Recruitment
Novosound
Simon Patterson has been appointed Chief Commercial Officer at Novosound, joining from Innospection in Aberdeen to drive the remote sensor specialist’s UK and international growth strategy.
An MSc graduate in materials chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, Patterson has spent the last decade working in senior commercial roles at companies servicing global energy and industrial markets, including Aker Solutions and TechnipFMC.
Novosound CEO and co-founder Dave Hughes said: “Simon brings global experience in the non-destructive testing industry, which is a great fit as we begin to ramp up sales in the UK and other territories including Europe and North America.”
The company recently announced a series of contract wins, including with aerospace groups BAE Systems and GE Aviation, and Israeli-based digital health company dSound.
Katie Fergus has also joined the company, joining from Crux Production Design in Bristol. Fergus, who was previously at global electronics group Philips, is now on board as a project manager where she will work closely with a number of Novosound’s customers including dSound.
Also, Karen Robertson, who joined Novosound as a Production Manager in 2020, has been promoted to Operations Manager.
Dave Hughes added: “As we continue to strengthen our team, we’re really pleased to have Katie join the fold, and Karen’s new role reflects the significant and positive impression she has made during her time with the business.”
Iomart
Cloud computing and managed services company, iomart, has bolstered its senior management team with the appointment of Ben Savage to the role of Chief Commercial Officer.
Savage has more than 25 years’ experience working across a range of technology-based sales leadership roles. He has also worked for organisations head-quartered in Silicon Valley, Europe, and the Middle East.
His most recent position was Managing Director, Sales and Marketing at managed service provider Six Degrees.
Savage will oversee iomart’s sales team and overarching commercial strategy as well as being a central figure supporting the organisation’s growth ambitions.
Commenting on his role, Savage said: “It’s an exciting time to be joining a company like iomart, as customers buying behaviours change. For businesses like ours to be successful we have to be agile enough to adapt the services we offer and continue to demonstrate value both to our existing and to our prospective customers.
“Despite the business landscape having been somewhat challenging for the last 24 months, iomart is uniquely placed to take advantage of the current market. Cloud adoption is a new area for many of our customers and we are able to guide them through that process, whilst being constantly aware of the ever-changing data security requirements.
“We have the expertise, the infrastructure and the resources to help meet a range of multifaceted business requirements and support our customers through a process that is very complex. We have fantastic foundations in place, and I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and get to work.”
DirectID
Global credit and risk platform DirectID has announced seven new hires to their commercial team as they eye expansion into new markets.
The move follows the completion of a $3 million bridge funding round led by Hong Kong based venture capital firm QBN Capital.
Nicholas Tuttelberg joins DirectID as Director of Business Development. He specialises in the development of credit risk and customer decision management solutions for organisations operating in the Financial, Retail, and Telecommunications industry.
He joins from Experian and brings with him over 20 years’ expertise in risk, software, and analytical data solutions. He has held senior positions previously at TransUnion, Reunert Group, Nedbank, and Standard Bank.
Damiano Cracolici joins DirectID as Director of Business Development. Cracolici brings valuable experience in the deployment and enhancement of data-driven business processes and solutions across the credit and risk lifecycle.
Completing the new tranche of hires, fellow Experian alumnus, Lee Sansom, will lead the new graduate team. He joins DirectID with a decade of experience in business development with B2B SaaS providers.
Clare McCaffery, Chief Commercial Officer at DirectID, said: “I am delighted to be joined by such a prestigious group of colleagues. Having worked with both Nick and Damiano previously I know our growing client base will benefit from their vast experience and consultative approach.
“It is equally an honour to enable the talented BDE team as they start their careers after gaining exceptional academic qualifications.
“I am sure that under the guidance of Lee’s hands on leadership approach they will help us to expand DirectID across many markets over the next 12 months.”
xDesign
Edinburgh-headquartered xDesign has appointed Jeff Watkins as its first chief product and technology officer.
Watkins has joined xDesign’s executive team, where he will lead and help to evolve the firm’s technology and engineering capabilities, ensuring closer integration with the company’s products.
Euan Andrews, CEO of xDesign, said: “Jeff’s appointment marks the next phase of xDesign’s evolution as we continue to scale at pace. Our people remain a key focus and we invest in the team’s learning, development and wellbeing as a priority.
