and gas market.”

He added the award gave the company a “rock-solid foundation going forward.”

Craig Buchan, of Qpal, whose company is less than a year old, said it was a “great feeling to pull it off,” after receiving his award.

He added:  “We’re going to push international market exploration and create a couple of sustainable Scottish jobs as a result.”

In the Young Edge category, the Hebridean Food company, founded by Douglas Stewart and producing luxury foods using only ingredients from the Hebrides, was awarded £10,000.

Aviemore-based SpeyCardio, who created the Smart Wearble Defibrillator, were also awarded £10,000 in the awards’s WildCard EDGE category.

Scottish EDGE funding is awarded as a 50% grant and a 50% loan.  The loan is paid back to help fellow entrepreneurs on their way to success.  The scheme also provides mentoring, training and access to professional support for award winners.

Scottish EDGE chief executive, Evelyn McDonald, said:  “Scottish EDGE’s bi-annual finals have become a highlight of Scotland’s entrepreneurial events calendar.

“Our recent, well-publicised alumni successes are testament to the competition’s impact on the start-ups we support.”

She added that the competition had attracted 218 applications, representing businesses in every sector.”

Hunter Foundation founder, Scottish entrepreneur and philanthropist, Sir Tom Hunter, said:  “It’s a cause that’s long been close to my heart – helping Scottish businesses to start and grow.

“Scotland’s entrepreneurial talent pool is globally recognised and we need to nurture it in a way that we can build our economy and to provide the quality jobs that Scottish people deserve.

“Scottish Edge enables us to identify the innovators of today and the job creators of tomorrow; it is a critical tool as we strive to build a far greater pipeline of high-growth businesses.

“I congratulate all winners and commend all the entrants for their commitment to building great entrepreneurial businesses.”

To date Scottish EDGE has made 280 awards totaling just over £6million.