The Reuters news staff had no role in the production of this content. It was created by Reuters Plus, the brand marketing studio of Reuters.
Produced by Reuters Plus for
Disclaimer: The Reuters news staff had no role in the production of this content. It was created by Reuters Plus, the brand marketing studio of Reuters. To work with Reuters Plus, contact us here.
Finding Scotland’s
Innovation happens everywhere. The trick for venture capitalists seeking early-stage innovators is knowing where to look.
Alex Leigh is an investor at Future Planet Capital. His search keeps bringing him back to Scotland, where lower operating costs, world-class university research, and collaborative business communities produce globally competitive companies. "There's not a lot of concentration of capital in Scotland, so it's a very good place to pick up gems that are scalable," says Leigh. Patient government support, risk-taking angel investors, and companies solving real problems with deep tech create what he calls a "team sport" environment.
Future Planet Capital backs growth companies from the world's top universities and centers of innovation. Leigh runs Future Planet’s National Strategy which encompasses the UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund (UKI2S), a £115 million fund providing seed funding and strategic support to early-stage deep tech companies before large private investment comes in.
Leigh’s job is finding outliers among these high-risk, high-return ventures, running due diligence, and de-risking companies before their next funding rounds. "When we look at dual-use investments, defense and space are often in the same sentence. There's about a 75% overlap," Leigh explains. "Scotland has a space program which is very well established and renowned, so it offers a lot of cutting-edge research and innovation."
There are £3.7 billion of investment-ready opportunities in Scotland.
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hidden gems
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“There’s a strong ecosystem around the Scottish startup community to really help them succeed, and that's quite unique.”
Alex Leigh Managing Director (National), Future Planet Capital
Capital efficacy in action
For early-stage investors, capital efficiency often determines whether a startup reaches critical milestones or burns through funding before proving commercial traction.
Scotland has led UK foreign direct investment outside London for ten consecutive years, building infrastructure and support networks that many investors don't realize exist. "There's a strong ecosystem around the Scottish startup community to really help them succeed, and that's quite unique," he notes. "You've got a lot of support from the local angel ecosystem, which is really important at the early stage where we invest because we're investing alongside angels and then VCs later on."
The university advantage
Scotland's world-leading universities—Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews, Aberdeen—are fueling the next generation of deep tech innovation. After years of venture capital chasing SaaS, consumer businesses, and fintech, Leigh has noticed a shift toward technologies with staying power. "The VC world has been somewhat burned by some businesses in those sectors," he observes. "Now there's a turn back to more what we would term deep tech technologies—things that have more enduring value propositions through economic cycles. And that's the research that comes out of universities that really works hand in glove with startups. I would say Scotland’s right up there with some of the world’s best innovation."
“This is world-leading technology incubated in Scotland.”
Alex Leigh
Managing Director (National), Future Planet Capital
That research is producing companies across sectors: cleantech firms commercializing energy storage, life sciences spin-outs emerging from decades of university research, B2B platforms solving supply chain friction. These technologies have immediate commercial applications because the infrastructure creating demand—offshore wind farms, renewable energy grids, subsea energy assets—is being built now.
The Aberdeen moment
On-the-ground diligence proved its value during a site visit to Aberdeen, where Leigh was evaluating HonuWorx, a subsea robotics company developing Remotely Operated Vehicles for underwater tasks too dangerous or expensive for humans such as the inspection and repair of oil rigs and pipelines. "There was quite a visceral moment going up, standing on one of the docks and really experiencing the weather and realizing this is not a good environment for humans," Leigh recalls. "A large-crewed vessel subject to weather conditions—whether they can launch, stay at sea—just to send an ROV down to inspect a valve, could be a two-week mission costing many millions of dollars, putting human lives at risk, not to mention the pollution and the diesel," Leigh explains. HonuWorx's Loggerhead autonomous submarine system deploys ROVs from an unmanned mothership, with operators controlling everything remotely from shore—exactly the kind of dual-use technology Leigh looks for: commercially viable with strong defense applications, built on Aberdeen's subsea engineering expertise. "Understanding the ecosystem, the funding partners, the investment zones, and realizing you're buying into a whole community really sealed the deal," says Leigh. "This is world-leading technology incubated in Scotland. There's no substitute for going out there and really feeling that rather than sitting at your desk writing investment papers. This is real innovation that's changing lives for the better.”
“We certainly do view Scotland as a very attractive place to invest.”
Alex Leigh Managing Director (National), Future Planet Capital
Government as strategic partner
Patient capital matters in venture investing, where timelines stretch over years and costs can often exceed projections. Leigh points to Scotland's government support—Scottish Enterprise's equity programs, investment zones, grant funding—as part of the investment equation.
"You want to know you've got supportive partners along the way," Leigh says. "That's really comforting for investors, knowing that it's not you just holding the baby, as we say, when things do take a bit longer. Everyone chips in and helps make it happen." Leigh has been struck by Scotland's angel community, which shows a passion for local companies that translates into risk-taking other investors might avoid.
Looking forward
Future Planet Capital actively engages with Edinburgh's innovation ecosystem and maintains active deal flow from the region. "We certainly do view Scotland as a very attractive place to invest," Leigh says. "We believe that there's some globally competitive companies there that can deliver outlier returns."
For venture capital scouts seeking the next breakthrough before valuations surge, Scotland offers what Leigh describes as increasingly scarce: opportunity meeting ecosystem, backed by people who understand that building globally competitive companies requires more than capital. It requires community.
170+
data science companies in Scotland
There are more than
target for global space market by 2030
Scotland is targeting a
£4bn
of investment-ready opportunities for private capital
Scotland is targeting a
£3.7bn
to be invested in offshore wind
There are more than
£500m
pipeline of regional infrastructure projects planned through 2040
There are more than
£100bn
Since 2011, Scottish universities have helped to produce
Scotland is targeting a
240
spin-outs
of public funds are committed to supporting clean heat over five years
Scotland is targeting a
£1.8bn
of the world's operational tidal projects are in Scottish waters
There are more than
>50%
The Reuters news staff had no role in the production of this content. It was created by Reuters Plus, the brand marketing studio of Reuters.
Produced by Reuters Plus for
Disclaimer: The Reuters news staff had no role in the production of this content.
It was created by Reuters Plus, the brand marketing studio of Reuters.
To work with Reuters Plus, contact us here.
Source: Scottish Government
Source: Scottish Government
Source: Scottish Government
Source: Scottish Government
Source: Scottish Government
Source: Scottish Government
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