“Jeff brings a wealth of experience that will provide valuable support to our product and engineering teams as we work to achieve ambitious growth plans.
“It’s clear that technology is in Jeff’s DNA and he will be applying his vast knowledge across our teams, but he also has the enviable capability to inspire people and to help achieve commercial growth.”
Watkins added: “Joining xDesign was a no brainer – its people-focused approach was a huge draw, as well as its commitment to uniting product, design and technology.
“I am passionate about technology being a great leveller that benefits the human experience. We have seen how the pandemic has driven more people to use technology and apps, and it is the responsibility of organisations like xDesign to create a compelling and engaging experience for users.
“The potential for xDesign to lead in this area is huge and being part of that journey is something I can’t wait to get my teeth into.”
Zumo
Edinburgh-based crypto startup Zumo has appointed two advisors to help it ‘tap into’ Web 3.0.
James Chadwick has been hired as strategic advisor to the Zumo board. He has previously held roles as CEO in Singapore for GroupM, as well as a period at Facebook between 2012 and 2019 and is now a founding member of Proof Collective, a group of 1,000 NFT collectors and artists.
Commenting on his appointment, Chadwick said: “People want security and low costs, but most of all they want it to be easy and fun when they buy, sell, store, send and spend digital currencies.
“For the first time in history, managing money is about to become enjoyable, and Zumo really gets this.
“I’m looking forward to helping the team develop its product roadmap and explore new areas, such as the NFTs that are shaping the ownership economy.”
Youth culture commentator Jeff Carvalho will work alongside Chadwick to advise Zumo on brand placement within an evolving tech framework, with a focus on storytelling, strategy, and product development.
Carvalho said of his appointment: “I’m delighted to work with Zumo as it explores its next steps in this incredibly exciting space.
“To interact with and reap the true reward of all the technology Web 3.0 is going to bring, we’re all going to need a wallet, a product and underpinning infrastructure that works instantly and seamlessly.
“That’s why I’m excited to see what Zumo is doing to provide users, whoever they might be, with accessible, easy-to-use tech that doesn’t get in the way and delivers on the promise to bring the benefits of blockchain to everyone, everywhere.”
Want to find out more? Read the full article here.
Filament STAC
Scottish IoT accelerator Filament STAC added to its cohort last month, bringing the total to 14.
Vanora Robots and Aquaponics Garden are the latest additions, with the former designing and manufacturing robots aimed at improving health and safety efficiencies including air and surface sanitation, while the latter is Scotland’s first aquaponic vertical farming technology company.
Filament STAC has also strengthened its executive team with several key hires. Nick Noble, formerly a senior marketing executive at IBM Watson and Salesforce, has joined STAC as Business Development and Marketing Mentor.
Martin MacDonald, who previously held a series of senior positions in sales and business development at Honeywell and Dialog Semi, has been hired as an Executive Mentor.
Finally, Aileen Biagi, a product development specialist and longstanding lecturer in Product Design Engineering at Glasgow School of Art, has joined STAC as Product Development Mentor.
Filament STAC CEO Paul Wilson said: “It’s great to see STAC really take off as we move into the second quarter of our first year of operations. We are really pleased to have Vanora and Aquaponics Garden join the cohort, and it’s also great news to have Nick, Martin, and Aileen on board.”
Among recent STAC cohort successes, University of Strathclyde cybersecurity spinout Lupovis secured a £615,000 pre-seed investment at the end of 2021 co-led by Techstart Ventures and Nauta Capital.
Paul Wilson added: “BGR is a great example of the strength of our industry partners being harnessed for our STAC companies. Burness Paull, Scintilla, and Anderson Anderson Brown have all supported BGR around international compliance, with Twilio helping to accelerate new product development.”
David White, CEO and founder of BGR, said: “STAC has been transformational for BGR, essentially around the calibre of the industry partners and how we have been able to draw on their expertise to fulfil international shipments.”
Want to find out more? Read the full article here.
North
IoT solutions provider North announced the appointment of Stuart Hall to the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in February.
With a record of scaling high growth technology businesses, Hall will join the executive leadership team to support the next phase of North’s ambitious growth plans.
