Edinburgh ‘pre-seed tech accelerator’ looks to trigger nation’s next unicorn

● Founders to take ‘fresh approach’ to funding the ideas that could be scaleable

The button is being pressed on what has been described as Scotland’s first “dedicated pre-seed tech accelerator” in a fresh bid to nurture the nation’s next billion-dollar start-up.

Edinburgh-based Seed Haus said it was raising a new angelbacked fund to create the “hothouse environment” needed to produce scaleable startups in emerging sectors such as fintech and the “internet of things”.

The founder team behind Seed Haus, chairman Robin Knox and chief executive Calum Forsyth, bring strong business and technology credentials to the venture.

Knox is former chief executive and co-founder of Intelligentpos, the payment tech outfit. He built the business in eight months from his kitchen table and grew it to a team of more than 40 employees and seven-figure revenues in just four years. It was sold last year for an undisclosed sum to izettle.

Forsyth – A PHD scientist and former financial risk consultant with KPMG – previously led the accelerator programme at the University of Strathclyde where he advised scores of early stage businesses.

Knox said: “I believe we need to take a fresh approach to funding the ideas that could become scaleable start-ups. Edinburgh is erupting with innovation and the ecosystem is ripe for Seed Haus to make a real difference.

“We chose to headquarter Seed Haus in Edinburgh because the city has global ambition and has already shown the world what it can do. But, if Scotland is to see another unicorn we need to keep innovating around how we incubate ideas so they are ready for seed investment.”

The launch comes at a critical time for Scotland’s digital economy following the success of home-grown billiondollar tech unicorns Skyscanner and Fanduel.

The team behind Seed Haus are looking to “harness the momentum achieved by these companies and help bring the next generation of tech startups through”. The new accelerator, which will operate as a social enterprise, will focus on building start-ups in emerging markets and leveraging insight from key data sources.

Forsyth said: “Our goals may seem audacious but we believe passionately in the pre-seed accelerator programme we have created, taking best practice from around the world and marrying this with our own insight of the unique environment in Scotland.”

Seed Haus will offer founders funding to cover living costs making it possible to leave permanent employment.