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Entrepreneurs share £1.5m in latest Scottish EDGE Awards

Lentitek chief executive Adam Inche with Liz Fletcher of IBioIC and Judith Cruickshank of RBS
Lentitek chief executive Adam Inche with Liz Fletcher of IBioIC and Judith Cruickshank of RBS

Edinburgh biotech start-up Lentitek was one of last night's biggest winners as 40 businesses recieved more than £1.5 million of funding in the latest round of the Scottish EDGE Awards.

Lentitek, which provides a next-generation cancer therapy treatment called CAR-T, received a total of £100,000 in the category sponsored by Glasgow's Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC). Following last night's event, EDGE has now awarded approximatley £20m to more than 500 early-stage, high-growth businesses through 19 rounds of the competition.

In the Young EDGE category for entrepreneurs under the age of 30, winners included North Coast Watersports and Robocean, who received the top prizes of £15,000 from Harper Macleod and Scottish Enterprise respectively. Scottish Enterprise has agreed to extend its contribution of £75,000 in the Young EDGE category for both this and the next round, enabling a further seven winners aged 18-30 to be supported each round.

HeraldScotland:
HeraldScotland:

“The high calibre of innovative applicants EDGE attracts is testament to its ever-growing reputation and gave the EDGE 19 judging panel a very tough job," said Leah Pape, head of entrepreneurship at Scottish Enterprise. "Our congratulations to all the winners."

Wildcard EDGE winners – the category for pre-trading companies, sole traders and partnerships - received £85,000 in total, including Samastar which was awarded £15,000.

READ MORE: Glasgow flowerpot men aim to go global with world’s most sustainable plant pot

This year’s Net Zero award was won by Edinburgh-based Farm-Hand, a data driven farm-management platform used for connecting farmers and farming aggregators to appropriate agriculture solutions. Founder Abhimanyu Bhavgava received funds of £70,000 to further support the company’s growth ambitions.

As the standout business from a circular perspective, POTR Pots received £50,000 as the winner of the Circular Economy Award for its range of flat-pack self-watering plant pots and vases made using recycled and bio materials. In the Social Enterprise category, The Whisky Chairmen received £50,000 for its zero-waste manufacturing enterprise which is tackling poverty and social isolation in Inverclyde.

Scottish EDGE is supported by The Hunter Foundation, Royal Bank of Scotland, the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise. The competition has been running for eight years.

The full list of winners:

ThankBox

Thankbox from 17 Seas is a digital card and cash collection service providing and online alternative to paper celebration card in a physical office (£50,000)

Argyle IT & Education

The company provides education technology for immersive and blended online learning in higher education institutions (£10,000)

Atypical Cosmetics

Atypical combines proprietary artificial intelligence and natural ingredients that allows customers to customise the ingredients in their skincare based on their allergies and needs (£70,000)

Audio Sun

Creators of a device that will solar recharge three different types of hearing aid batteries, preventing the need for single use ones (£10,000)

BGR Training

BGR is launching a 3-in-1 fitness tool that enables anyone to workout anytime and anywhere, with further innovations in develoopment (£80,000)

Bikerbnb

Serving motorcycle travellers with a combined booking platform and community where riders can plan trips, connect with likeminded hosts, join and share rides (£70,000)

Boxfluence

Designing innovative combat equipment, the first product from Boxfluence will be a portable boxing ring, with further aims to create training wear such as gloves and head guards out of a sustainable material (£10,000)

Caribbean Goods

Specialty green coffee importer from Guatemala based in Glasgow, selling mission-driven coffee farms to UK-based roasters (£10,000)

HeraldScotland: Previous winners Darina Garland and Kristian Tapaninaho, founders of Ooni Pizza Ovens
HeraldScotland: Previous winners Darina Garland and Kristian Tapaninaho, founders of Ooni Pizza Ovens

Previous winners Darina Garland and Kristian Tapaninaho, founders of Ooni Pizza Ovens

Continulus

Making continuing professional development (CPD) for healthcare professionals more accessible, affordable and socially-conscious with access to high-quality multi-format online training, negating the time, cost and environmental impact of travel (£70,000)

Danu Robotics

An East Lothian based clean-tech start-up developing an intelligent robotic solution for the recycling industry to significantly increase recycling efficiency (£75,000)

Perro

Developers of an IoT wearable device that connects to a dog’s collar or harness, along with a companion mobile app that allows the user to track and monitor their dog’s location, activity and key health metrics in real time (£10,000)

