Scottish EDGE Round 8 - Application Form
Please refer to the accompanying Guidance Notes for assistance when completing this submission.
Fully Completed Applications must be submitted to apply@scotedge.com
by 14.00 (2.00pm) on Wednesday 9th March 2016
Before completing this application process, please confirm that your company/organization meets all of the
listed Scottish EDGE eligibility standards. You must be able to confirm “Yes” to all of the below points to be
permitted entry in to the Scottish EDGE competition.
Company Name
Standard Scottish EDGE Eligibility Criteria
Your company has been Incorporated at Companies House
YES / NO
(Scottish EDGE is open to Ltd Companies and registered Social Enterprises/Charities only)
Your company has been in operation for no more than 5 years, as at Scottish EDGE
application window closing date?
(Evidential proof required through Companies House check to confirm Incorporation Date. If Incorporation Date is
greater than 5 years then HMRC Letter or Accountant’s letter required to confirm trading activity has been less
than 5 years. Evidence must be submitted to apply@scotedge.com to support your completed application
form submission. Additional checks will be undertaken to confirm trading period)
Your company is head-quartered in Scotland and has an existing business bank account
A minimum of 50% of the company ownership is attributed to Directors actively working in
the company on a day-to-day basis.
With support, your company has the potential to achieve new/increased cumulative sales of
£200,000 over the next 3 years
(The 3 year timeframe does not apply to companies in the specialist sectors of BioTech, Life Sciences, Technology
and Energy)
Over the next 3 years, with support, your company should be capable of creating new,
sustainable Scottish jobs
Your company embodies innovation and has an ambitious growth strategy with a future
intention to export your service or product beyond Scotland
Your company is not in administration or liquidation, and your company’s Directors or key
principals have never been prosecuted for fraud or disqualified from becoming a company
director
If you are able to answer “YES” to all of the above statements, then your company is eligible to submit an
application to this competition, and you will be considered and assessed for the Scottish EDGE competition.
Companies House checks and enhanced Due Diligence Checks (which may include a Credit Check) will be
undertaken on all active business directors and key company principals, for companies who make it through
the semi-final and final stages of the Scottish EDGE competition categories to ensure that information
provided is accurate. Any company where information is deemed to be inaccurate after checking will not be
permitted to continue in the competition.
All eligible applicants are considered and assessed for the main Scottish EDGE competition element where
prizes of up to £100,000 can be won. However there are also further chances to win through other Scottish
EDGE categories. Those who also meet Higgs EDGE, Young EDGE and/or Wild Card EDGE criteria are
assessed separately for those elements using this same application form. Businesses who meet the
eligibility standards can be considered for more than one Scottish EDGE category and potentially win awards
in more than one category.
Only information contained within this Scottish EDGE application form and video will be utilised
during the 1st stage assessment process. Information contained within any additional
documentation submitted will not be considered in the assessment process
Page | 1
Are you eligible for any of our other Scottish EDGE categories???
Please advise which of the below listed categories that your company is eligible for. Checks will be
undertaken to confirm your eligibility for these categories. More information about each category is shown
below:
Scottish EDGE Categories and Eligibility Criteria
Higgs EDGE
 You meet the Standard Scottish EDGE Eligibility Criteria
 You have a high growth and scalable business with a key focus in the Science,
Technology or Engineering sector
 You are applying leading edge technology to an innovative product, which has the
potential for large scale global commercialisation.
Young EDGE
 You meet the Standard Scottish EDGE Eligibility Criteria
 All of your company’s Directors (excluding non-exec Directors) are aged between
18-30 (ID will be required to confirm)
Wild Card EDGE
 You meet the Standard Scottish EDGE Eligibility Criteria
 Your company is currently pre-trading
 Your company displays a highly innovative element around your product/service,
your brand or you and your team
YES / NO
Higgs EDGE
Higgs EDGE, named in honour of Edinburgh based, Nobel Prize winning physicist, Professor Peter Higgs,
will offer 2 prizes (£150,000 and £100,000 - 50/50 grant and loan) to businesses that can demonstrate they
have a science, technology or engineering based business that has a product, or product under
development, which is capable of globalization.
