News
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
Beta Bugs secures £800,000 to accelerate commercial growth under new leadership
Beta Bugs Ltd, a leader in Black Soldier Fly (BSF) genetics, has secured a further £800,000 of investment led by TRICAPITAL Angels and supported by Scottish Enterprise. The funding marks the beginning of the company’s next phase of commercial growth under new CEO Dr Alan Tinch.
Life Sciences Accommodation Programme
Scottish Enterprise has launched a £35.3 million Life Sciences Accommodation Programme (LSAP) which aims to address this – supporting with new and refurbished spaces, where market conditions make development difficult.
The Life Sciences Accommodation Programme (LSAP) has been designed to help address short to medium-term gaps and support commercially viable developments - including the construction and fit-out of new life sciences laboratory and manufacturing spaces in Scotland.
Funding announced to support Scotland’s animal health, aquaculture and agritech sector
The Scottish Government has announced £150,000 funding to support the future development of Scotland’s animal health, aquaculture and agritech sector. The announcement was made at the Royal Highland Show and coincides with the publication of a new report setting out opportunities to strengthen Scotland’s position in animal health, aquaculture and agritech. The funding is expected to support high-value jobs, particularly in rural and coastal communities, while driving export growth, inward investment and productivity.
Edinburgh University spinout Exergy3 raises £10m to turn wasted wind power into industrial heat
Exergy3 has closed a £10m seed round to commercialise technology that converts curtailed renewable electricity into high-temperature heat for industrial use, tackling grid waste and factory emissions in one go.
The Edinburgh University spinout has developed modular thermal energy storage units that take surplus power, such as wind generation the grid cannot absorb in real time, and deliver process heat at temperatures ranging from 50°C to 1,200°C.
Source: UK Investor Magazine
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
Earth Blox funding tackles climate risks to business
Earth Blox, an Edinburgh-based environmental risk company, has secured new funding to help businesses understand how they are impacted by loss of nature and climate change.
PXN Ventures, which grew out of Par Equity, has led a £6m funding round with support from Scottish Enterprise, Archangels and the European Space Agency (ESA).
Source: Daily Business
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
Axol Bioscience to expand in Edinburgh after $2.8m funding deal
Axol Bioscience has secured $2.8 million (around £2.1 million) in funding, part of which will be used to expand its operations in Edinburgh.
The investment was led by US life sciences specialist BroadOak Capital Partners, with the company’s founding investor, the Roslin Foundation, also participating.
Source: Scottish Financial News
$14.9m award supports data-driven livestock development
A $14.9 million grant will strengthen work on livestock data insights by SEBI-Livestock, hosted at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.
The five-year Evidence into Action (EnAct) grant from the Gates Foundation will enhance the work of the SEBI-Livestock team, which has collaborated with the Gates Foundation to monitor the impact of the foundation’s livestock investments for almost a decade.