SBN spotlights Scottish Innovation

Born out of a conversation between Russell and SBN Ambassador to London, Jonny Downie, the latest Scottish Business Network gathering directly addressed the hurdles Scottish founders face in fundraising.

"According to a recent Beauhurst report, Impact Investing has increased significantly in recent years, rising from £638million in 2013 to £9.69billion in 2022. But this increase has been concentrated on impact driven companies in London and the South East. With the strength of its Universities and tech ecosystem, Scotland is also home to many innovative tech start-ups and this event will showcase 4 companies in the fields of Climate Tech and Life Sciences who have purpose at their core." - Scottish Business Network

With thanks to Jonny and committed volunteer team led by Cath Strachan, four Scottish companies were given the opportunity to present to a room of investors in London in SBN's unique "no pitching" format.

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The Showcase

• Rostra Therapeutics - a pioneering biotechnology company pushing the boundaries of medical advancements to develop innovative therapies for the treatment of infectious diseases, initially focussing on invasive fungal diseases.
• Clyde Hydrogen Systems – a University of Glasgow spinout Clyde Hydrogen Systems has created technology to help build systems for green hydrogen production at scale by developing a new type of electrolysis that offers flexibility and opportunities not possible using existing electrolysers. The company has secured a SMART:Scotlandgrant and a grant offer from the Scottish Government’s EETF Hydrogen Innovation Scheme.
• Flexergy - developing the world's most efficient and flexible hydrogen compression system. With pre-seed backing from private investors including Shell, the break-through technology allows the company to offer modular containerised solutions and reliability guarantees that make hydrogen projects more bankable and faster to deploy. A core reason Flexergy exists is to help large energy companies transition to viable, efficient and profitable business models in a low carbon world.
• Danu Robotics - developed an advanced robotic system that minimises the global waste problem by using a highly flexible and scalable mechanical design powered by artificial intelligence. It fully automates the manual waste sorting process, reduces the risks to people working in waste sorting stations and dramatically improve productivity and quality.
  

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Despite a train strike, the evening drew around forty guests and proved to be a resounding success! The discussions delved into the companies' missions, their fundraising experiences, and their plans for technology development, team building, and client acquisition as they transition from seed investment to scaling their operations. Russell, filled with pride, shares details of SBN's newest partnerships aimed at championing Scottish innovation in Climate Tech and Life Sciences.