Scottish EDGE, the business funding competition, has joined forces with Techscaler and Scottish Enterprise to help drive economic change in Scotland with the introduction of two new awards.
Businesses looking to make a positive impact on Scotland’s economy could be in the running for up to £150,000 in support thanks to the new Mission EDGE Award, funded by Scottish Enterprise.
The new award debuts as part of the 25th round of Scottish EDGE Awards, which are now open, and offers a total prize pot of £1.5 million to applicants.
The introduction of the Mission EDGE Award has been designed to reflect Scottish Enterprise’s focus on driving change in Scotland’s economic performance by concentrating their expertise on three priority areas.
These “missions” are to create an internationally competitive energy industry in Scotland, to scale the impact of Scotland’s strengths into high-growth industries of the future, and to drive capital investment to deliver a step change in Scotland’s productivity.
A new, Techscaler-supported Young EDGE Award has also been introduced. Techscaler, the Scottish Government-backed programme designed to create, develop, and scale tech startups, is supporting this award to recognise and reward exceptional young talent in the tech sector.
The award itself offers a £15,000 prize to the top technology-focused business in the category for founders under the age of 30.
“Innovation is at the very heart of our economy,” commented deputy first minister, Kate Forbes. “We have the talent, the skills and the facilities to make Scotland one of Europe’s fastest-growing start-up economies and our Techscaler programme is central to that.
“The new Techscaler Young EDGE Award will help to underpin our commitment to fostering and nurturing Scotland’s young and vibrant tech entrepreneurs as we develop our pipeline of future innovators.”
Jane Martin, Scottish Enterprise’s managing director of innovation and investment, also remarked: “Scottish Enterprise’s mission-led approach means we are targeting our support where it can really help deliver transformational change for Scotland’s economy.
“We’re excited to provide this funding to businesses in collaboration with Scottish EDGE, powering our drive forward in creating a world-leading energy transition sector, delivering a step-change in Scotland’s productivity through driving increased capital investment, and scaling innovation in the high growth industries of the future.”
So far, Scottish EDGE has supported 663 businesses, provided over £28 million in grants and loans, helped create 4,172 jobs, and boosted the turnover of companies by £763 million.
Applications for round 25 of Scottish EDGE Awards will be accepted until the 27th February – apply here.
The live final is scheduled for 9th May.
Source: DIGIT