$5m for Edinburgh golf watch firm to break US

A wearable tech firm has raised more than £4 million to bring its “game-changing” golfing offering to the US market.

The firm aims to bring its 'game-changing' golfing offering to the US market. Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto.

Edinburgh-headquartered Shot Scope Technologies, which produces a GPS-based, performance-tracking golf watch, has raised $5m (£4.1m) capital to expand in the US, where it has already established relationships with retailers.

The funding round includes follow-on investment from the Scottish Investment Bank, Old College Capital – the in-house venture capital arm of the University of Edinburgh – and angel fund Equity Gap.

Shot Scope currently records one million shots every ten days, and its V2 golfing watch has been used in 58 countries while accompanying apps are available in five languages.

The V2 uses patented ClubSense technology to communicate during the swing with passive tags attached to golf clubs, and is capable of determining the actual shot and “ruling out practice swings and waggles”. The tech firm said its watch is a market-leader in Scotland and out-sold competitors in the UK market during the first half of the year.

The fresh cash injection takes Shot Scope’s total investment raised to more than $10.5m in four years.

Chief executive David Hunter said: “I am delighted that Shot Scope has secured this capital and that our shareholders continue to support the company’s vision of international expansion.

“The team at Shot Scope are excited to build upon our existing relationships in the US and deliver our market-leading performance tracking and GPS technology to the US golfer.”

Shot Scope claims the average user reduces their handicap by 2.7 shots over the first 30 rounds played with the V2 system, while its in-house mapping team can process updates for any of the approximately 40,000 golf courses worldwide in less than 48 hours.