New to Equity Pilot - now closed

The New to Equity Pilot is a £4.5 million initiative aimed at supporting ambitious, early-stage, and capital-intensive Scottish companies. It focuses on innovation-driven businesses that haven’t yet secured institutional equity investment.

This pilot was created to help close the funding gap in emerging sectors by offering early-stage risk capital on commercial terms. The aim is to increase the chances of eligible companies attracting private investment within 18 to 24 months.

We're looking to support the growth of strategically important sectors aligned with our missions, including: 

• Energy transition
• Industrial biotechnology
• Critical technologies such as photonics, quantum, and semiconductors

Application deadline

The application deadline has been extended to Sunday 16 November 2025. If you've submitted your application already and want to resubmit any element of it, please do this before the new deadline.

To be considered for the pilot, your company must:

• Be based in Scotland
• Be pre-seed or seed stage and post-accelerator (or equivalent)
• Be new to institutional equity - with no prior VC or professional investment (founder/family/friends excluded)
• Operate in one or more of the following sectors:
  • Energy transition
  • Industrial biotechnology 
  • Critical technologies (for example: photonics, quantum, semiconductors, AI-enabled hardware)
• Have a minimum technology readiness level (TRL) of 4
• Have a clear international export ambition
• Have a credible pathway to securing private equity investment within 18 to 24 months
• Have received prior validation (such as grants, competitions, accelerators)