News
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
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
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
SCC and FICCI sign MoU to strengthen Scotland–India business links
The Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at deepening economic cooperation, strengthening trade and investment relations, and enhancing business‑to‑business partnerships between Scotland and India.
Source: Scottish Financial News
How UK's closer ties with Germany are spurring Scottish business links
Scotland’s startup sector is starting to look like an attractive prospect for German investors.
Against this backdrop, activity is ramping up. This month Germany’s consulate in Scotland convened an event for startups, investors and policymakers at the Glasgow campus of Barclays and backed by the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and British Chamber of Commerce in Germany. The aim was to explore ways to boost collaboration between the startup ecosystems of Scotland and Germany.
Source: The Scotsman
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