Tech start-up incubator forced to find new home

RAPID expansion of an Edinburgh technology incubator is forcing it to relocate just over a year after it opened.

Jamie Coleman: says TechCube has been expanding massively. Picture: Joey Kelly

TechCube will move from its Summerhall building next to the Meadows to former government offices close to the College of Art.

An official announcement is due before the end of the month confirming that it will move to Argyle House in Lady Lawson Street.

The former Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies building was converted by entrepreneur Olly Treadway and provides TechCube with more than 20,000 square 
feet of grade-A commercial offices. But it is already full and the move will be welcomed as an indication of the project’s success.

It provides a home to almost 20 start-ups, some of which are being touted as Scotland’s “new wave” technology firms. Companies that have taken up residence include Scottish fantasy sports start-up Fan­Duel and cloud computing comparison service Plan­ForCloud.

It forms the anchor of what has been dubbed “Silicon Bridges” – a north-south corridor through the city that includes Amazon’s Scottish head office on North Bridge.

Edinburgh University’s School of Informatics, which helps companies become investor-ready, sits at the heart of the corridor that extends to the Quartermile area.

Jamie Coleman, managing director of TechCube, declined to confirm the relocation to Argyle House but did say he had been looking at a number of options.

“The business is expanding massively,” he said.

Argyle House, at King’s Stables Road, is owned by Telereal Trillium, and the Scottish Government holds a long lease on it.

Its brutalist style over 11 floors has divided opinion almost since it was built in 1967 to a design by Edinburgh architect Michael Laird. There have been calls both to demolish and preserve it.