Raven, a software brand whose technology has been used at the Ryder Cup and 2018 European Championships, scooped £65,000 from the latest Scottish EDGE funding round. Raven will now join some of the country’s most promising small businesses as Sottish EDGE alumni, including Brewgooder, Gin Bothy and MiAlgae.
With the funding, Raven plans to grow and develop its team by hiring a further two software developers to work on its ground-breaking safety and security software, as well as boost the headcount in its sales and marketing teams. The Scottish EDGE competition aims to identify and support rising innovative, high-potential entrepreneurial talent.
The final took place over two days at Royal Bank of Scotland’s Gogarburn conference centre, during which contestants pitched their business plans to the judges. The judging panel, chaired by business expert and managing director of wholesaler Filshill Simon Hannah, recognised Raven’s international scalability and could see the value of its service to its customers.
Throughout the process, Raven has reportedly received impressive feedback on their existing client base which it was felt would encourage strong market adoption of its product. The Scottish EDGE success caps off a strong 2018 for Raven in which the firm has seen its revolutionary crisis and incident management solution used at major events and key UK venues.
“The Scottish EDGE competition has been a fantastic experience for Raven and it’s an honour to be recognised amongst such as strong field of finalists,” said Ian Kerr, Founder and Managing Director of Raven. “With the funding that we’ve secured, we plan to add two developers to our new software team as well as a number of new faces to our sales and marketing operations.”
Raven’s win coincides with the firm’s office move to Red Tree Magenta, a brand-new development in the centre of Glasgow’s booming sports district. With excellent transport links and a host of contemporary work and breakout spaces, the new offices will provide an excellent working environment for Raven as it looks to rapidly scale over the course of 2019.
Kerr added: “We’re really happy with our new offices – the space gives us a lot more capacity, which will be crucial as we look to bring in more members of staff and build the Raven brand globally.”
