Dogs have their day

THERE are not many upmarket furniture retailers which extend a warm welcome to our legged friends. But dog owners are actively encouraged to bring their mutts along to sofa.com, which launched a showroom in Glasgow’s fashionable Finnieston district last week.

“We actually do sell dog beds,” said chief executive Vince Gunn. “We regularly get photographs of people’s dogs that then get their way into the internal communications. My daughter always says: “are there no dogs there yet? I want to know what dogs have been in Edinburgh.”

London calling for Scots start-ups

INFORMATICS Ventures, the body which supports Scottish technology start-ups, has selected 10 up and coming companies to attend a leading European investor event in London next month.

The organisation has teamed up with NOAH to bring Comcarde, Hermes Apps, SnapDragon, snap40, Make it Social, Cognitive Geology, Krotos, Digital Sports Arena, Talking Medicines to the EIE technology investor showcase, which takes place on November 10 and 11 at Old Billingsgate.

More than 2,000 investors, companies and advisers are expected to attend the event, which is hoped will lead to hundreds of millions of pounds of follow-on investment being made in the U and European tech sector.

Steve Ewing, director of operations at Informatics Ventures, said: “EIE at NOAH London presents us with a unique opportunity to get a cohort of mainly Scottish tech companies in front of and alongside a significant group of VC and private equity investors. The event provides an exciting opportunity for our best early stage start-ups to promote their companies and pitch for investment from some of the world’s most prominent tech investors.”