Photos taken at the most recent Community Leadership Retreat events where alumni and friends gather for 2 days to learn, share and get recharged for the next stages of business growth. If you’re leading a growing business in Scotland, find out how you can join the Unlocking Ambition Community and be part of this inspiring peer network – contact unlockingambition@scotent.co.uk
To date, the Unlocking Ambition programme has invested in 79 companies and over 100 ambitious founders.
Find out more about the UA community below.
Energy: Helping Offshore Industries achieve net zero goals by clean electricity from ocean waves in a safe and cost-effective way.
Digital: Scotland-based media agency creating content for brands with social purpose at their heart.
Tourism: Wilderness Scotland is an award winning tour operator specialising in active and nature based travel throughout the UK and Ireland.
Tourism: Wilderness Scotland is an award winning tour operator specialising in active and nature based travel throughout the UK and Ireland.
Food & Drink: What's Fresh delivers high quality local produce direct to customers.
Energy: Research and development in marine wave energy.
Energy: Commercialising a process for low-carbon wastewater treatment, desalination and renewable energy generation.
MedTech: Medical grade wearable vital signs monitors for use in hospitals and homes post-discharge, saving lives and reducing healthcare costs.
Digital: Industry award-winning, affordable DIY legal tools for consumers.
Digital: Industry award-winning, affordable DIY legal tools for consumers.
Energy: Renewable energy technology company, developing and commercialising wave and tidal energy and storage.
Robotics: Uses cutting-edge electronic-skin tech to transfer the sense of touch to machines with applications for space and hazardous environments.
MedTech: Designs and produces technology for decontaminating surgical instruments.
Space: Provides more cost-effective dedicated launches to space for cube satellites.
Energy: Innovative and enabling analytical software company, dramatically revolutionising the use and analysis of thermal imaging in real time.
Food & Drink: A contract bottler and creator of new soft drinks, ending the problem of small-batch drinks innovation.
Food & Drink: A contract bottler and creator of new soft drinks, ending the problem of small-batch drinks innovation.
Agriculture: Profitable reforestation of land and co-deployment of carbon removal technology.
Manufacturing: Manufacture premium quality bespoke reusable sanitary pads made 100% ethically in Scotland – saving the planet one period at a time.
MedTech: Helping medical and pharmaceutical industries understand how patients take their medicines in the real world.
AgriTech: Tackling food poverty, reducing landfill use and working with the community to bring about action on carbon-based climate change.
Tourism: Installation systems converting standard vans to campervans for eco-friendly refits, using global artistic collaborations.
Space: Sells essential services to businesses by developing nature-based solutions to climate change by applying AI to big data from space.
Energy: Patented, unique modular solar thermal heating system to help decarbonise space and water heating.
Energy: The world’s first flat-packable solar thermal collector to help decarbonise heating for both developing and industrialised countries.
EdTech: Digital Training in commercialisation and innovation for scientists and university researchers
Manufacturing: We design and supply sustainable insulation products.
AgriTech: Creating seed coatings to increase germination rates of tree and vegetable seeds in moisture deficit conditions.
Data/AI: SaaS (software as a service) for collaborating on and managing project delivery, underpinned by predictive analytics and real time reporting.
Digital: Specialising in the development of software and augmented reality experiences using 3D for tourism sector enhancement.
Food & Drink: Extracting high value, natural chemicals from used coffee grounds for use in the cosmetics, food and drink, and textiles industries.
Manufacturing: Retroblind Ltd. designs, manufactures and sells innovative and environmentally conscious window blinds
Digital: A platform that enables organisations and individuals to work together to make better decisions, accelerating the path to net zero.
Data/AI: Powers circular economy/reuse systems for the 21st century, helping companies make data-driven and environmentally sound decisions.
Construction: Flat-packed, 100% recycled plastic, lightweight, modular building system for efficient and sustainable methods and materials.
Digital: Empowers anyone, regardless of technical ability, to protect their privacy online.
Digital: Provider of commercial, pragmatic HR advice and practical support to SMEs.
Digital: SaaS business customer insight intelligence platform to help companies make informed decisions based on customer feedback.
Tourism: An online travel agent and property management company matching holiday home owners with quality guests from around the world.
Engineering: The Phox water filter adds electrolytes to enhance hydration effectiveness. A sustainable, healthy and wellbeing-based business.
Marine: Creating and innovating marine defense equipment to protect personnel and goods at sea.
Data/AI: Processing space data to monitor environmental and social impacts, offering data analysis products for a range of global clients.
Biotech: Provides innovative solutions for growing and analysing bacteria, yeast and algae to help their customers innovate more efficiently.
Manufacturing: Manufacture and sale of award-winning plant pots from waste fishing gear (rope, net and fish boxes) supporting circular economy.
Digital: An online talent platform for energy sector professionals, from recruitment to coaching we support individuals throughout their careers.
Digital: Bespoke Individual user syllabus programs can be customised and adapted to organisational need
Food & Drink: Distillery and visitor centre on the island of North Uist.
MedTech: Low cost, wearable technology to improve the mobility and the lives of spinal cord injured patients and those with neurological disabilities.
MedTech: Low cost, wearable technology to improve the mobility and the lives of spinal cord injured patients and those with neurological disabilities.
MedTech: A Dundee University spin-out marketing an online platform to help diabetes patients understand and manage their condition.
