WashR CEO Lesley Thomson at STAC Skypark Glasgow (by Stewart Attwood)

Smart Things Accelerator Centre scales up, agrees strategic partnership with Scottish Enterprise, and adds 13 new companies

  • Scotland’s first Internet of Things (IoT) accelerator enters a strategic partnership agreement with Scottish Enterprise
  • The 13 new companies accepted onto STAC 2022 will take overall portfolio to 26 companies
  • STAC in advanced planning to increase Glasgow HQ at Skypark to over 200 desk space capacity
  • New sponsors include Pivot International, and Jordan Talent Solutions
  • STAC CEO Paul Wilson: “Through STAC supported companies we will retain Scottish product development talent, who today almost exclusively study here, but then leave Scotland to take jobs elsewhere either in the UK or internationally”

Glasgow, 4 July 2022 - Following its launch last year, the Smart Things Accelerator Centre is scaling up having agreed a strategic partnership with Scottish Enterprise that will streamline access to its specialist services and expert advice, as well as delivering continued financial support to Scotland’s first Internet of Things (IoT) accelerator programme.  Additionally, 13 new companies are joining STAC.

Smart Things Accelerator Centre (STAC) CEO Paul Wilson said: “Scaling tech companies ready for international success needs harmonised company building, market traction, and capital investment, and this is what we will be striving to deliver through our partnership with Scottish Enterprise. The new strategic partnership is a testament to how much we have achieved to date, and it means we can combine forces to effectively scale our supported companies. Through a combination of strategic partnerships, new revenue streams and increased sponsorship from UK and international corporate partners, we are now in a position to further scale STAC in the months and years ahead.”

Ana Gallardo, team leader for Entrepreneurial Development at Scottish Enterprise, said: “We’re continuing Scottish Enterprise support for STAC because it provides the support needed by entrepreneurs and manufacturers looking to scale up and get their technology products, often requiring significant investment, into production.”

“With our new strategic partnership, we are dovetailing Scottish Enterprise assistance within the STAC programme, strengthening the overall package of help available to develop the next generation of innovative, early stage IoT companies to help grow Scotland’s economy.

“Creating a manufacturing accelerator was a key action from Scotland’s Manufacturing Recovery Plan, and we at Scottish Enterprise are proud to play a part in welcoming the second cohort of businesses to STAC.”

The 13 new companies joining STAC are: My Perro/Eslington; Attis Fitness; Danu Robotics; Bilis/Electro-Peds; Everyware; FC Labs; MX3CS; Neurobright; Osbot; QIoT; TechQore; Nooku, and; Airspection.

Paul Wilson added: “We are well ahead of schedule and the STAC team are excited to welcome another 13 high potential tech companies into our programme. ‘Tech’ is everywhere today and STAC is offering the specialised support needed for IoT focused scale-ups. The jobs we help create will offer our graduates promising careers in product design, hardware, and software development in Scotland, delivering solid return on investment from our education investment.”

“Through STAC supported companies we will retain Scottish product development talent, who today almost exclusively study here, but then leave Scotland to take jobs elsewhere either in the UK or internationally.”

Headquartered at Skypark in Glasgow, STAC is in advanced planning to increase space to accommodate over 200 desks.  The thirteen new companies accepted onto STAC will take the overall cohort to 26.  Pivot International and Jordan Talent Solutions have also been added as corporate sponsors.

STAC is a pioneering industry-government partnership aimed at producing Scottish IoT companies capable of scaling and competing on a global level, with a 3-year target to create more than 25 IoT companies supporting around 750 jobs, reporting revenue in the region of £750 million, and cohort companies raising investment in excess of £100 million.

Contact Information

Notes to editors

Notes:

STAC is supported by Scottish Enterprise, CENSIS (Scotland’s Innovation Centre for sensing, imaging and IoT technologies), and Glasgow-headquartered product design firm Filament.  STAC’s local partners in Scotland include Anderson Anderson & Brown, Burness Paull, Scintilla, Arceptive, Soben, and Integrated Graphene.

STAC’s international partners are: San Francisco HQ-ed customer engagement platform Twilio; design, global manufacturing, supply chain and aftermarket services specialist Plexus Corp.; Intel Corporation, the semiconductor chip manufacturer who are enabling a more intelligent Internet of Things (IoT); Keysight, the world’s leading test and measurement company for IoT devices, and; Fortune 500, Colorado HQ-ed US electronics group Arrow Electronics.

Photograph shows WashR CEO Lesley Thomson at STAC Skypark Glasgow (by Stewart Attwood)