More than £540k of funding has been awarded to Scotland’s brightest and most innovative start-ups, Finance Secretary John Swinney will confirm tonight at the Scottish EDGE Awards.

Seventeen young Scottish businesses that have demonstrated the greatest potential to grow and succeed have secured awards of up to £50k through the Scottish Government’s Scottish EDGE fund, which aims to support and encourage entrepreneurial activity in Scotland. The Scottish Government has worked closely with its enterprise agencies, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and business hothouse Entrepreneurial Spark in developing the new fund.

-- Advertisement --

Launched in October 2012, the competition received 235 applications and 100 of these were shortlisted to pitch their ideas in person in January. Applications for funding were considered by a Dragon’s Den style Investment Panel, composed of Scotland’s leading business people, who selected 20 finalists to go on to pitch for the prize money.

The winners received the full amount sought in their application whereas all the others received a sum that the judges thought appropriate.

The panel of Sir Willie Haughey (City Refrigeration), Sir Tom Hunter (Hunter Foundation), Julie Grieve (Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust), Alex Paterson (Highlands and Islands Enterprise) and Gordon Merrylees (RBS) selected the 17 finalists for funding last Tuesday (12 February).

See www.scottish-enterprise.com for full details.