Scottish startups based at the Higgs Centre for Innovation in Edinburgh have secured over £25 million in funding since the business incubation centre opened in 2018, creating over 150 jobs.
Over the last seven years, the Higgs Centre said it has incubated twenty-eight companies, with ten currently in residence, and boasts a 93% survival rate, with twenty-six incubated firms remaining active.
According to the Higgs Centre, economic analysis shows that each company generates an average Gross Value Added (GVA) of £498,000 per annum, resulting in a total economic impact of £13 million per year from these active businesses.
“It’s fulfilling to see the tremendous efforts of our early-stage companies being justly rewarded with patient capital, allowing them to create further opportunities as they grow,” said Ruairidh Henderson, startup incubation manager at the Higgs Centre.
Based at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, the Higgs Centre has seen startups specialising in AI, robotics, photonics, rocket propulsion, avionics, data analytics, and even prosthetics pass through its doors, assisted by the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) Business Incubation programme.
Part of STFC, the Higgs Centre is co-located alongside the UK Astronomy Technology Centre and the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Astronomy at the Royal Observatory, with tenants offered access to labs, cleanrooms and state-of-the-art equipment, including space qualification testing capabilities.
The Higgs Centre also provides specialist advice and guidance for startups to help accelerate their growth and attract investment.
One company currently raising investment, Robocean, builds subsea robotics to replenish seagrass meadows, a vital part of the ocean’s ecosystem which supports biodiversity, captures CO2, and reduces coastal erosion.
“Our incubation at The Higgs Centre has been game-changing, thanks to their support we can move faster than ever before,” said Niall McGrath, CEO at Robocean.
“Our access to laboratories and expertise has allowed us to quickly design, build and test our prototypes on the fly. No matter what challenge we are facing, there is always someone to help.”
Startups based at the Higgs Centre have experienced a rapid increase in funding over the past two years, securing £15 million in investment and creating 50 jobs since April 2023.
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Added to that, the Centre relaunched its Space Testing Facility last year after a major upgrade, using a £400,000 investment from the STFC to add new clean rooms and advanced testing equipment, allowing startups to test their products and technologies to the exacting standards set by NASA, ESA, various rocket launch providers.
Commenting on this latest milestone, STFC’s Dr Julian Dines, head of innovation at the Higgs Centre, said: “We’re very proud to have reached such a significant milestone with over £25 million in investment raised while creating over 150 jobs.
“The Higgs Centre’s role is to support small businesses and startups by providing them with access to the necessary knowledge, technical skills and facilities to move onto the next stage of their development. We look forward to continued growth in the tech sector, more successes and additional investments in the near future.”
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