Following the conclusion of the Scottish EDGE semi-final live pitching stage, up to 6 businesses will be
selected and invited to pitch to a panel at the Higgs EDGE Final for the chance to win one of the 2 prize
packages (£150,000 or £100,000 plus support package). The other Higgs EDGE finalists who are not
selected as Higgs EDGE winners may be offered a place at the Scottish EDGE Final.
Young EDGE
We recognise that growing your business can be particularly challenging for younger entrepreneurs. Whilst
Scottish EDGE is open to all who meet the criteria, additional consideration will be given to those Companies
who’s Directors are all aged 18-30, in the form of the Young EDGE category. Awards in this category will
see support of up to £10,000 cash being awarded to some of our younger entrepreneurs.
Wild Card EDGE
Scottish EDGE is keen to see support given to Scotland’s highly innovative, pre-trading businesses and the
Wild Card EDGE category has been designed to offer this support. Innovation is not only about your product
or service; it can be about you, your approach, your team, or the design or brand which you have adopted.
Wild Card EDGE will offer awards of up to £10,000 cash to entrepreneurs who are at the early stage of
developing a product or service, with the aim of helping entrepreneurs accelerate their development process
and to allow them to get closer to trading.
How does Wild Card EDGE work? - Following the conclusion of each assessment day, the judging panel will
decide which of the applicants who are eligible for Wild Card EDGE has the greatest “wow” factor
(irrespective of their Scottish EDGE assessment score) and these businesses will be invited to pitch at the
Wild Card EDGE Final, for the chance to win grant funding up to £10,000.
Page | 2
COMPANY DETAILS
Company Name
Registered Address
Correspondence Address
(if different to registered address)
Applicant/Key Contact Name
Position in Company
Telephone
Email
Website Address
Social Media Tags
(Twitter, Facebook)
Are you : Ltd Co / Social Enterprise /
Charity
Companies House Registration Number
Date of Incorporation
Date trading commenced
(If Incorporation Date is greater than 5 years
HMRC Letter or Accountant’s letter required to
confirm trading activity has been less than 5 years.
This must be submitted along with completed
application form)
SECTOR
YES
(where applicable)
Science
Technology
Engineering
In which Sector(s) does your company
operate?
Oil & Gas
Food & Drink
Creative
Other
(please specify below)
Do you currently engage with any
Support Agencies (i.e. Business
Gateway, Scottish Enterprise, HIE,
Prince’s Trust, E-Spark, Elevator etc.)?
If so, who is your main contact?
Support Agency 1 –
Main Contact –
Support Agency 2 –
Main Contact -
Business Bank Account provider:
How did you hear about Scottish EDGE?
Page | 3
COMPANY OWNERSHIP AND KEY STAFF
Please provide details of the Company Ownership and Operational Structure. Please provide details of all
Shareholders (individuals and organisations) and also key principals of the company, even if they are not
shareholders:
Name
Date of Birth
Role
Shareholding
(%)
Brief Description - Key Activities
within Company (ie. Leads Marketing
Activity or responsible for Sales)
1. Provide a brief description of your business.
(max 50 words)
Supporting Information – Note 1
2. Scottish EDGE amount applied for? (maximum £100,000.)
(For businesses eligible for Higgs EDGE, please only apply for up to £100,000 and if you are selected for the Higgs EDGE
Final then at that stage you will be considered for the £150,000 amount )
Supporting Information – Note 2
£
3. Please provide details of your 3 minute video submission
Supporting Information – Note 3
Video Link
Video link password (if required)
Page | 4
4. Tell us about your business proposal, product or service. What stage is your
business at, i.e. are you currently trading or are you still developing your product?
What is your company vision? Do you have any competition?
