SCOTLAND’S reputation for producing successful tech start-ups has been greatly enhanced in recent years, with companies such as Skyscanner and FanDuel reaching global prominence from ideas carefully nurtured on these shores. And, while few companies born in Scotland are likely to scale such heights, it is encouraging that the country continues to produce start-ups offering genuine technological innovation.
Skoogmusic is one such example. Originally conceived as a device to help children with profound disabilities engage with music, the founders of the University of Edinburgh spin-out have discovered the technology has the potential to reach a much wider audience. That has been recognised by the Californian tech giant Apple, which now stocks the Skoog cube in 150 of its stores, as well as online.
Apple’s endorsement of the technology developed by Ben Schogler and David Skulina is a vote of confidence in the quality of research emerging in the Scottish university sector. Moreover, with the device not only designed in Scotland but physically made in Leith, it is also a demonstration that this country has the capability to succeed in the kind of high-value manufacturing the economy needs.
Mr Schogler admits parts of the device may ultimately be manufactured elsewhere in order for Skoogmusic to achieve the economies of scale required to fulfil the product’s potential. It is to be hoped, however, that more companies follow Skoogmusic’s example, and ensure more manufacturing businesses, and jobs, are created in Scotland.
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