Mobile tech firm puts Stirling at heart of its global plans

A Stirling-based tech firm is heading to Barcelona to showcase its pioneering work at the world's largest gathering for the mobile industry.

Dogfi.sh Mobile boss Ross Tuffee believes Stirling is the ideal place for a Scottish tech business. Picture: Contributed

DogFi.sh Mobile, which was founded in 2009 and employs 35 staff, specialises in developing habit-forming technology that drives user engagement for businesses.

The company is among the exhibitors at the Mobile World Congress, which begins on Monday. It offers firms the chance to meet with the world’s leading mobile operators, device manufacturers and technology providers.

Research by tech specialists Gartner suggests that 70 per cent of organisational interactions will take place on mobile devices by 2022 - but many B2B apps lack the functionality and intuitiveness required to make them successful.

It’s that market DogFi.sh is targeting.

“We really understand how people use and interact with mobile in everyday life - from how you use Facebook or Twitter to train apps,” DogFi.sh co-founder and CEO Ross Tuffee told The Scotsman.

“We build software for organisations so they can interact better with consumers, their employees or other businesses.

“A lot of organisations want to make their services available to staff and business partners on mobile devices - but all their doing is just putting it onto a small screen. But you have the opportunity to deepen the engagement and really nudge people’s behaviour in the way you want.

“If you want a business partner to interact with you more often, you could set up a notification alert or bring them together in a community. There’s many different ways to get to people to engage in a positive manner.”

Tuffee launched the firm with business partner Paul Burrowes at a time when the demand for mobile technology and smartphone apps was rocketing.

“It was the right time to launch a business in such an exciting area, the iPhone had just launched and interest was growing,” he said.

When the time came to establishing a base, it was Stirling that won out.

“We started as a virtual organisation but moved to Stirling three years ago,” Tuffee added. “When we got up to around 20 people we knew it was time to open a hub.

“Stirling is very central and we can draw from the local talent pool as well as Edinburgh and Glasgow. It’s also about 40 minutes from Edinburgh Airport - which is a lot closer than for a lot of people in Edinburgh.”

DogFi.sh is currently piloting a community driven platform - ARC - designed to encourage people to share and engage with best practice in enhancing business resilience.

The platform has received substantial investment from Barclays, who see it as a powerful tool in helping business communities plan for potential disruption and hence ensure fast recovery should disruption occur.

Tuffee suggests that the demand for this pioneering technology and presence at MWC demonstrates how Scotland is increasingly becoming a leading tech hub on the world stage: “It is widely recognised that Scotland is becoming a booming metropolis for tech innovation. The great thing is that this innovation isn’t just concentrated on one area; it’s happening in many hubs throughout the country, whether that’s Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee or central-Scotland.”