(max 500 words)
Supporting Information – Note 4
5. What are the main risks and obstacles to overcome as you look to embark on your
entrepreneurial growth journey? What plans have you put in place to minimize the
impact of any potential risks?
(max 200 words)
Supporting Information – Note 5
6. What is the key innovative element of your product/service offering? What is your
unique selling point? What makes your product/service more appealing to
customers rather than other similar type offerings?
(max 200 words)
Supporting Information – Note 6
Page | 5
7. Who are your customers? Is there a demand for your product or service? How are
you engaging with your target market? What are your revenue models? Do you
have confirmed interest for buyers to purchase your product/service? If pretrading, who will be your first customer segment to target? If trading, who is
currently buying your product/service and who is your next target market? Do you
have plans to sell your product or service beyond the local market?
(max 500 words)
Supporting Information – Note 7
8. Who is the Team behind the company and what are their key strengths? What gaps
have you identified in the team? Tell us about any key mentors or advisers who
add value to your business? Do you currently engage with any Business Support
Agencies? If so, how do they add value to your business?
(max 500 words)
Supporting Information – Note 8
Page | 6
9(a). If currently trading, provide details of your current financial position & employee
numbers and also provide your projected next 3 years financial position and expected
number of employees - assume that you secure Scottish EDGE support when
calculating your projections.
If currently pre-trading, provide details of your current employee numbers and provide
your projected first 3 years of trading financial position and expected number of
employees - assume that you secure Scottish EDGE support when calculating your
projections.
If you are successful in reaching the Scottish EDGE or Higgs EDGE Final, than you may be
asked to provide a minimum of 12 months Cashflow Forecast prior to pitching at the respective
final.
Supporting Information – Note 9a
Key feedback from past Scottish EDGE judges have highlighted
the importance of realistic projections, which can be substantiated
in question 9(b)
Trading
Businesses actual figures



Please provide individual Annual Figures for each projected
year. Do not provide rolling cumulative figures
Projected –
Year 1
Projected –
Year 2
Projected –
Year 3
Date Range
If Trading, provide date range for
actual figures
If pre-trading, please indicate
when you propose to start trading
Provide date range for each
projected yearly period
Turnover
Net profit
Employees (FTE)
9(b). Provide a detailed summary of the assumptions and reasoning behind your 3
year projections? How will you generate the projected turnover levels? When will
your business start generating a profit? What roles will the projected future
employees undertake?
(max 500 words)
Supporting Information – Note 9b
Page | 7
10. Describe how you would use the Scottish EDGE award, providing a cost
breakdown for all specific activities and detail how a Scottish EDGE award will
accelerate growth.
Please provide a brief breakdown of the how you would spend the funding using the
table format and provide a more in-depth description of the spend projects and
proposed business impact in the space provided below the table.
(max 500 words)
Supporting Information – Note 10
Spend Activity
Proposed Spend
11. What have been the key highlights for the company over the last 3 months?
(max 200 words)
Supporting Information – Note 11
Page | 8
12. Has your business had financial support from the public sector during the
previous 3 years? If yes, please list it below and tick any which is de minimis support.
Supporting Information – Note 12
Type of financial support
Value
Date
De Minimis
13. Does your company/organisation portray strong Socially Responsible attributes, if
so tell us about this?
(max 200 words)
Supporting Information – Note 13
Page | 9
DECLARATION
I confirm that in making this application I have read the eligibility criteria and believe that I meet the
criteria for this competition.
Any material change to the business or personnel throughout the competition process, must be
communicated to the Scottish EDGE team and may impact on your eligibility. Non-disclosure of
information throughout the competition process can lead to disqualification or refusal to pay the
funding award.
