Four ECCI start-ups named as Unlocking Ambition stars

Four ECCI start-ups have been awarded funding and support as part of the £4m Unlocking Ambition Challenge.

Stephanie Terreni Brown (Clean Water Wave, pictured); Joan Johnston (Bespoke Fabrics); Douglas Martin (MiAlgae) and Scott Simpson (IndiNature) are among a group of Scotland’s top 40 entrepreneurs and SMEs joining the business scaling and development programme.

The entrepreneurs - all past or present participants in ECCI's Climate-KIC Accelerator programme - will receive support from Scottish Enterprise. They'll also get a mentoring through Entrepreneurial Scotland, access to the GlobalScot network and help from the Scottish Investment Bank.

The £4m Unlocking Ambition Challenge is part of the Scotland CAN DO initiative, backed by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and delivered by key players in Scotland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The challenge links established businesspeople with start-ups who have demonstrated their ideas can be successful and inclusive, create jobs and benefit society.

Scott Simpson, Douglas Martin and Stephanie Terreni Brown are also the first businesses to reach the third and final phase of ECCI’s Climate-KIC Accelerator. Alongside Jim Laidlaw of Boxergy, they will now get the chance to access up to €30,000 funding, get support to pilot their product and tap into a huge network of potential partners, investors and customers.

The start-ups are part of a wide range of innovators and entrepreneurs supported by ECCI's Climate-KIC business support programmes. The companies taking part to date have scooped 27 awards and nearly £600,000 in investment since ECCI launched its partnership with Climate-KIC in 2017.

ECCI’s Deputy Director Ed Craig said:

“It’s hugely exciting to see these promising Scottish start-ups be the first to move through the three stages our successful Climate-KIC Accelerator programme and another step closer to achieving their dreams.

"We're also hugely proud of the ECCI entrepreneurs past and present who have been selected for the prestigious Unlocking Ambition challenge.

“Scotland has a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem and we’re looking forward to seeing these ambitious innovators take on growing global markets as we move towards a vibrant zero carbon future.”

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