Scottish EDGE funding competition for early stage businesses

27th August 2025

Scottish EDGE is Scotland's biggest business funding competition. It offers grants and loans of £10,000 up to £100,000 to help early-stage companies, social enterprises and charities to grow.

Scottish EDGE is made up of 4 main categories:

Main EDGE - funding of up to £100,000 for early-stage companies and social enterprises across all sectors, offered as a combination of 70% grant and 30% loan
Young EDGE - a grant of up to £15,000 for companies where all directors are under the age of 30
Wild Card EDGE - a grant of up to £15,000 for pre-trading companies, sole-traders and partnerships
Social Enterprise EDGE - funding of up to £75,000 for social enterprises, offered as a combination of 70% grant and 30% loan
You may only apply for one of the 4 categories.

For the first stage of the application, you'll need to submit a Scottish EDGE online application form and a 3-minute video presentation.

All applications must be submitted through the online application portal on the Scottish EDGE website by Wednesday 10 September 2025 at 2pm.

These applications will then be assessed and results sent out by 1 October 2025.

If your initial application is successful, you'll be invited to an in-person semi-final presentation in late October 2025. You'll need to do a 3-minute presentation and participate in a 13-minute question and answer session.

If you pass the semi-final stage, you'll be invited to an in-person final, with another presentation and question and answer session. The finals will be held in November 2025.

Am I eligible?

You're eligible if your business:

is a limited company, social enterprise or charity
has been incorporated at Companies House or the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator
has been in operation for less than 5 years
is headquartered in Scotland
is not in administration or liquidation
has a current annual turnover of £1 million or less
has not received external investment of £500,000 or more
is at least 50% owned by directors who actively work in the business day-to-day
has not previously received a main Scottish EDGE award
Your business should also have the potential:

to achieve new or increased sales of £200,000 over the next 3 years
to create new, sustainable Scottish jobs over the next 3 years
At least 50% of your organisation's key business leaders must be resident in Scotland. You'll need to provide visa details, including status and expiration dates, for founders that are non-UK passport holders.

Your directors and key principals must not have been prosecuted for fraud or disqualified from becoming a business director.

Sole traders can only apply for Young EDGE or Wild Card EDGE.

Previous Young EDGE or Wild Card EDGE winners can apply for the main Scottish EDGE competition.

Find out more HERE