By Kristy Dorsey
Medical technology company OrganLike has taken the biggest share of cash in the latest record-breaking round of funding from the Scottish EDGE Awards.
The Strathclyde University spin-out received £100,000 to support development of realistic models of human organs for surgical training. Set up in 2017 by Professor Will Shu and Dr Isaac Wang, OrganLike’s technology combines synthetic tissues with computer-generated augmented reality.
A total of 42 businesses received awards valued from £10,000 upwards in what is billed as the UK’s biggest competition for young businesses with high growth potential. A total of £1.5 million was handed out in this latest round, the most in the competition’s history.
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Among the other largest winners was Glasgow-based Know-it, which has developed a credit management platform to help address the £61 billion late payment problem currently impacting the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses. Founder and chief executive Lynne Darcey Quigley said she was “thrilled” with the company’s £90,000 prize.
“The competition this year was incredibly strong, and there was an impressive final list of organisations that we are honoured to share this incredible investment with,” she said.
“While we’ve always had confidence in the strength of our services and our approach to supporting partners, this award further consolidates the message of our work – and is a cherry on the cake after Know-it’s victories in the recent Tech Nation regional awards, as well as the Startup Summit.”
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Supported by The Hunter Foundation, Royal Bank of Scotland, the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise, Scottish EDGE includes a Wild Card category for pre-trading companies, a category for those under the age of 30, and a category for social enterprises along with the main competition. Scottish Enterprise contributed an additional £75,000 this year to the Young EDGE initiative, taking the total number of winners supported from eight to 15.
“These entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of the Scottish economy and alongside scale-ups will be pivotal in providing the jobs and opportunities necessary for Scotland’s Covid recovery,” said Sir Tom Hunter, founder of The Hunter Foundation.
“Quality demand from businesses far outstripped supply so our development agencies need to step in and step up with more funding.”
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