As well as being the nation’s capital, Edinburgh is Scotland’s financial and academic hub – home to centuries-old academic institutions, banks and businesses.

With its stunning architecture, bustling city centre and a deep-rooted history of innovation, what’s not to love about this city?

In recent years Edinburgh has capitalised on the tech boom and cultivated a vibrant, boisterous startup scene with pioneering young companies operating across a range of sectors and industries; from fintech to cybersecurity, medtech to big data, Scotland’s capital has it all.

Central to Edinburgh’s ongoing startup success is its infrastructure, with tech incubators such as Codebase looking on to Edinburgh’s iconic central fixture (hint, you can’t miss it) and Seedhaus, located in Leith. Similarly, Edinburgh’s universities continue to provide the sector with spin-outs and a steadily flowing talent pipeline.

With every startup success, and there have been a few, Skyscanner, FanDuel and FreeAgent being the pick of the bunch, comes greater appreciation and interest in the city.

DIGIT has listed 10 of Edinburgh’s coolest startups to look out for. Some are beginning their journey, others are somewhat along the way, but all are developing an impressive reputation.

Administrate

Download our new eBook ‘The Top Issues Learning & Development Managers Need to Overcome’ over on @TrainingIndustr! https://t.co/RCfX7Crng6

— Administrate (@GetAdministrate) March 11, 2019

Administrate provides a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) training a learning management platform, designed to help manage and automate the process of delivering education.

Headquartered in Edinburgh, the company has grown to employ more than 100 people and has offices in the Middle East and the United States. In February 2019, Administrate secured £3.78 million in funding.

Administrate’s platform helps to solve the challenges of defining, delivering, tracking and analysing learning within an organisation and includes features to support personnel management and classroom management features.

Recommended: Scotland’s Brand: An “Exceptional Differentiator” for the Tech Scene

Appointedd

Learn how Appointedd uses #Appointedd for smart #marketing. Appointedd’s report function can give your business a holistic measure of cross-channel interactions too. Find out more here: https://t.co/SNVv94JkAJ #booking #scheduling #technology pic.twitter.com/e8ZTXHafe4

— Appointedd (@appointedd) April 1, 2019

Founded by Leah Hutcheon, Appointedd provides advanced online booking and scheduling software to businesses, which acts as a virtual personal assistant.

The firm’s platform gives businesses an effective, streamlined way through which to take appointments across a range of devices, timezones and languages.

In 2018, Appointedd was ranked 5th in the Software category of the 2018 IP League Table, and to date has raised more than £1.4 million in funding.

Care Sourcer

80% of Social Worker time is taken up by admin and non-practice related tasks. We’re working on tools to free up time for practitioners to do what they do best, build relationships and help people!@One_Stop_Social @CommunityCare@BASW_UK #WSWD19 #WorldSocialWorkDay2019 pic.twitter.com/WP0Lx42ztm

— Care Sourcer (@Caresourcer) March 19, 2019

Care Sourcer secured a record-breaking £8.5 million in funding for a Scottish startup in 2018 and continues to both expand and raise global attention.

The healthtech company, founded by Andrew McGinley and Andrew Parfery, was set up in 2016 with the aim of revolutionising personalised care in the UK.

Care Sourcer allows people to detail the care needs online and find care providers who have immediate availability from a pool of 500+ registered providers.

In November 2018 the firm was recognised at Turing Fest’s inaugural Scottish Tech Startup Awards, winning top B2C Company of the Year.

Current (Formerly Snap40)

We received FDA clearance for our all-in-one wireless wearable. A step toward more proactive healthcare for everyone! https://t.co/IFzvxsfaal pic.twitter.com/NwdoG50FWN

— Current (@HeyCurrent) February 6, 2019

Current’s wearable devices enable healthcare practitioners to monitor critical patient information, including vital signs, oxygen saturation and blood pressure.

The medtech platform offers wireless integration with other devices and real-time monitoring equipment, allowing for the automated collection of other vital signs with no manual input.

Founded by Christopher McCann, in 2018 Current raised $8 million in a seed funding round, bringing total investment in the firm to $10 million.

Float

Getting paid on time is an issue for all businesses. Late payers can cause headaches, sleepless nights, and even insolvency! 🤯 Download our free #HowToGetPaidOnTime Guide to find out how to get your payment problems sorted: https://t.co/PSN3U0Afrt pic.twitter.com/XyKCl1otO4

— Float Cash Flow (@FloatApp) January 31, 2019

Float provides online forecasting and cash management that helps businesses monitor their cash flow. Businesses can connect the platform to their respective accounting software; whether that be Xero, FreeAgent or QuickBooks.

