Glasgow’s STAC fourth cohort launched alongside new chair

The Smart Things Accelerator Centre (STAC) has launched its fourth cohort, with 20 companies joining Scotland’s first smart things and IoT accelerator, and also appointed a new chair.

The new companies joining STAC are: Zephyrus Labs, Orchyio, BennuAI, Hycean, FocaliseAI, Konpanion, Deep Sym, Audio Mitto, Lu Innovations, Mix Innovations, MyFarm, Dr Little, Kyobit, Ufarms, RfIoT, Vuabl, Atypical, Lowtek Games, Curious Chip, and Thistle Rocketry.

Paul Wilson, CEO and co-founder of STAC, said: “STAC had evolved rapidly into what we describe as a full wrap-around accelerator, around four main pillars – scaling mentorship, space, investment and talent acquisition.”

“What’s also notable”, continued Wilson, “is that with over 50 companies now at STAC, sector clusters are emerging, for example in sustainability, robotics, drones, health and wellbeing, and creative tech.”

STAC has also revealed that there are 6 female founders in the new cohort, with Paul Wilson adding: “We are seeing more female founders join STAC, ideally, we can up the percentage over time but it’s critical for now that we help them succeed.

“Unlocking the potential from inclusivity and diversity is highly strategic for STAC and we want to leverage the Stewart Report and collaborations to make maximum impact.”

Paul Winstanley, the CEO of CENSIS—Scotland’s innovation centre for IoT technologies—has also been appointed as STAC’s chair. Winstanley, a co-founder at STAC, had already been a board member at STAC supported by an advisory team that includes includes Volvo Cars CEO Jim Rowan, and Meta’s VP of supply chain Sean Murphy.

In January, STAC announced a partnership between the UK government and Glasgow City Council, including significant government investment, aimed at transforming Glasgow into Europe’s largest smart things and IoT innovation hub. The partnership centres around a £2.5 million private and public sector investment into a 250-desk state-of-the-art facility named “thebeyond” at SkyPark, Finnieston, in Glasgow.

Paul Winstanley, chair at STAC, remarked: “thebeyond is an incredible addition to Scotland’s tech ecosystem, and STAC has a number of further announcements this year which will ramp up Scotland’s overall tech offering and take it to the next level, focused on academic, industry, and government related partnerships and initiatives, and transforming Scotland into a bona fide global tech hub.”