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KultraLab secures £2m investment to open new Edinburgh product hub

Talented workforce attracts next generation technology firm to Scotland’s capital

An innovative behavioural science and technology company that utilises Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enable businesses to build the workforces of the future has chosen Scotland for growth.

London-headquartered KultraLab will open a new hub in Edinburgh after it received more than £2 million investment from Scottish investment syndicate, Kelvin Capital, and Scottish Enterprise in a move that will create up to 25 jobs.

The Edinburgh site will be KultraLab’s ‘Product Hub’, consisting of teams from Engineering and Product Development.  It is seen as being central to KultraLab’s plans to deliver its unique Behavioural Change Platform to its clients.

Steve Baggi, Founder & CEO of KultraLab, said: “The way in which people work has changed dramatically, around the globe and in every sector.  This is a massive space for companies such as ours offering services to help organisations manage these changes.

“We have a number of major advantages: everything we do is driven by science, and we focus closely on the consumer sector, where we have extensive and long-standing connections.  With our new funding we are well placed to reach scale very quickly.”

Formed in 2019, KultraLab’s platform aims to transform how employees engage, learn and perform by combining behavioural science, mobile communications, AI personalised learning and cultural and performance analytics.  The solution put forward by KultraLab, which already employs 25 staff, has been validated by more than 100 consumer businesses.

Stuart McKee, Chairman at Kelvin Capital said: “KultraLab’s highly experienced management team has rapidly created a new technology that has already secured major buy-in from the consumer sector and is set to accelerate its growth with this new investment. 

“Choosing Edinburgh as its location for product and technology development is a tremendous endorsement of the skills available to the marketplace and we are delighted to be early-stage backers of the business and its board and look forward to working with them to achieve their ambitious plans.”

KultraLab is the latest company to choose Scotland to achieve its growth ambitions.  As Scottish Government Business Minister Ivan McKee announced at the 2022 World Forum for Foreign Direct Investment in Edinburgh earlier this week, Scottish Development International (SDI), the international arm of Scottish Enterprise and our enterprise agency partners, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise, supported 113 inward investment projects in FY21/22.  Thirty-nine of these were new investor projects choosing to locate in Scotland for the first time.

In total, the figures showed SDI, together with its enterprise agency partners, helped secure more than 7,500 planned real living wage jobs for Scotland through inward investment in FY21/22.

Mr McKee said: “Businesses which invest in Scotland tend to stay in Scotland, and I hope KultraLab will be no different.

“Our unparalleled package of support for businesses and our Team Scotland approach ensures a route to a strong economy with good, secure and well-paid jobs.

“Scotland’s economic potential is huge, we want to establish ourselves as a nation with a culture that encourages, promotes, and celebrates activity in every sector of our economy. The Scottish Government is committed to supporting KultraLab, and other inward investors, to achieve their ambitions here, in strong alignment with our commitment to a wellbeing economy and prosperity for all.”

Mark Hallan, Director of Global Investment at Scottish Enterprise, said: “The decision by KultraLab to open an engineering hub in Edinburgh underlines just why so many innovative companies choose to grow in Scotland.

“KultraLab was attracted to Scotland due to our incredibly talented workforce and world-class universities.  Alongside the supportive business environment, this is what makes Scotland stand out from the rest of the crowd.

“Scottish Enterprise’s investment will allow KultraLab to develop its exciting Behavioural Change Platform in Edinburgh and we look forward to working with the company as part of our plans to deliver sustainable, long-term economic growth.”

Kevin Lyon, Non-Exec Chairman at KultraLab, added: “We are excited to be partnering with Kelvin Capital and Scottish Enterprise. This partnership will give us access to Scotland’s talent and technology experts which will help power our growth.”

Contact Information

Notes to editors

KultraLab is a next generation behavioural science & technology organisation, focused on empowering consumer organisations to create sustainable behavioural change.  We help create exceptional organisations by enabling everyone to connect, learn and improve - transforming workforces into high performing, inclusive and purpose led communities.

Our solution enables consumer organisations to build behavioural change that sticks for everyone by fusing:

  • Behavioural science
  • Mobile communications
  • AI personalised learning
  • Cultural and performance analytics

More information here: https://kultralab.com/

Kelvin Capital Ltd is a Scottish based, private investment syndicate, with over 300 UK wide angel investors and a diverse portfolio of 22 investee companies having made investments of over £80 million to date. 

The Kelvin Capital team have an extensive knowledge of the early-stage investment market, with over 40 years of experience internally.  Kelvin Capital also has a strong, international network of industry professionals and experts who we target to support our rigorous due diligence process and to support companies with the strategic delivery of their plan.

More information here: https://www.kelvincapital.com/

Scottish Enterprise is Scotland's national economic development agency. We’re committed to growing the Scottish economy for the benefit of all, helping create more quality jobs and a brighter future for every region.

Follow us on Twitter at  http://twitter.com/scotent and https://twitter.com/ScotEntNews  

Follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/scottish-enterprise/ 

More information here: https://www.scottish-enterprise.com/

SDI’s annual figures count planned and safeguarded jobs confirmed by inward investors through SDI/SE/HIE/ SoSE and DIT inward investment interventions, including from other UK nations. This evidence is then validated and is subject to audit procedures.

SDI’s annual figures consider projects and planned jobs announced during the financial year, whereas other similar reports, such as the annual EY Attractiveness Survey, relate to the calendar year.

SDI’s definition of ‘Real Living Wage’ job is: Jobs paying at Least the Real Living Wage – i.e. paying £9.90 per hour and above (Real living Wage 2022 level), equivalent to an annual salary of at least £19,305 based on a 37.5 hr week (the median number of hours for full time employment in Scotland).

The 2022 World Forum for FDI was held from 9-11 May at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. More information about the event can be viewed here: https://www.sdi.co.uk/business-in-scotland/world-fdi-forum-2022?utm_source=scottish+development+international&utm_medium=social&utm_term=linkedin&utm_content=6455b902-8f66-49dd-878f-b3d213bec579&utm_campaign=fdiforum22