E.V.A Biosystems

E.V.A produces cutting edge biomaterials using synthetic biology to improve on traditional plastics while remaining completely compatible with current industrial techniques and equipment (£10,000)

Farm-Hand

Connecting farmers and farming aggregators to appropriate agricultural solutions through a data-driven management and marketplace platform (£70,000)

Forth View Designs

Formed to develop and commercialise a plasterboard wall anchor which is the quickest and easiest to install (£10,000)

HUID

A sustainable material innovation made out of waste onion skins that aims to subvert plastics in single use applications (£10,000)

Inteldis

An online startup aiming to aid British people and internationals, including people with disabilities, in learning English and broader communication (£10,000)

Lentitek

Making next-generation cancer therapies economically accessible through a unique manufacturing approach to improve viral yield will help lower the cost of the game-changing cancer therapy CAR-T (£100,000)

Love Electric Financial Services

On a mission to make electric cars affordable and accessible, with employees sacrificing a portion of their salary in return for a new electric car, typically saving around 50% (£70,000)

Morphic Technology

Enablingseamless outdoor group sports communications, regardless of the environment, through the development of innovative technology (£10,000)

HeraldScotland: Joe Ralphs and Hiro Onishi of Robocean with Leah Pape of Scottish Enterprise
HeraldScotland: Joe Ralphs and Hiro Onishi of Robocean with Leah Pape of Scottish Enterprise

Joe Ralphs and Hiro Onishi of Robocean with Leah Pape of Scottish Enterprise

Lemon

A mobile application to help chefs comply with food safety procedures while reducing paper and saving time and money (£10,000)

North Coast Watersports

A provider of award-winning cold water surfing experiences amongst the best waves in the UK (£15,000)

Onboard.ID

A privacy-preserving digital credential infrastructure that streamlines the user onboarding process and facilitates secure data transfer in safety-critical applications such as in the finance and healthcare industries (£10,000)

Podspectrix

A medical technology start-up developing a non-invasive imaging device for earlier detection and prevention of ulcers in diabetic foot disease (£10,000)

POTR Pots

POTR provides busy plant-lovers with hassle-free, self-watering plant care via the flat-pack POTR pot and vase delivered through the letterbox (£50,000)

Prozymi Biolabs

A food technology start-up that aims to revolutionise the gluten-free production using gluten degrading microorganisms and their enzymes (£10,000)

Recover Packaging

Creator of lidded film technology to offer easy opening and reclosing which is approved as suitable for kerbside collection for recycling (£80,000)

Robocean

A subsea robotics company developing novel technologies to mechanise seagrass restoration (£15,000)

Rostra Therapeutics

A drug discovery and development spinout from University of Strathclyde focused on treating infectious diseases globally (£80,000)

Samastar

Developers of resource-saving solution to automate the monitoring of microbial cultures in shake flasks (£15,000)

Savora Drinks

Producers of award-winning mixers expertly crafted for pairing with Tequila, which some are describing as the next Gin & Tonic (£10,000)

Studio Vans

Providers of patent-pending ‘click-in/click-out’ installation systems for converting standard vans to campervans for eco-friendly refits (£80,000)

Praveen Kumar

Producers of authentic premium frozen Indian meals in Perth using family-grown spices and British produce (£75,000)

Hidden Lane Organic Brewery

Glasgow’s first fully organic brewery using a zero-waste brewing solution and utilising low environmental impact methodologies (£85,000)

The Whisky Chairmen

A zero-waste manufacturing social enterprise tackling poverty and social isolation in Inverclyde by providing living-wage flexible employment in bespoke furniture production (£50,000)

Theo Health

Creators of smart-clothing and an app to measure, track and analyse muscle development, even before progress is physically be visible (£85,000)

Tuggs

Preparing to launch the country’s first freshly-prepared, insect-based dog food that can improve a dog's lifespan by up to 32 months compared to commercial dry dog food (£10,000)

UB-OK (formerly known as Voxsio)

A digital health company based in Edinburgh providing a platform that captures clinical expertise and turns it into always-available interactive support for patients (£50,000)

VSL 

Creator of the patent-pending VShake that creates smoother health and fitness shakes, preventing leakage and defending against odour and bacteria, keeping it fresher for longer (£10,000)

Yaldi Games

A gameing developer with the mission to create meaningful games that go beyond digital to have real life impact (£10,000)

Propeco

Helping home owners manage the risks and opportunities emerging from climate change (£10,000)