A health innovation specialist is urging rural Scotland’s forward thinkers to take advantage of fresh funding and turn potentially ‘life-changing ideas into reality’ for better patient outcomes

With Scottish EDGE just announcing the return of its Regional EDGE competition, InnoScot Health believes healthcare entrepreneurs outside the central belt have a fantastic opportunity to kickstart their ambitions with up to £50,000 in prize money.

InnoScot Health insists that such a cash injection could help to support collaborative health innovation sparked in rural areas, often helping to overcome geographic isolation, workforce shortages, and resource limitations, while contributing to a healthier Scotland.

Now in its second year, Regional EDGE aims to accelerate “invaluable local expertise” across four regions with historically lower levels of engagement — the Highlands and Islands, the North East, Tayside, and the South of Scotland.

Innovation Commercialisation Manager at InnoScot Health, Fiona Schaefer said: “It is vital that rural healthcare entrepreneurs with exciting ideas are encouraged to participate in this competition which could be transformative for both their business and the health of patients across Scotland.

“The value to fledgling startups of funding, expertise, and sector-specific insight really cannot be overstated.

“Regional EDGE is no less than an opportunity to turn potentially life-changing ideas into reality, allowing promising startups to seek out the collaborative support which can help scale their operations and take them to the next level.

“Previous beneficiaries of Regional EDGE funding have included Dundee-based MedAscend, an AI simulation platform that enables institutions to scale clinical training — a showcase of Scottish know-how and of how to develop university partnerships for effective training across healthcare disciplines.

“We would urge budding entrepreneurs to enter the competition in time for the 11 February deadline with successful applicants invited to pitch at a live final in March.”

Awards consist of one top prize of £50,000, two of £15,000, and two of £10,000, with winners also invited to join the EDGE alumni network, facilitating access to expert business mentorship and a wide-reaching community of contacts.

Each region will host its own live final led by local partners, individually resulting in five winners.

Regional EDGE applicants are judged on the quality of their business proposal, including key areas like value proposition, impact, growth potential, customer focus, and utilisation of funding.

The programme is backed by £400,000 of Scottish Government funding split across the four regions.

So far, Scottish EDGE has awarded funding of more than £30 million to 739 recipients across the country.

Evelyn McDonald, CEO at Scottish EDGE said: “With continued support from the Scottish Government and our dedicated delivery partners, we are proud to again shine a spotlight on high-growth start-ups.

“Being able to provide critical funding and expert mentorship will help a new cohort of ambitious entrepreneurs make their businesses a success.”

An application workshop for Regional EDGE will take place on Tuesday 20 January at 10am.