Hall began his career with EY, before moving onto the technology sector, where he held senior finance roles at Daisy and Damovo. He joins North from Sandcastle Care, where he played a key role in its successful merger with Aspris.
Commenting on his appointment, Hall said: “I’m excited to join the North leadership team and to contribute to the business’ ambitious growth plans.
“North is an exciting company with a great customer proposition and an experienced, motivated management team ready to support customers as they move to work in smarter, safer and more sustainable ways.”
Glen Williams, CEO of North, added: “We’re delighted to welcome Stuart to North. Stuart’s wealth of experience in achieving high operational and financial growth within technology businesses will equip him well for this role as we look to accelerate growth in 2022.”
Check Point
Cybersecurity firm Check Point Software announced two senior appointments with Adam Bradley joining as Regional Director UK & Ireland (UK&I) and former NHS Scotland CISO Deryck Mitchelson taking on the role of Field CISO and C-Suite Advisor EMEA.
In his new role as Regional Director, Bradley will lead and expand Check Point’s UK&I sales organisation in response to the growing demand to protect against cyber threats.
With more than 30 years’ experience and having recently been recognised as one of the UK’s most influential CISOs, Mitchelson joins Check Point after serving as National Digital and Chief Information Security Officer for NHS Scotland.
As Field CISO and C-Suite Advisor EMEA, Mitchelson will focus on building executive level relationships, understanding strategy and challenges, and using the Check Point differential to address cyber risks and gaps, enabling transformation and growth.
Thorsten Freitag, VP Sales EMEA at Check Point Software said: “It is fantastic to welcome two senior industry players to Check Point Software.
“Our strategic direction is built around companies deserving the best security and both, Adam and Deryck, will use their deep knowledge and expertise to advise entities about the best security strategies required for their digital transformation.
“Adam will lead the growth of the UK&I team and drive further engagement with customers and channel partners, ensuring that they all get the best out of Check Point.”
He continued: “Deryck will play a major part in shaping our security strategies across the whole of the EMEA region.
“He will support existing and prospective customers with immediate and future security concerns and challenges, leveraging the Check Point portfolio in securing their entire enterprise.”
Partnerships
Smart Data Foundry, Equifax, Sage Group, Moneyhub and FreeAgent
Smart Data Foundry announced new partnerships with Equifax, Sage Group, Moneyhub and FreeAgent to help support its open finance for good quest last month.
These organisations are the latest to join the firm’s movement which will see the secure sharing of financial data and trends to achieve societal change and supporting the economy.
The announcement comes after a successful partnership between Smart data Foundry and NatWest Group.
Additionally, Smart Data Foundry is working with FreeAgent to focus on SMEs, working with Equifax to investigate changes in creditworthiness and with Sage, to consider the causes and impact of late and slow payments to small and medium sized businesses.
Insights from the collaboration will be shared and updated with the UK Government as financial behaviour adapts to the pandemic.
The organisation has also announced Dame Julia Unwin as the new chair to the organisation. Unwin previously worked as the Chief Executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and has had a long career working in government, within the corporate and voluntary sectors.
Dame Unwin commented: “We have started a movement within the financial services sector which is gaining momentum at pace. Driven by our purpose to improve people’s lives, our new name, Smart Data Foundry, better reflects the challenges we face.
“Today’s announcement charts the significant progress Smart Data Foundry has made to date in securing partnerships with these significant organisations which will enable us to unlock the power of financial data that, up until now, was not available for public purpose or common good.”
Want to find out more? Read the full article here.
FinTech Scotland and NCC Group
FinTech Scotland partnered with cybersecurity and risk mitigation company NCC Group to offer its services to the cluster in February.
The deal aims to strengthen the security postures and boost resilience at FinTech Scotland’s 200 businesses. The companies will have access to a broad range of cybersecurity services and expert advice, helping them balance increased resilience and ongoing innovation to achieve a secure competitive advantage.
As cyberthreats put enterprises and citizens at risk, the partnership will enable FinTech Scotland to provide more cybersecurity expertise and knowledge to the Scottish fintech community.
Additionally, the partnership will also see NCC Group collaborate with FinTech Scotland on marketing, events and research to help inform businesses of the importance and benefits of cybersecurity across the fintech ecosystem.