Digital S: Helping minority communities lower the poverty premium with cash back rewards on tailored financial education and fairer products.
AgriTech: A circular economy business utilising distillery co-products as a means to offset the costs associated with producing omega-3 oil rich microalgae.
VetTech: Offers innovative diagnostic testing solutions to the veterinary market.
Energy: Innovates, designs and brings to market consumer electronics focused on reducing global carbon footprint.
Construction: LINIAN have designed and patented the fastest, safest, and simplest fire-rated cable clip on the market.
Construction: LINIAN have designed and patented the fastest, safest, and simplest fire-rated cable clip on the market.
Energy: Low carbon technology converting domestic wet central heating systems for energy storage via a novel flow battery system.
Digital: An app that helps those with food allergies, intolerances, vegans or vegetarians navigate options from shops and restaurants.
Digital: Patented product for railway operators that provides greater wheel-rail interface to remove the knock-on effects from poor weather.
MedTech: Video gaming developers specialising in developing healthcare support gaming, ie serious games.
Manufacturing: Kaliaaer design, develop and bring to market performance-enhancing goalkeeper products.
Food & Drink: Award-winning manufacture and sale of a range of alcohol-free beers.
Digital: Develops and delivers person-centric digital health solutions, based on AI and Machine Learning to support occupational and mental health.
Construction: Intelligent crane and lifting technology seamlessly connecting people. Equipment and data.
Construction: A circular-based construction insulation business manufacturing from natural, sustainable resources.
Food & Drink: Distillers of artisan gin and rum looking to create a zero carbon distillery on site.
Manufacturing: Patent-pending sports sunglasses using world-first lens technology which allows rear vision for commuters/competitive cyclists.
Manufacturing:
Environmentally friendly buy-one, give-one social enterprise tackling period poverty.
MedTech: Develops and commercialises novel hearing testing technology to make hearing tests as common, reliable, and accurate as eye testing.
Digital: Develops and deploys platform technology to exploit greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution.
MedTech: A platform for the delivery, and remote monitoring of personalised podiatry and physiotherapy programmes.
Manufacturing: Innovative secondary glazing reducing heat loss of any window far more cheaply, quickly and easily than any existing product.
Food & Drink: The UK’s first low FODMAP, free-from health foods helping those suffering from IBS and food intolerances to live a better quality of life
Manufacturing: Creators of Lilypads, comfortable affordable reusable period pads, with 10% of revenue used to subsidise pads internationally.
Data/AI: Simple digital solutions to allow organisations to use their data to make better decisions, support their strategy and drive growth
Data/AI: Simple digital solutions to allow organisations to use their data to make better decisions, support their strategy and drive growth
Data/AI: “LEGO” for Earth observation (EO) analytics - an SaaS tool that empowers anyone to DIY their own EO solution without the need to code.
Food & Drink: Baotic is a dairy-free, gluten free, vegan and high fibre pre-biotic drink range made from African superfruits.
AgriTech: Helping grain storage operators maintain the quality of their stock by providing the first autonomous grain storage management system.
AgriTech: Helping grain storage operators maintain the quality of their stock by providing the first autonomous grain storage management system.
Tourism: Eco tourism destination in the Cairngorm forest, completely off-grid and carbon neutral
Data/AI: Aims to reduce the cost, time and risk associated with structural health monitoring while improving reliability of fractures assessment.
Digital: A digital companion for people with dementia and their carers.
Food & Drink: A local chocolatier business that has become a global artisan brand.
Engineering: A social enterprise dedicated to generating innovative water cleaning technologies.
MedTech: Manufactures 3D bio-printed mimicked cancer environments for drug testing, discovery, pre-clinical trials and precision medicine testing.
Food & Drink: Award-winning, sustainable beer manufacturer with a mission to use profits to bring clean drinking water to 1,000,000 people globally.
MedTech: Aiming to empower every human to live a longer independent life by providing assistive robotics and rehabilitative technologies.
MedTech: Aiming to empower every human to live a longer independent life by providing assistive robotics and rehabilitative technologies.
Agriculture: Creates and sells high-performance insect genetics for the insect farming sector.
Manufacturing: Sustainable and luxurious textiles creating premium cashmere and wool by-products.
Digital: Generating accurate data on occupancy and environmental quality in commercial premises to inform decision-making.
Digital: Generating accurate data on occupancy and environmental quality in commercial premises to inform decision-making.
Engineering: B-DACS specialise in the installation, repair, servicing and maintaining of air conditioning and ventilation systems.
Food & Drink: Aurora designs circular economy and bio-economy approaches for environmental restoration, improving food security.
Food & Drink: Aurora designs circular economy and bio-economy approaches for environmental restoration, improving food security.
Digital: A people-first digital consultancy helping people and organisations to get the most out of Microsoft 365.
Digital: Developing language, cultural and soft skills training programmes for professionals.
Agriculture: Ground-breaking technology for measuring soil carbon stocks in agriculture and other landscapes at low cost and high accuracy.
MedTech: Developing the next generation of nebulisers, enabling delivery of life-changing treatments.
Food & Drink: An eco-friendly craft micro-distillery and visitor centre, based in John O’Groats producing premium Highland Single Malt Whisky.
MedTech: Medical device innovators selling worldwide their patented drug delivery platform for more sustainable medicine delivery use.