Director Signature:
(signature not required if application is being emailed from email address of main applicant)
Director Name:
Title:
Date:
The Scottish EDGE team and other bodies supporting the Scottish EDGE, Young EDGE, Wild Card EDGE
and Higgs EDGE collectively referred to as 'the Scottish EDGE partners' will use the information provided in
this Application to assess your suitability for support. If your application is successful the Scottish EDGE
partners will use the information provided for administration and management purposes, including carrying
out any appropriate checks including credit reviews. Non commercially-confidential information may also be
used for marketing purposes and your details may be passed to our auditors for administrative purposes.
You have the right to ask for a copy of information that we hold on you in accordance with the Data
Protection Act 1998 to correct any inaccuracies in your information held by us for which we may make a
small charge. If at any time you wish to request a copy of your details from our database, please email
info@scotedge.com providing your company name and putting ‘Data Protection Request’ in the email
subject line.
If you wish to opt out of marketing activities, please email info@scotedge.com stating ‘Opt Out’ in the email
subject line.
By submitting an application you confirm that you are seeking support in the amount shown in question two
in respect of the project described within section eight and that the information given on this form and
elsewhere in support of this Application is correct and complete; that except as otherwise indicated on this
form, the specific activities for which support is sought are not currently legally committed; and that you have
read and understood the guidance notes made available at the end of this Application Form.
Potential applicants for the Scottish EDGE, Young EDGE, Wild Card EDGE and Higgs EDGE competitions
should be aware that there may be the opportunity to protect the innovative concepts, technologies and
product ideas which they may be planning to describe in their application form or video. Many forms of
Intellectual Property or IP can be protected through forms of legal registration (such as trademarks, domain
names, some designs and patents) and through unregistered rights (such as copyright). However, the ability
to obtain some of these types of protection is dependent on the innovation remaining confidential and not
being disclosed to the public (e.g. once an idea is in the public domain, it is no longer capable of obtaining
patent protection). The sponsors and stakeholders strongly recommend any potential applicant who is
uncertain about potential protection options for their concept, technology, product, service or brand to seek
advice from an IP professional such as a specialist IP lawyer, patent agent or a trade mark agent before
submitting their application form or making their video.
Further information about Intellectual Property can be found at the UK IPO website: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/
Page | 10
Application Guidance
The application form contains text form fields which will expand as you type, however we have given a
maximum word count for each section that we expect you to adhere to. Appendices are not accepted. Only
information contained within the application submission and video will be utilised during the 1st
stage assessment process.
If you have any questions regarding completion of the form or any other Scottish EDGE queries please refer
to the Contact Us & FAQs section at www.scotedge.com
Please submit your application in Microsoft Word/ PDF format only to apply@scotedge.com
Are you a previous Scottish EDGE winner? If so, you are permitted to apply for further Scottish EDGE
support, however past winners will only be considered for the loan element of any additional award, up to a
combined maximum of £50,000. No further Scottish EDGE grant funding will be awarded.
Note 1: Your brief business description should allow the assessment panel to easily understand the nature
of your key business activity.
Note 2: The Scottish EDGE will offer prizes of up to £100,000. Put the total value sought in the box
provided. An award of £150,000 is available in the Higgs EDGE category, however please state
the required amount up to £100,000 on the application form and the businesses selected to go to
the Higgs EDGE Final only will be given the opportunity to provide a proposal of how they would
spend £150,000.
There are only three restrictions on how you can use funding:
(1)
(2)
(3)
it must be legal;
the grant component cannot be used to top-up other public sector funding
awards; and
it has to be spent on something which is going to result in business growth and must
be spent as approved by the Scottish EDGE judging panel and as outlined in the
Scottish EDGE winner’s contract
If you are successful in securing an award the judges will decide whether to give you the full value
sought, or whether to offer a reduced award to focus on specific activities towards the growth of
your company.
