Scotland’s new tech strategy unveiled at technology showcase
European investors have gathered in Edinburgh to hear Scotland’s new advanced manufacturing strategy, alongside pitches from top-rated deep tech scaleups.
Investors and experts from the European Growth Deeptech Tech Tour joined key players from the Scottish tech ecosystem at the University of Edinburgh-led technology showcase EIE25.
Business champion Mark Logan presented Scotland’s Deep Tech Supercluster initiative, which aims to provide currently lacking scale-up pathways for innovative hardware companies rooted in advanced science and engineering.
The National Robotarium will co-lead the Supercluster in partnership with Scottish Enterprise and the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, alongside Scottish universities including Edinburgh, Glasgow and Heriot-Watt. It will build a new large-scale advanced manufacturing facility in Renfrewshire and, from September, will add new high-value posts to existing facilities and services.
Mr Logan said: “The Deep Tech Supercluster creates additional pathways to scale for Scotland’s deep tech startups and spinouts. Complementary to the Techscaler initiative, it will provide facilities and services so that companies that require advanced manufacturing capabilities, in fields such as robotics and semiconductors, can grow.”
The Tech Tour event at The National Robotarium saw eight Scottish businesses pitch to European tech investors
Elsewhere at the joint EIE/Tech Tour event, 47 companies from across the world pitched for startup and scaleup investment, including eight Scottish businesses which were top rated out of 130 by the Tech Tour panel for their growth potential. Pitching companies raised a total of €1.3billion following the European Growth Deeptech Tech Tour event last year.
Deputy Principal for Business and Enterprise at Heriot-Watt, Professor Gill Murray introduced the event at The National Robotarium
Eight Scottish businesses came to The National Robotarium to pitch to Tech Tour and EIE investors. They were Bright Ascension (aerospace), Ceres Holographics (enhanced reality), IOtech Systems (industrial operating technologies), Novosound (ultrasound technology), pureLiFi (wireless communications), Skyrora (space rockets), Sofant Technologies (satellite communications) and Sunamp (thermal energy storage).
The session kicked-off with introductory speeches from Deputy Principal for Business and Enterprise at Heriot-Watt University, Professor Gill Murray, Director of Northface Ventures, David Farquhar, and Head of Digital Economy and Data Driven Business at The Scottish Government Stephen O’Neill.
