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Growing Scotland's life sciences sector
Lesley Parsons Lesley Parsons

Growing Scotland's life sciences sector

Life sciences firms will gain direct access to investors, healthcare networks and commercial partners in the United States through a new Scotland-Massachusetts partnership.

The ‘Scotland-Massachusetts Bio-Bridge’ will bring business leaders from Massachusetts to Scotland to explore investment and collaboration opportunities.

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World Cup connection helps spark new Scotland-US partnership
Lesley Parsons Lesley Parsons

World Cup connection helps spark new Scotland-US partnership

The UK and Scottish governments have joined together to fund science collaboration with the United States.

Venture Café Edinburgh hosted the official launch of the Biobridge programme, a new partnership connecting Scotland's life sciences ecosystem with Massachusetts.

The “Scotland-Massachusetts Bio-Bridge” will bring business leaders from Massachusetts to Scotland to explore investment and collaboration opportunities.

Source: The Herald

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Career support is now closer to Scotland’s communities
Lesley Parsons Lesley Parsons

Career support is now closer to Scotland’s communities

Career journeys are rarely straightforward, and people do not all need the same thing at the same time.

That is why Skills Development Scotland’s (SDS) all-age careers service meets people where they are, helping them build the confidence and skills to make informed decisions throughout life.

Source: The Herald

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Funding gap widens as investors become more selective
Lesley Parsons Lesley Parsons

Funding gap widens as investors become more selective

Scotland's early-stage investment market remains active, but raising capital is becoming more difficult for ambitious growth companies.

While investors continue to back innovative businesses with strong growth prospects, fundraising rounds are taking longer to complete, investors are carrying out more detailed due diligence and capital is becoming increasingly selective.

Source: The Scotsman

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Scotland attracts record 76 new funders to the market in 2025
Lesley Parsons Lesley Parsons

Scotland attracts record 76 new funders to the market in 2025

A record 76 funders backed Scottish companies with risk capital for the first time in 2025, up from 73 in 2024, according to the latest Annual Newcomers Report from Young Company Finance (YCF), which tracks the financing of early-stage companies in Scotland.

Midlothian Science Zone-based Rhizocore Technologies is one of those companies, attracting five investors to the Scottish risk capital market for the first time including The First Thirty, The Grosvenor Estate and Sand River, investing alongside Scottish Enterprise and the University of Edinburgh’s Old College Capital.

Source: Scottish Financial News

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Scottish students secure international Saltire Scholars roles
Lesley Parsons Lesley Parsons

Scottish students secure international Saltire Scholars roles

A record number of Scottish university students have secured internships through the Saltire Scholars programme this summer.

A total of 208 undergraduates have secured placements through the initiative, run by Entrepreneurial Scotland, making it the programme's largest intake to date.

Source: The Herald

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Scotland’s scaleups being held back by £25m glass ceiling
Lesley Parsons Lesley Parsons

Scotland’s scaleups being held back by £25m glass ceiling

Scotland risks losing high-growth companies overseas unless it addresses a widening gap in later-stage capital and skills, industry leaders have warned.

At an industrial strategy roundtable in Glasgow, investors, manufacturers and public agencies agreed that while Scotland performs strongly in spinouts and early-stage funding, the transition to scale remains the system’s weakest link.

Source: The Scotsman

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Biotech spin-out secures £1.58m as bio kits sell in US
Lesley Parsons Lesley Parsons

Biotech spin-out secures £1.58m as bio kits sell in US

The University of Edinburgh spin-out BIOCAPTIVA has raised £1.58 million in a new funding round and launched its first product in the US.

BIOCAPTIVA’s a novel magnetic bead technology is designed to solve one of liquid biopsy’s biggest bottlenecks - preparing blood samples for cancer research and diagnostics. By improving how cell-free DNA is captured from blood, the technology aims to make liquid biopsy testing more reliable, scalable, and accessible.

Source: The Business

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Female powerhouses are fuelling Scottish economy
Lesley Parsons Lesley Parsons

Female powerhouses are fuelling Scottish economy

If you want to see today where the Scottish economy is firing on all cylinders, look at your women business champions.

The number of visible, scaling female founded or co-founded businesses has surged by a staggering 81 per cent over the past year. These 139 powerhouses – including the likes of pizza disrupter Ooni, creative arts giant LS Productions, and life sciences firm Amici – now generate £1.5 billion in revenue and employ more than16,000 people.

Source: The Scotsman

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