Edinburgh is the UK’s second-largest financial centre, and also a leading digital tech cluster. It is home to major international companies and unicorns such as Skyscanner and FanDuel. It has three world-class universities, with the University of Edinburgh’s globally renowned School of Informatics producing an impressive number of spinouts in recent years.
CodeBase, the UK’s largest technology incubator is based in the city, and there is a highly supportive digital community. Edinburgh is also a great city to live in. Rich in culture and history, it has good travel links and its relatively small size makes it the perfect microcosm in which entrepreneurs can test their products.
Last year, Edinburgh won Entrepreneurial City of the Year Award.
A new co-working space called Codesk was established within the city’s first incubator Techcube, with a remit to help small businesses tap into wider professional networks. CodeClan, an accredited digital skills academy, opened its doors too, aiming to produce job-ready software developers after a 16-week course.
Finally, Skyscanner, (which was founded in Edinburgh in 2003), was sold to Chinese tourism group Ctrip for £1.4 billion.
The Scottish Government’s newly launched CivTech initiative aims to initiate cooperation between private sector innovation, public organisations and citizen groups. A hugely successful pilot saw them welcoming eight companies to tackle sector specific challenges, and their next cohort will begin this autumn.
Skyscanner is a global metasearch engine for information on the World Wide Web that enables people to find comparisons for flights, hotels and car hire.
While we have ten offices across the world, including London and Barcelona, Skyscanner started life in Edinburgh. The thriving digital tech scene in Edinburgh is hugely supportive and collaborative, with a strong sense of camaraderie.
We believe investment should happen online. We provide both a digital tech and compliance service
that lets you connect with your network and raise capital. Combined client transactions by volume make us one of the largest crowdfunding operators in the UK and we continue to grow at a rapid pace.
We are proud to be based in CodeBase, the UK’s largest tech incubator in the heart of Edinburgh. They have been vital in giving us our first steps into the world of business. The team there are an invaluable, trusted source of knowledge. They’re genuine operators – people who’ve been there and done it. They understand the highs and the lows of startup life and can help to navigate the journey. Being based in Edinburgh we’ve also been able to tap into world-class talent coming out of the local universities.