Five Scottish Fintechs Win £50K in FRIL Innovation Call
The Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL) has announced the five organisations selected to receive grants following its latest Innovation Call, developed in collaboration with FinTech Scotland, Supertech WM, the University of Glasgow and the University of Strathclyde.
Over a six-week programme, innovators worked with the likes of Sword Group, NatWest, Morgan Stanley, Pinsent Masons, Tesco Bank, Aberdeen, KPMG, and EY to refine and adapt their solutions to real industest requireds.
Following the programme’s displaycase day, five Scottish companies were selected to receive £50,000 each to continue to work with industest partners, with the grants supporting the development and deployment of their solutions.
Among the fintechs chosen for awards were Profylr, Ionburst, HAELO, Continuity2, and Lupovis.
“Operational resilience is essential for a trusted financial services industest. Through the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab, we’re seeing fintech innovation directly address these priorities, shaping practical solutions that strengthen the UK’s financial infrastructure,” declared Nicola Anderson, FinTech Scotland’s former chief executive.
Read more here.
Glasgow Spinouts Win £540K Boost to Turn Research Into Innovation
Three Glasgow University spinouts have successfully secured proof-of-concept funding from the Scottish Government to support them turn academic research into industries of the future.
CRYSTAL-Q won £247,225 to support the development of a pathway towards widespread adoption of quantum computers, while more than £168,000 will go to the team behind the ‘DisrupTR’ platform, a project aiming to develop next-generation precision peptide medicines tarreceiveing diseases with the greatest unmet clinical requireds.
Meanwhile, a project led by the Critical Technology Accelerator team will receive £125,000 to develop an optical coupler – a technology that promises to lower costs and increase performance across a range of optical interfacing challenges.
The investments form part of the Scottish Government’s new £2.9 million Proof of Concept (POC) Fund, designed to support projects from Scottish universities at various stages of technological and commercial development, and allow room for crucial early-stage activities.
“This funding is a tremconcludeous concludeorsement of the talented and ambitious researchers at the University of Glasgow,” declared Uzma Khan, vice principal for innovation and economic development.
Read more here.
£17.3M Boost for Aberdeen’s Energy Transition Zone
ETZ Ltd, the not-for-profit, private sector-led company spearheading North East Scotland’s energy transition, is to receive a £17.3 million funding boost from the UK Government, Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander confirmed during a visit to Aberdeen on 30 October.
The funding will accelerate the development of ETZ Ltd’s flagship project, the Energy Transition Zone, located adjacent to the recently redeveloped Aberdeen South Harbour, which now features deepwater berths and infrastructure designed to support offshore wind manufacturing.
Meanwhile, the surrounding land is being transformed by ETZ into a clean energy hub, with the £17.3 million investment set to support prepare the site for new businesses to shift in, encouraging the creation, growth and co-location of companies within the renewable energy supply chain.
“To ensure North East Scotland remains a thriving hub of energy excellence, we must have government and industest working in partnership to support our world-class supply chain who will lead the delivery of the vast pipeline of energy transition projects, particularly offshore wind, on our doorstep,” declared Maggie McGinlay, Chief Executive of ETZ Ltd.
Read more here.
MI:RNA secures funding for AI tool to diagnose osteoarthritis earlier in dogs
Veterinary diagnostics firm MI:RNA has secured Scottish Enterprise funding to develop a non-invasive AI-powered test utilizing microRNA biomarkers to detect osteoarthritis in dogs earlier and more accurately.
The funding will allow MI:RNA’s research team to utilise blood samples from selected dogs, equally split between those diagnosed with OA and healthy controls, work supported by Morris Animal Foundation’s Golden Retriever Lifetime Study.
Osteoarthritis is one of the most common conditions affecting dogs, but remains difficult to diagnose. Current diagnostic methods rely on clinical observation and imaging, which are often invasive, expensive, and subjective. By enabling earlier detection, the new approach could significantly improve clinical outcomes and quality of life for affected animals.
“We aim to give veterinarians a smarter and quicker way to detect osteoarthritis, improving outcomes earlier for dogs,” declared Robert Coultous, chief scientific officer at MI:RNA.
