Top 5 Scottish Tech Startups 2019

Category: Blog

By Janice

11/02/2019

Scotland has a rich history when it comes to entrepreneurship, with hundreds of successful start-ups starting their journey in the highlands. Shaped by entrepreneurs such as Andrew Carnegie who revolutionised the American steel industry, Alexander Graham Bell who invented the telephone, Brian Souter who founded the StageCoach group, Lingerie tycoon Michelle Mone or Peter Cashmore who founded Mashable when he was only 19. This entrepreneurial attitude is still very much alive today.

While this list of influential Scottish entrepreneurs could go on and on, let’s dive straight into the 5 most exciting Scottish Tech Startups of 2019:

1. Go Roadie
Founded in Dundee by Michael Carr and Barry White back in April 2016. Go Roadie is a mobile platform which matches driving instructors with people who want to learn how to drive. Currently operating in Dundee and Glasgow, they plan on expanding to Plymouth, Nottingham and Ipswich in the next couple of months before expanding on an international level. Addressing an obvious niche within a huge market, Go Roadie has helped thousands of driving instructors find more business and ultimately go independent.

2. Current
Headquartered in Edinburgh, Current developed an AI-powered patient monitoring system which is worn by patients as an armband. The Current device allows doctors to remotely monitor discharged patients. Doctors can access patient data wirelessly at any point, and track vital signs like breathing or oxygen saturation. They can even set automated alerts to identify at-risk patients and intervene if needed. Current won “Scottish Startup of 2018” at last year’s Scottish Tech Startup Awards and currently has over $10M in funding.

3. PureLiFi
PureLiFi was founded in 2012 at the University of Edinburgh. The company uses light technology instead of radio waves in order to create wireless internet connections. PureLiFi currently has $25M in funding and is pioneering developments in communication devices and data transfers, which could have a tangible impact on our everyday lives.

4. TravelNest
Founded by Doug Stephenson in 2015, TravelNest is an Edinburgh-based software company which offers advertising and optimisation services for holiday rentals across Europe. Their aim is to help you get your property fully booked. They will list your property on all the big property rentals websites such as Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia to name a few. Their platform is clean and easy-to-use and helps you manage all your bookings from one place. TravelNest is a powerful tool for landlords or hotel managers looking to increase their rental occupancy, and they offer a generous rate of only 15% commission (Booking.com’s is 19%) which make them all the more attractive. To this date, they have raised $5M in seed funding.

5. Sharein
Founded by Jude Cook and Andrew Pickett in Edinburgh back in 2011, Sharein is a customisable investment platform. The company helps founders and companies raise capital by facilitating the investment process and makes sure everything is compliant with current laws. So far the company has raised $1M in seed funding and currently operates out of Codebase in Edinburgh.

Scotland is an exciting place to launch a tech startup as shown by the long list of successful tech startups such as Skyscanner, Sumdog, Zonefox to name a few... Scotland is also home to plenty of tech incubators and accelerators including the largest tech incubator in Europe - Codebase located in Edinburgh. Edinburgh is the largest technology hub outside of London and has also been consistently named as one of the best cities to start a tech business based on the funding opportunities and startup ecosystem of the city. Which Scottish start-ups are the most exciting for you?
More startup articles

To be featured or find out more:

e-mail us on support@companyconnecting.com

call us on 0845 643 5375

or contact Janice on Linkedin