It’s no surprise that Skyscanner, having just secured $192 million of funding, has recently been ranked as Scotland’s number one technology start up by Business Insider UK. With a reported valuation in excess of $1 billion and profits of £17 million in 2014, it is the country’s most successful tech start up. But who else is on the list?
At number 9 (of 13) is Edinburgh-based Flavourly. the company that famously turned down a £75,000 investment offer from Peter Jones and Piers Linney in the “Dragon’s Den” in 2015, a company which delivers independently supplied food and drink to subscribers on a monthly basis.
Celtic Renewables is at number 8, also based in Edinburgh, which cleverly creates biofuel from the by-products of the scotch whisky fermentation process. The company was recently awarded an £11m grant from the UK Department for Transport to build its own biofuel facility in central Scotland. This follows the company recently being named the most innovative biotech SME in Europe.
At number 4 is Money Dashboard, again based in Edinburgh, this is the company which has developed a very helpful app which allows users to see all of their bank and credit card accounts in one place to help make finance-management simpler. It’s reported to have over 100,000 users.
Number 3 is Mallzee, the fashion app which allows users to swipe through millions of products from hundreds of retailers – it now has hundreds of thousands of users and raised £2.5 million of funding led by Royal Mail in summer last year.
We were delighted when Skyscanner’s, CFO, Shane Corstorphine and, Mallzee’s CEO, Cally Russell both spoke at our inaugural investment conference, “Series B and Beyond”, late last year and shared their experiences. Other speakers included Gerald Brady of Silicon Valley Bank, Rob Palfreyman, CEO of senseWhere and James Varga, CEO of miiCard.
Other companies ranked by Business Insider UK include Clear Returns, Administrate, Pure Lifi and Fanduel.
MBM Commercial is proud to advise many of the companies on the list and to be part of their success stories. With a strong reputation for advising VC funds and Business Angel syndicates, we know what investors are looking for and are then able to pass that knowledge and experience on to our start up and high growth company clients. As well as helping with the legalities surrounding investment rounds, protecting IP, HR and employment law and a whole host of other legal services, MBM is focussed on adding more value. MBM regularly helps companies get investor ready and introduces them to their investors by making connections throughout the United Kingdom, in particular London, where we have recently opened a new office and appointed Michael Arnott as partner.
MBM can help start ups and high-growth companies with:
If you’d like to learn more about how we can help your growth and improve your business, please contact Stuart Hendry, Senior Partner on seniorpartner@mbmcommercial.co.uk.