Colin Hewitt launched Float in 2012 having run a digital agency for several years. It was here Hewitt experienced difficulties in cash flow forecasting and found inspiration to launch Float.

In 2017, Float secured £500,000 in funding and has continually expanded its team over the past three years.

Recommended: Stop Chasing Unicorns: An Interview with Colin Hewitt

Neatebox

Neatebox believes in equality for all and provides services to help not only #disabled people but also those whose job it is to provide them with a service. In this way we aim to support societies advancement and prove #EqualityByDefault is obtainable. Join us. #YearOfSolutions pic.twitter.com/KK6rSZDIJo

— Neatebox (@neatebox) January 5, 2019

Neatebox, founded in 2016 by entrepreneur Gavin Neate, is a socially-conscious startup that aims to improve accessibility for people with disabilities.

The firm’s flagship platform, the Welcome app, offers curated, pre-arranged services for people with disabilities when visiting retail or hospitality venues. Edinburgh’s iconic Jenners building, long-lamented as an untraversable labyrinth, adopted the Welcome app in 2018.

Edinburgh Airport and the Scottish Parliament have also adopted Welcome in the hope of improving accessibility for passengers and visitors with disabilities.

Recommended: Technology and Disability: An Interview with Gavin Neate

Orca Money

Only allowed one #IFISA at one P2P platform per year? Not with Orca. 🙌

We are delighted to announce the launch of the Orca ISA. Invest across multiple P2P platforms, and wrap all investments in one #ISA. https://t.co/5nkbp7yyiI #investmnets #p2plending #p2p #fintech #altfin

— Orca (@orca_money) February 26, 2019

The Edinburgh-based peer to peer (P2P) lending company was co-founded in 2013 by Jordan Stodart and Iain Niblock.

Orca’s investment platform offers investors an efficient way to invest across the P2P market, helping to reduce administrative burden, investor risk and to improve transparency.

In December 2018, the firm secured more than £500,000 in funding as the company continues to expand its market offering.

PureLiFi

How are we trying to get LiFi into all your devices? Have a look at what we’ve done to miniaturise our technology, so that it can fit into future generations of phones and laptops.https://t.co/vOszNsHBaU#LiFi #LightRevolution pic.twitter.com/nCbw4iZfRm

— pureLiFi (@purelifi) March 27, 2019

Established in 2012 by Professor Harald Haas and Mostafa Afgani, pureLiFi is a spin-out from the University of Edinburgh. The firm provides high-speed, bi-directional and fully networked wireless communication that uses light, rather than radio waves, to transmit data.

In 2015, the firm achieved seed funding in two tranches totalling £4 million. The firm was also recognised for its work in 2017, winning the digital trends ‘cool tech’ award at the Mobile World Congress.

Recommended: PureLiFI Showcases Tech to Chinese President

ShareIn

We are finance professionals, software engineers, project managers & compliance experts all here to help your business succeed through our unique technology & regulatory solution for online #investment 🚀 https://t.co/zFvZmuCp9I #RaiseCapitalYourWay #crowdfunding pic.twitter.com/NMfqMVos6F

— ShareIn (@sharein) January 29, 2018

ShareIn’s customisable investment platform helps businesses raise funds by connecting with their network. The software leads firms through the fundraising process and helps ensure compliance.

The company was founded by Jude Cook and Andrew Pickett in October 2011 and has expanded its team significantly since launch. In 2015, the firm secured more than £640,000 in funding and has grown to take up the largest office space at Edinburgh’s Codebase incubator.

ShareIn is also a founding member of the UK Crowdfunding Association.

Travel Nest

You don’t need to have JK Rowling’s writing skills to pen an enticing description for your holiday property listing – all it takes is a bit of inside knowledge. Get the best tips on the TravelNest blog:https://t.co/cPuZvcoYMN
#holidaylet #vacationrental

— TravelNest (@TravelNest) April 2, 2019

TravelNest provides a platform for holiday rental hosts to access smarter, hands-free marketing. Its platform uses data and technology to make marketing decisions for its users that could help improve the performance – and boost the appeal – of their properties.

Founded in 2015 by Doug Stephenson, in 2017 the firm raised more than £3 million in seed funding from a host of investors, including Pentech Ventures, Frontlines Ventures and former Skyscanner Chief Operating Officer, Mark Logan.

More recently, the travel technology SME secured £2.3 million in R&D and RSA grant funding from Scottish Enterprise.

Recommended: TravelNest Secures £2.3 million Scottish Enterprise Funding