Any given Scottish EDGE award will be 50:50 grant/loan split. An individual repayment plan for
the loan component will be negotiated with each Scottish EDGE winner at the time of an award
being given. Terms and Conditions for the loan element of a Scottish EDGE award can be found
under the FAQ section at www.scotedge.com
The loan element is about creating a sustainable fund for other entrepreneurs; it is not intended to
place undue pressure on your business.
o
o
o
Note 3:
Higgs EDGE – the Higgs EDGE category will offer prizes of £150,000 and £100,000 to the top 2
selected businesses in this category. Higgs EDGE awards are made up of 50% Grant & 50%
Loan
Young EDGE – applicants who are eligible for Young EDGE can win grant only awards up to
£10,000 in this category
Wild Card EDGE – applicants who are eligible for Wild Card EDGE can win grant only awards
up to £10,000 in this category
Please provide a web link to your 3 minute video pitch. Please take time to read the additional
information on our website on how to create and upload a video. The video should be to a
standard of that taken on a hand held mobile recording device or better – it is not necessary to pay
for an external party to produce a professional video solely for this competition unless you really
wish to do so. The standard does not impact on your selection – so long as it can be viewed,
heard and shows the entrepreneur and any potential product. It is the content of the pitch which
Page | 11
matters. We would encourage applicants to show their product or service in the 3 minute video as
this often helps bring your offering to life for the judging panel during the assessment process
YouTube is the preferred option for uploading video content and we would encourage applicants
to select the unlisted option when uploading a video to YouTube. If you prefer to protect your
video content then please remember to supply the video password. The time limit for videos is 3
minutes maximum. Any video content beyond 3 minutes will not be viewed during assessments.
Note 4:
Tell us more about the nature of your business, what product/service do you offer? Are you
currently trading? Do you have a company vision, if so what is it? Does your offering address
someone’s pain-point? Who are your competitors?
Note 5:
What are the main challenges in making your business a success? Have you considered the
potential risks as you go on your business development and growth journey? What are the key
barriers you might need to overcome over the coming growth period and what plans do you have
in place to mitigate against these becoming a future business issue?
Note 6:
What is innovative about your proposal? What evidence do you have to support that belief? What
is your unique selling point – is it novel? If not novel, how are you standing out from competitors?
Note 7:
Knowing how to turn your offering into sales is crucial. Who are your customers and what
evidence do you have that there is a real desire for your product/service? Tell us how your
product/process/ service will reach its intended customer? Does your product/service have the
potential to gain interest from a customer base outwith your localised area? How have you priced
your offering? How adaptable, flexible and scalable is the model? Where will you manufacture
and why has that location been chosen?
Note 8:
It may be just you in the business at the moment, but it is important to recognise your own
strengths and weaknesses, and bring necessary skills on board at the right time to help grow your
business. Tell us about the team and faces behind the business – who are they? Who is the
entrepreneurial leader? What key skills do you have within the team and what new skills are
needed to make it grow? Who is responsible for sales and do they have the skills to convert the
sale and close the deal? Do you have any mentors or business advisers who add value to the
business? Do you currently engage with any Business Support Agencies, and if so, who and what
benefits have they brought to you and your business?
Note 9:
(a) If your business is currently trading, the current period figures should reflect an accurate
company position as at time of completion of Scottish EDGE application form. Please provide the
date range of the current period figures stated.
If your business is still pre-trading then please provide details of the number of employees
currently working in the company.
With support, your company should have the potential to achieve new/increased sales of
£200,000 within 3 years and this should be reflected in your projected figures. Please provide a
breakdown of projected turnover and net profit figures for your next 3 years of trading, as well as
the number of expected employees.
(b) Assumptions behind your projected figures should be detailed to provide the assessors with an
informed and realistic plan of how your company will achieve your projected figures. Tell us how
your business will generate cash - can you generate a profit – over what time period? What roles
will the proposed future employees undertake and how will this impact your business.
If you are in large capital projects or in turn unlikely to be revenue generating at all within three
years e.g. BioTech/Life Science/Technology/Energy – use question 7(b) to offer an explanation of
when you are expecting to start generating sales and offer assumptions and specifics to your
situation which you feel will allow the judging panel to assess your potential.
