Alumni of Unlocking Ambition programme to foster Scots entrepreneurship toast achievements

Dozens of entrepreneurs who have generated tens of millions of pounds of investment for Scotland have celebrated their achievements at a major event.

Since Scottish Enterprise’s Unlocking Ambition business growth and leadership programme was launched in 2018, 140 people from more than 100 companies have taken part.

They include some of Scotland’s most successful start-ups in sectors including technology and brewing, with estimates suggesting they have cumulatively generated £42 million of new direct investment.

To mark their achievements, a showcase event was staged in Glasgow attended by 75 of the entrepreneurs, plus Scottish Enterprise chief executive Adrian Gillespie and members of the GlobalScot network. The event also saw the graduation of the third cohort of entrepreneurs after eight months of mentoring and education.

Mr Gillespie said the sense of community among the Unlocking Ambition alumni was “fantastic to see”. He also said: “They have the passion, energy and drive to scale and grow their companies in ways that will deliver real economic impact for Scotland’s people and communities, and they’re supporting one another along the way. That invaluable peer-to-peer support is one of the things that makes this programme so unique.”

The third cohort is made up of 36 entrepreneurs from 30 companies that have together forecast £24.4m of investment and the safeguarding or creation of 552 jobs over the next three years.

They include Kathrina Skinner, founder of Waire Health in Edinburgh, which has developed wearable patient vital signs monitors, and Darren Nicol of Aberdeenshire, whose online talent platform Nudge matches oil and gas professionals to new jobs in the renewables sector.

Scottish Enterprise's chief executive Adrian Gillespie pictured with the 75 entrepreneurs who attended the Unlocking Ambition showcase event. Picture: Sandy Young.

Previous success stories include Talking Medicines, which is expanding into the US and recently completed another £1.5m funding round with Scottish Enterprise among co-investors, and SolarisKit, which recently won the top net zero award from Scottish Edge and has moved into Dundee’s Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc.

Edinburgh-based MiAlgae has also taken part in the programme and went on to receive Scottish Enterprise investment as part of several funding rounds.

The Unlocking Ambition programme is supported by partners including the Scottish Government, Entrepreneurial Scotland, FutureX, Elevator, GlobalScot, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and South of Scotland Enterprise.

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