The three start-up businesses taking part in the Scottish EDGE Wild Card public vote were selected from a pool of twelve Wild Card EDGE winners by a panel of expert judges, and represent the broad spectrum of businesses who apply for and win the support of Scottish EDGE twice a year. Allan Watt, Director of the Prince’s Trust Scotland and chairman of the judges, said this about the businesses; “Blusho, Estendio and Pio Design are perfect examples of pushing the boundaries and creating an exciting new business with huge potential. They all capture your imagination and make it easy for the public to see how Scottish EDGE might well be the kickstart to Scotland’s next great success story.”
Announcing the public vote, Evelyn McDonald, CEO of the Scottish EDGE, said:
For the first time ever, we’re inviting the general public to participate in the Scottish EDGE process which looks to identify and support Scotland’s innovative, high-growth potential entrepreneurial talent. We’re really excited to offer one of our Wild Card EDGE winners the chance to pitch for additional funding of up to £100,000, on top of the funding of up to £10,000 which they have already won, and believe that the public — and entrepreneurship supporters in particular — will be keen to get involved.
This is a fantastic opportunity for the winner of our public vote, as it offers an invaluable learning experience regardless of whether or not the start-up business wins money as a result of their pitch. Many applicants to the Scottish EDGE process who are unsuccessful return to pitch successfully in future rounds and we expect this to be the case for the majority of our Wild Card EDGE winners.
- Blusho: Did you know, there’s 90 million #makeup images on Instagram alone? Yet the millions of people inspired by them become frustrated when they can’t find what products were used to create the look, or how to buy them. Enter BLUSHO; bringing beauty to life through ‘shoppable selfies.’ Say goodbye to buying beauty online from a lifeless digital colour swatch and see how products really look on. We already feature 40,000 products including brands like MAC, Benefit and have partnered with big beauty retailers on an affiliate model, so global expansion is a real target. Winning EDGE funding would enable us to take BLUSHO to the masses and revolutionise a $77bn industry. Looking at successful companies with the same model in other industries, we know it’s only a matter of time before there’s a global platform like this for beauty. With your vote, we really believe that one will be BLUSHO.
Visit Website | @blushobeauty on Twitter
- Estendio: Estendio aims to revolutionise the educational development of students with dyslexia throughout the world by delivering a range of innovative software and solutions – the first being Present Pal. With graded presentations now being such a significant element of further education, dyslexic students are put in a position of difficulty – one for which there is currently no solution. Present Pal is the first ever presentation support app designed for the specific needs of a dyslexic presenter, aiming to reduce the load on the working memory and encouraging the use of the long term memory, to increase the student’s confidence and grades. Having seen strong interest from a number of key Scottish and English universities, winning £100,000 Edge funding would allow us to take on a full time software developer and experimental psychologist – meaning we could meet demand with an initial product launch in time for the 2016-17 academic year.
Visit Website | @estendio on Twitter
- Pio Design: Pio Design is a technology start-up company that has developed a revolutionary new computer keyboard (Pio 1) combining the practicality of conventional devices with the functionality of touch screen input. In short, each mechanical key can be assigned to display and perform any function, image, or language symbol according to needs. The keyboard layout can also respond to input from applications to interact with the user in a dynamic manner, e.g. as he/she progresses through a game. Priced to appeal to a mass market, the keyboard will improve productivity in the workplace, enhance the immersive experience of game play, and support learning in educational settings, as well as removing current barriers for those involved in multi-language environments. The injection of funding will allow the company to accelerate the final development of the keyboard in order that it can be brought to the market place by December. Visit Website | @PioDesign on Twitter
The public vote will close at 5pm on Friday, May 27th, 2016. The winner will be announced on June 1st, 2016.
You can also get involved in the Wild Card EDGE Public Vote on social media using the hashtag #WildCardEDGEVote.
Terms and Conditions: In order to verify your vote, we will ask for some personal details. We will also use your details to add you to the Scottish EDGE newsletter (don’t worry, you can unsubscribe at any time). You are only eligible to vote once, and any votes deemed suspicious will be discounted at the Scottish EDGE’s discretion. There is no guarantee that the winner of the public vote will win £100,000 or any additional funding or support following their pitch at the Scottish EDGE Round 8 final. Any disputes regarding the outcome of the public vote or the winner’s final pitch will be decided by the Scottish EDGE Team, Board of Directors or Judging Panels. Scottish EDGE can choose to amend or cancel the Wild Card EDGE public vote at any time without warning. Neither Scottish EDGE nor any of our staff, partner organisations, or other stakeholders will be held responsible for the Wild Card EDGE public vote or any associated processes.