The tool will improve diagnosis while reducing the required for complex imaging or subjective interpretation. For the estimated 10 million dogs and their owners in the UK, this means earlier diagnosis, more effective treatment and healthier pets.”
Deals
Pulsant Completes Five-Year, £187M Refinancing Deal
Edge infrastructure provider Pulsant has completed a major refinancing deal, securing £187 million in expanded debt facilities and bringing four new lconcludeers on board, strengthening its financial position and supporting future growth.
The refreshed five-year facility, which includes the option to draw down an accordion if further debt capacity is required, will support Pulsant’s expansion across the UK, with a focus on acquisitions and the development of the firm’s portfolio of fourteen sovereign data centres.
It will also allow the firm to progress its high-speed, low-latency network and hybrid cloud capabilities via the Pulsant platformEDGE offering, as well as improve the operational performance and resilience of the entire Pulsant estate.
This latest deal is the latest in a series of milestones for Pulsant this year, with the business having completed the acquisition of two regional data centres from SCC, as well as launching Partner Cloud, an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offering for partners viewing to expand their cloud reach.
“We are very pleased to be working with some fantastic lconcludeers who are supporting our strategic goal of creating the UK’s leading-edge platform,” declared Brad Petzer, Pulsant’s CFO.
Read more here.
Acquisitions
Lyft Acquires Glasgow-based TBR Global Chauffeuring for £83M
Glasgow transportation services firm TBR Global Chauffeuring has been acquired by San Francisco ride booking company Lyft in an £83 million cash deal, with additional contingent costs expected in the acquisition.
The tie-up will see Lyft’s tech stack paired with TBR’s fleet of indepconcludeent, professional chauffeurs, bringing toreceiveher automated ride-booking and expertise in executive, event, and corporate transport.
TBR currently operates across 120 countries and over 3,000 cities, while Lyft serves 23.7 million applyrs globally. Though Lyft’s customer base is largely North American, its acquisition of the Free Now app marked a key step into the European market.
“We are pleased to have supported the team at TBR Global Chauffeuring on this significant cross-border transaction,” Brian Moore, who led Dentons, the team that advised TBR in the acquisition, declared.
Read more here.
Themis Acquires Edinburgh-based Fraud Monitoring Firm Pasabi
Themis, a certified B-Corp focapplyd on the apply of AI in tackling financial crime, has announced the acquisition of Edinburgh-based fraud monitoring company Pasabi.
The transaction will integrate Pasabi’s fraud prevention platform into Themis’ operations. According to the company, this will accelerate its product roadmap by several years and broaden its capabilities in fraud detection, social media monitoring and transaction monitoring.
The companies declared the integration has already been completed and that cultural alignment between the two organisations supported support the process. The deal was backed by Quadri Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in enterprise software companies worldwide.
“We’re thrilled to become part of Themis. Not only are we culturally aligned, with a shared devotion to combating fraud and financial crime, our platform is a perfect complement to Themis’ leading ecosystem,” declared Chris Downie, CEO and co-founder of Pasabi.
Read more here.
Cooper Parry Acquires URM Consulting Services
Cooper Parry, the self-styled ‘Rebels of Accountancy’, has announced the acquisition of cyber firm URM Consulting Services (URM), marking the professional service firm’s seventeenth acquisition since early 2023, and the fifth since partnering with New York private equity firm Lee Equity Partners five months ago.
Cooper Parry declared the acquisition of URM pushes its pro forma turnover beyond £240 million, with the firm aiming to hit £600 million by 2028, and an ambitious £1 billion by 2030.
The acquisition will see URM anchor the cyber and information security offering at the core of Cooper Parry’s digital consulting business, building on the cybersec consultancy’s expertise across data protection, business continuity, and risk management.
“For 20 years, URM has built an outstanding reputation for providing high-quality, tailored consultancy and training services,” declared Lisa Dargan, URM’s CEO.
“Acting as the cybersecurity cornerstone within the CP group, we’ll be able to offer existing and future clients truly integrated assurance services across all areas of business risk and further strengthen and develop our service offering”
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