Page | 12
Note 10: The Scottish EDGE will offer prizes of up to £100,000. Please provide a detailed breakdown of
the areas you would propose to spend your Scottish EDGE award on if successful, and how this
would impact on the growth journey for the business. Use the table format to provide a brief
description of each spend activity and the proposed spend and then provide more detail behind
this information in the space provided.
An award of £150,000 is available in the Higgs EDGE category, however please state the required
amount up to £100,000 on the application form and the businesses selected to go to the Higgs
EDGE Final only will be given the opportunity to provide a proposal of how they would spend
£150,000.
Tell us how you would propose to spend the Scottish EDGE funding you are applying for and why
it would make a difference to your business. What are your major milestones in the next 12
months? What are the intended start and end dates for use of the award and how would you use
the funds and demonstrate that the activity is happening (what could we monitor spend against)?
Some examples could be:


Are you going to use the award to employ people, if so, how many and what to do?
Are you going to use it to get in front of customers, then what does that mean you need ...
travel costs, promotional materials for your offering?
Whatever the requirement is, list the breakdown of expected spend activity and anticipated
respective cost/timescale for each element.
There are only three restrictions on how you can use funding:
(1)
(2)
(3)
it must be legal;
the grant component cannot be used to top-up public sector funding
Awards, however the loan element can be used for match-funding; and
it has to be spent on something which is going to result in business growth and must
be spent as approved by the Scottish EDGE judging panel and as outlined in the
Scottish EDGE winner’s contract
If you are successful in securing an award the judges will decide whether to give you the full value
sought, or whether to offer a reduced award to focus on specific activities towards the growth of
your company.
Any given Scottish EDGE award will be 50:50 grant/loan split. An individual repayment plan for
the loan component will be negotiated with each Scottish EDGE winner at the time of an award
being given. Terms and Conditions for the loan element of a Scottish EDGE award can be found
under the FAQ section at www.scotedge.com
The loan element is about creating a sustainable fund for other entrepreneurs; it is not intended to
place undue pressure on your business.
Awards in the Higgs EDGE category will also be 50:50 grant/loan split and the loan terms will be
the same as the Scottish EDGE awards.
All awards in the Young EDGE and Wild Card EDGE categories will be Grant only. The maximum
award in the Young EDGE and Wild Card EDGE categories is £10,000
Note 11: To help us understand current areas of focus, please list some of the key activities/ highlights /
achievements for your business over the past 3 months. Have you won any awards, have you
presented your product/service to any key retailers/industry key players? Have you had any
media coverage?
Note 12: As 50% of the award is a de minimis grant it is necessary for you to ensure that you do not breach
EU funding levels. We can help with this assessment if you tell us about any grants or financial
Page | 13
contributions you have received from the public sector, when that funding was awarded, and what
the value was.
Winners of funding support from the Scottish EDGE will be awarded their funds in the form of a
contract which will say 'this Aid is De Minimis support and counts towards your company's De
Minimis level'. You might be familiar with this term if you have had public sector funding in the
past. It is necessary for any business applying for funding from the public sector to disclose
whether previous awards have been given as 'de minimis aid'. All businesses have a public
funding level of 200,000 euro over a rolling 3 year period which is seen by the European
Commission as not being of a high enough level to inappropriately distort the market. When a
public sector body gives you a grant or award which it calls 'de minimis aid', then it has to ensure
that the award, added to previous awards under 'de minimis' does not exceed that total value.
Further details can be found via the following link –
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/State-Aid/if-its-aid/deminimis
Note 13: If your company currently, or has future plans to engage in Socially Responsible activity then
please tells us about it. This could be around giving something back within your local community,
or having strong environmentally friendly values. Giving something back does not always means
a financial contribution, your support could be your time or business expertise. Does your
product/service offer support to people living in challenging environments?
Upon submission of your application form, you will receive an automated response
confirming receipt. If you do not receive this automated response, please assume that your
application has NOT been received and contact us at info@scotedge.com
Page | 14