KPMG launches search for Scotland’s tech pioneers

KPMG has launched a nationwide search for Scotland’s most innovative, growth-hungry tech pioneers, who could win the chance to pitch their business to a global audience at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The firm’s annual Best British Tech Pioneer competition, now in its sixth year, has just launched, with founders and leaders of fast-growing technology businesses encouraged to come forward to demonstrate their market potential, innovation and the benefits of their products.

Shortlisted entrepreneurs will be invited to pitch to a panel of business leaders in Glasgow and Edinburgh in January, with the most successful travelling to London the following month, to compete against other business stars from throughout the UK. The ultimate winners will then be flown out to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later that month, where they’ll pitch to a panel of global industry experts to be crowned the Best British Tech Pioneer. The winners will also be provided with exhibition booths at the next Four Years From Now (4YFN) conference to showcase their business to a wider start-up focused audience. Previous competition finalists have included Babylon Health, What3Words Echo and SafeToNet, and more than £100m has been raised by previous finalists to date.

Despite wider economic uncertainty, Scotland’s start-up and tech sectors have flourished in 2019 with growing global interest from investors. Research from KPMG reveals more than £90m of Venture Capital (VC) was invested into Scottish start-ups in the first three quarters of 2019, with deal value on-track to beat 2018’s £100m of investments.

Commenting on the search, enterprise manager at KPMG, Amy Burnett, said:

“Scotland’s start-up community is thriving and it’s attracting increasing global attention and investment. On a daily basis I meet innovative market disrupters, but one of the biggest issues they face is accessing investment and getting in front of the right people at the right time. Our Best British Tech Pioneer competition is about finding that talent and providing them with the opportunity to immediately access a global audience.”