Startup Support In...Edinburgh

by Startacus Admin

If you are looking to find out what startup support you can get in Edinburgh, this article on Edinburgh startup focused co-working, finances, programmes, & events might just help.

With some cities, you know that you don’t have to worry about access to support for your startup. If you live in London, for example, you have everything you will need: approximately a million co-working spaces (we haven’t counted), funding and investors, grants, events, programmes and workshops, and a strong startup community. But elsewhere, away from the established hubs, things aren’t always so clear. It’s not a lack of support, just a quieter ecosystem that takes a little more looking for. We want to help with this by highlighting what some cities, which might not spring immediately to mind at the mention of ‘startups’, have to offer.

We’re starting, by random selection, with Edinburgh: Startup City of the Year, 2016.

Co-working space

The availability of co-working space is not necessarily a deal-breaker for a startup, but there is only so much mileage you can get out of the trestle tables set up in your garage. For the sake of your own mindset, outside perception, ease of working with your co-founder and eventual employees, and a multitude of other benefits. 

Edinburgh has a good selection of co-working spaces. Alongside Techcube, who provide fully adaptable office space for start-ups and small businesses, a handful of these are:

• Regus has 7 Edinburgh locations, and prices start at £3.80 per day.

• Kingsford Office is a city-centre space that starts at £125 a month (+VAT) and includes an all-important open bar on Fridays.

• The Melting Pot is Scotland’s Centre for Social Innovation, and one of the UK’s first co-working spaces.

• Tribe Porty is designed around an air of community, and offers permanent and hot desks.
  
  

Finances

A good first stop for entrepreneurial students is the world-leading education provider, University of Edinburgh’s, own LAUNCH.ed service, which gives advice on funding, as well as help finding it and applying for it.

Seed Haus is a pre-seed tech accelerator based in Edinburgh, who work with very early stage, founders and help them build their startup.

The City of Edinburgh Council offers a Small Business Loan Fund, which provides an interest-free loan of up to £2,500 to assist entrepreneurs in getting started. Commercial businesses may be eligible for up to £50,000 from the East Scotland Investment Fund, a match-funded loan.

Scotland’s largest and oldest angel funding syndicate, Archangels, is based in Edinburgh. The syndicate has been in early-stage investment since 1992, and with 90 investor members, it co-ordinates the investment of more than £15 million per year in early stage Scottish companies.

https://www.investinedinburgh.com/supporting-business/start-up-support/

The startup ecosystem and programmes

Entrepreneurial Spark was a world leading early stage startup accelerator, which ran a branch in Edinburgh, powered by Natwest. This accelerator still exists, but this year was taken in-house by the bank, and is now known as the Royal Bank of Scotland Entrepreneur Accelerator. This 6-18 month programme takes no equity. NatWest is also launching a FinTech-specific accelerator in the city.

CodeBase is the UK's largest startup incubator and home to over 90 companies who have collectively raised over half a billion dollars in investment and you need to look no further than the University of Edinburgh, which has FOUR business/incubator hubs.

Edinburgh is host to Startup Summit, an annual...summit for startups. Recognised over the last 7 years as one of the UK’s leading entrepreneurship events, Startup Summit 2018 kicks off on 31 October this year, and offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to engage with experts, hear from over 30 inspiring speakers, and build their network.

Startup Grind Edinburgh hosts monthly events and get-togethers to inspire and teach, as well as a way for startups and entrepreneurs to support each other and grow their networks.

Obviously this is not an exhaustive list by any stretch of the imagination. The Startup City of the Year 2016 has a lot more than just the above to offer, but we hope this gives you a starting point when looking to begin or even move your startup journey. If you are a part of the Edinburgh startup scene and you think you should be added in this this article, or you think we’ve just missed something obvious, email editorial@startacus.net and we’ll have a look...

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Published on: 30th July 2018