14 FUTURESCOT
TECH HUBS
28 April 2016
Edinburgh’s Quartermile
development reflects a city
that is a vibrant location for
both innovation and culture
How did Edinburgh become a
tech hub to rival London?
The answer: collaboration
A dynamic partnership
involving businesses,
universities and
government is driving
the capital’s success
BY MARCUS FORD
Scotland is setting the pace in the
fast-evolving technology sector with a
flourishing growth rate that is helping
to drive Edinburgh’s emergence as a
key hub to rival London.
With more than 50 years of technology manufacturing experience,
Scotland continues to forge a global
reputation for innovation, and for excellence. This is an encouraging success
story that is rooted in a dynamic collaboration between business, universities,
and the Scottish government; partnerships that are underpinning a sector in
the business of generating success.
There have now been around 3,000
start-ups in the last five years, and
Scotland’s wealth of talented people
and world-class universities, together
with support for research and access
to funding, is spawning some of the
most exciting businesses in the global
technology market.
At the heart of this burgeoning
sector is Edinburgh, one of only a few
UK cities outside of London that is
home to technology ‘unicorns’, where
businesses have been valued at more
than $1bn (£700m), with predictions
for that number to grow as technology
industries continue to develop their
international muscle. Edinburgh’s
existing unicorns are digital big-hitters
Skyscanner, the flight comparison website, and FanDuel, the fantasy sports
website, and with overseas investor
interest on the up, the pot ential for
international growth is clear.
The role of the University of Edinburgh’s research and innovation unit,
Edinburgh Research and Innovation
(ERI), remains key to developing this
success. ERI is one of the UK leaders in
the successful commercialisation of the
intellectual property generated from
the university’s world-class research,
through licensing technologies to
existing companies, and new university
spin-outs.
IN THE last five years, the university
has supported the start up of more
than 180 new businesses in the area,
with 44 helped by ERI in the past year
alone. Edinburgh’s technology hub is
now made up of fast-growing start-ups
such as Cortex, pureLiFi and Pufferfish, in addition to the established
international companies Microsoft,
Apple, and Amazon. Edinburgh also
hosts business-based assets such as
Codebase, the UK’s largest incubator,
CodeClan, Scotland’s Digital Skills
Academy, and Informatics Ventures,
the Edinburgh-based commercialisation support mechanism. The
university is also working with Scottish
Enterprise’s High Growth Spin-Out
Programme to build Scottish companies that have the potential to achieve a
“Edinburgh is now
one of Europe’s
most successful
technology
clusters”
David Smith, Director of
Technology and Engineering
at Scottish Enterprise
£5m turnover or a commercial investment of £10m within five years, with
projected continued growth.
Another important aspect of making
Scotland, and Edinburgh in particular,
so attractive to investors, in addition to
the quality of research and projects, is
the entrepreneurial culture surrounding its world-renowned universities.
It’s also significant that the higher
education system, where Scottish
university and college students do not
have to pay course fees, results in the
creation of highly-trained individuals
who are not carrying the levels of debt
that may burden graduates from other
areas, and are therefore more inclined
to take a chance on a start-up rather
than look immediately for the security
of employment.
EDINBURGH CAN also offer an affordable and attractive quality of life, and
this overall vibrancy in terms of entrepreneurial culture is helping to fuel the
levels of success, with students in this
city immersed in an environment that
is alert to the potential of innovation
and commercialisation.
Investment in Scottish technology
has increased in each of the past three
years, up by 45 per cent in 2014 against
the previous year, with the amounts
invested also rising by more than 20
per cent, and with a particular surge
of interest in ICT. Total investment is
now close to its highest level of £250m
which was reached in 2001.
David Smith, Director of Technology and Engineering at Scottish
Enterprise, says Scotland’s capital is
providing a platform for the upsurge
in Scotland’s new and innovative companies. “There’s a real buzz around the
Edinburgh technology scene which is
growing in prominence as one of the
leading European tech cities due to
years of sustained investment in talent
and innovation,” he says. “Edinburgh
is now one of Europe’s most successful technology clusters, built around
an impressive collection of entrepreneurial talent, science and innovation
assets.”
Playing a significant role in helping
to attract and encourage overseas
interest is Scottish Development International (SDI), the international arm of
Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and
Islands Enterprise that helps overseas businesses to tap into Scotland’s
world-class capabilities in innovation
and commerce, and also works to help
Scottish companies to do more business overseas, while also promoting
this country as a good place to live and
work.
For potential investors, who will be
able to access an extensive range of
opportunities in funding, the message
from Scotland’s thriving technology sector is one of opportunity, and
connectivity: to education, to skills, to
innovation, and to markets.