Nicola Anderson, CEO at FinTech Scotland, said: “Strategic partnerships with global organisations that have a strong base here in Scotland are essential to offering our community a broad range of support options to achieve growth, so we are delighted to welcome NCC Group to the cluster.
“As an experienced cybersecurity partner with considerable heritage and insight, NCC Group can support fintech development and help us continue to nurture Scotland’s high growth FinTech assets.”
Want to find out more? Read the full article here.
CodeClan and tigers
A new partnership between Scottish digital skills academy CodeClan and Glasgow-based apprenticeship education provider tigers aims to help young Glaswegians move into tech jobs.
The two partners will co-deliver an education and mentorship programme to provide participating 16–24-year-olds with digital and tech skills.
The eight-week programme, which be available for people in Glasgow, will teach computer programming skills and personal development, underpinned by a wellbeing programme, to help them move into tech jobs.
Following the programme, the participants will be able to move into a Modern Apprenticeships in IT and software development with partner employers. They will have the opportunity to continue their development supported by tigers’ trained assessors and CodeClan’s digital skills courses.
CodeClan CEO Melinda Matthews-Clarkson said: “Historically, CodeClan has worked to bridge Scotland’s digitals skills gap by re-skilling career changers, and we’re excited to expand our reach and work with young people in collaboration with tigers, to equip them with the skills needed to work in Scotland’s fast-growing technology sector.”
Director of Operations at tigers Jeremy Miles added: “This is a really exciting collaboration for tigers as we look to build on our success with supporting young people into tech roles through Modern Apprenticeships by working with an exceptional training provider. We are also very keen to work closely with CodeClan to tackle the gender imbalance that exists in the tech sector.
“We believe our whole person approach to education, combining the wellbeing of our learners with a vocational, employer led focus steeped in innovative practice will really compliment the CodeClan approach.
Want to find out more? Read the full article here.
Awards
National Robotarium
A Scots robotics team from the National Robotarium has been selected to compete in Amazon’s new global AI competition.
The eight-strong student team will create a ‘robot butler’ to help people around their homes, with support from Heriot-Watt and Edinburgh Universities.
Amazon’s Alexa Prize SimBot Challenge asks teams to create help for a futuristic world that can understand natural language, interact with humans, and accomplish tasks, with a $500,000 prize up for grabs.
As the only team outside the US to pass selection, the Scots students successfully demonstrated expertise in embodied conversational AI research taught at the Robotarium. They will now receive a $250,000 grant to support development costs.
Stewart Miller, CEO of the National Robotarium, said: “To be the only team from outside the USA to be selected for the Alexa Prize SimBot Challenge demonstrates the global significance and capabilities of the teams within the National Robotarium.
“Backed by the combined robotic and AI experience of Heriot-Watt and the University of Edinburgh, we’re demonstrating our ability to lead global development in AI, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in a domestic setting.”
The team will compete in both sections of the two-phase SimBot Challenge, including a ‘public benchmark’ where teams will design a machine-learning model with language-guided visual navigation and task completion.
Following this is a ‘live interaction phase’, which will task bots to respond to customer commands and multimodal sensor inputs from within a virtual world.
Want to find out more? Read the full article here.
Glasgow University
University of Glasgow students have joined five other teams on the UK Government’s Nanosat Design Competition.
Scottish students will join others from across the UK competing for a share of a £600,000 Challenge Fund.
The Nanosat Design Competition, which aims to encourage more young people to consider a career in the space sector, opened for entries in November 2021.
More than 40 teams from across the UK and aged between 16 and 37 submitted detailed applications.
From these initial design ideas, five teams have now been selected to progress to the next phase of the Nanosat Design Competition, which includes a four-month mentoring programme with space industry experts, ahead of final judging in May.
Commenting on the news, UK Government Minister for Scotland Iain Stewart said: “It’s inspiring to see a new generation of scientists exploring how satellites can be used to help tackle climate change.
“I’m particularly pleased to see students from the University of Glasgow among the competition finalists, and I wish them the very best of luck.
“The UK Government is determined to secure the UK’s role as a global leader in the space sector and Scotland is a key part of this ambition, with the UK’s first vertical satellite launches set to take off from Shetland later this year.”
Want to find out more? Read the full article here.
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