News
Scottish equity investment tops £1bn as investors focus on fewer but larger deals
Equity investment into Scottish companies rose by almost a third to over £1 billion last year, even though the number of deals increased by less than 1%, a new report has shown.
The figures suggest investors are becoming more selective and refining their focus with fewer but larger deals and more capital deployed overall, according to Mercia Ventures.
Source: Scottish Financial News
Retaining top business talent
New investment has been announced to help attract and retain high-growth life science companies in Scotland.
A £35 million Life Sciences Accommodation Programme from Scottish Enterprise will improve the availability of affordable premises to businesses in the sector as they commercialise and expand.
Scottish Enterprise launches £35m Life Sciences drive
Scottish Enterprise is backing ambitious life sciences companies to succeed in Scotland, helping to improve the availability of affordable premises for high-growth businesses in the sector as they commercialise and expand. The new £35 million Life Sciences Accommodation Programme has been announced by Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, and will launch later this year.
Source: DIGIT NEWS
Scottish Enterprise appoints Nicola Anderson as Director of Scaling Innovation
Scottish Enterprise has appointed Nicola Anderson as its new Director of Scaling Innovation, strengthening Scotland’s ambition to build and scale world-leading businesses in high-growth sectors.
Nicola will lead Scottish Enterprise’s Scaling Innovation Mission, focused on helping ambitious Scottish companies grow faster and translate cutting-edge research and development into globally competitive businesses of scale.
Scottish venture capital investment soars in Q3 2025
Venture capital investors have ramped up their support for start-up and scale-up companies in Scotland, signalling their appetite to back companies engaged in a range of sectors, from technology and life sciences to energy and manufacturing.
According to the latest KPMG Private Enterprise Venture Pulse report, venture capital investment increased in the third quarter of 2025 with Scottish businesses raised £116.1 million – up more than 200% from £36.2 million in Q2.
Source: DIGIT
Push to strengthen Scotland-India business ties
As Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer holds high-level talks in India to strengthen UK-India bilateral ties, Neil Lal, chairman and president of The Indian Council of Scotland and United Kingdom, is simultaneously leading a critical trade and diplomacy mission to promote Scotland and the UK as premier destinations for Indian investment, entrepreneurship, and skilled migration.
Source: Scottish Financial News
Ministers welcome new loans that will ‘kickstart’ business innovation
Ministers have welcomed plans by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for a new type of loan for high-growth businesses, saying it will help “kickstart” business innovation in Scotland.
From next year, Scottish firms will be able to secure borrowing against the value of their intellectual property (IP), instead of traditional assets such as buildings and machinery.
Source: STV
Scots University Projects Receive Gov Funding to Go Commercial
The Scottish government is awarding projects across ten Scottish universities with the £2.95m Proof of Concept Fund to support harnessing their ground-breaking academic ideas for commercial use.
Source: DIGIT
Innovation must remain ‘Scotland’s greatest export’, says business secretary
Innovation must remain “Scotland’s greatest export”, business secretary Richard Lochhead has said as the first National Innovation Week begins. More than 80 events are set to take place across the country over the next five days, with more than 200 delegates expected to attend an Innovation Summit in Edinburgh on Thursday.
Source: STV News
Scotland Attracts New Early-Stage Investors Despite Challenging Market Conditions
Scotland could receive billions of pounds in tech investment after the launch of an AI Growth Zone, the UK Government says.
Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said that this initiative would position Scotland at the "forefront of the UK's technological revolution".
Source: Scottish Financial News