The Times and Sunday Times Scotland: Future of Digital Tech Summit, delivered in partnership with Opportunity North East.

Step into the heart of Scotland’s digital evolution at The Future of Digital Tech, hosted in Aberdeen – home to a dynamic tech cluster developing solutions for global industries. Join a celebration of the founders and investors driving entrepreneurial growth. Take a deep dive into what makes globally competitive tech ventures thrive, and spotlight AI developments transforming key sectors and shaping tomorrow’s economy.

Powered by one of the UK’s fastest-growing tech clusters—and backed by a founder-focused private-sector-led entrepreneurial ecosystem —the Aberdeen city region is delivering scalable solutions across industrial AI, data, automation, and enterprise software, with deep roots in high-value industries including energy, agriculture, food and drink manufacturing and life sciences.

Hosted by The Times and Sunday Times Scotland, in partnership with Opportunity North East and the Scottish National Investment Bank, the agenda brings together founders, industry leaders, innovators and investors from across the UK to share experiences and practical insights on scaling innovation-led enterprises and shaping the digital industrial future. The event will examine what investors look for in industrial AI and B2B SaaS, and how founders fund and build strong teams and products for impactful returns.

Re-imagining high-performance homes running entirely on renewable energy and being completely self-efficient protecting their occupiers for decades.

Background

Kionnali Living Systems is a startup based in Aberdeenshire created by co-founders Avriel Skolnick and Corrin Fox whose backgrounds in science and engineering and experience in construction and manufacturing has enabled them to design and build LightForm, a prototype home utilising regenerative and resilient building technologies and integrated systems.
LightForm is a modular off-site manufactured home, featuring a unique home climate control system which generates all the heat a house needs, using renewable inputs, distributed recovery and local storage. Inputs include solar thermal collectors, air source heat pump powered by local renewables, and a clean burning biomass back up.

The Journey

Kionnali Living Systems is working to reimagine and build systems that take care of basic needs, from shelter, to energy, to food and water, locally and regeneratively and combine those systems into a modular home that deploys anywhere in minutes and provides everything needed to live, sustainably, on or off grid.

Kionnali was keen to collaborate on several areas including system architecture, materials study and thermal analysis. Initially referred by Business Gateway, the first collaboration instigated by Interface involved a PhD student with the National Environmental Research Council (NERC) and the University of Edinburgh who looked at how a structure with low compaction, no permanent foundation, combined with the introduction of carbon rich compost and clean water, would affect the microbiome of soil.  The research found that Kionnali’s adaptable foundation and lightweight construction could significantly reduce impact from housing on compaction and soil biodiversity.

Taking cognisance of Scotland’s long-term climate change targets and the Scottish Government’s vision that by 2045 homes and buildings will be warmer, greener, and more efficient with renewable energy playing a significant part, Kionnali wanted to test their net-zero energy system concept for the development of self-sustained, net-zero energy buildings suitable for rural and farming communities.
Gillian Hambley, Business Engagement Executive at Interface connected Kionnali with Professor Alireza Maheri of the Centre of Energy Transition at Aberdeen University to perform a feasibility study to verify the Kionnali Net-zero Energy System concept and also evaluate the performance of Kionnali’s innovative technologies (low cost thermal storage system and biomass backup generator) in the context of a net-zero energy system integrated with renewable components (wind, PV, solar thermal) and storage systems.
Funded by an SFC Innovation Voucher the feasibility study conducted by Professor Alireza Maheri found that the Kionnali system can be 100% self-sustaining in any climate, with an 80% reduction in lifetime system cost and negative carbon emissions.

Through the project the company were able to confirm assumptions and develop new design spaces with multifactor optimisation. With the help of a SMART Scotland Grant which funded two full-time positions, the project led on to the development of a full-scale demonstration model.

Interface have continued to support Kionnali connecting them into the Advanced Materials Research Lab at the University of Strathclyde to develop a unique high efficiency, light weight, insulated, modular building panel.

The Benefits

Company

• Development of a modular home that deploys anywhere in minutes and can provide everything to sustain life, on or off grid.
• It is designed to adapt to weather patterns, lifestyle changes, and protect its inhabitants during and after a disaster.
• University expertise has helped prove and accelerate Kionnali’s concept and make their ambition to develop and build systems that take care of basic needs, from shelter, to energy, to food and water, and build sustainable, regenerative communities one step closer.
• Third party feasibility input provided crucial validation data points to propel further growth, from hiring to fundraising and sales.

Academic

• Provided the opportunity to continue research into distributed hybrid renewable energy systems and their impact on a just energy transition.
• Working on this project also provided a valuable opportunity for the further development of MOHRES, a specialised software tool designed to create stakeholders-in-the-loop net-zero energy solutions. MOHRES remains the only tool of its kind, and this collaboration has contributed to its continued refinement through the application to another real-life energy transition challenge.

The Next Steps

• Kionnali are ambitious and are aiming to reimagine the systems that sustain humanity and improve people’s lives with tangible, concrete solutions.
• They plan to grow their team to 15-20 creative doers. In 2025 they are launching three product lines of building technologies based on the Interface funded R&D: FireFly for small spaces, LightForm for residential systems, and LifeBlocks for organisations and disaster relief.
• Over the next 5-8 years the plan is to scale up to full production of the world’s most accessible, sustainable, smart living systems and expand to North America and Europe.
• Active discussions are ongoing with SRUC looking at an “organic waste management system” as an alternative to standard waste toilets that are easy to use, clean and produce sterilised soil. Kionnali will manufacture the composter but would like to collaborate with an academic partner to fully understand the quality of soil and water output from the system, considering soil composition, microbial makeup, and presence of chemicals. They plan to access the Advanced Innovation Voucher to power this work.
• Kionnali’s R&D journey continues at full speed and Interface have continued supporting with further funding applications and opportunities.

Join Aberdeen Renewables Energy Group (AREG) to network and explore career opportunities with industry leaders. Connect, learn, and advance your career!

Are you a recent graduate or early-career professional looking to jumpstart your career? Join AREG for an exciting networking event designed to connect you with industry leaders and explore valuable career opportunities! This event offers a unique chance to:

• Network with top professionals and expand your industry connections.
• Explore Career Opportunities in various sectors and learn about the latest job openings.
• Gain Insights from experienced mentors who can offer guidance and advice for your career journey.
• Enhance Your Skills with interactive sessions and workshops tailored to young professionals.

Speakers to be announced.

Don’t miss this opportunity to build meaningful connections and set the stage for your future career success.

University of Aberdeen in conjunction with Skillfluence are launching their new Connect to Collaborate programme at an in-person event on 11th September.

Connect to Collaborate is an output-focused programme designed for university academics and research staff from all disciplines who want to develop a collaborative R&D project with external organisations, but don’t have a partner.

Many academics and research staff don’t have the contacts, skills or confidence to engage with organisations in a way that leads to collaborative R&D projects. Connect to Collaborate guides academic and research staff from any discipline through a structured process to help them identify, connect with, and collaborate with companies, not-for-profits, NGOs or third-party/public sector partners.

The main challenges the programme works to address are:
• A lack of relevant partner organisation contacts
• Not sure where to start
• Connecting-the-dots between an organisations needs and your research
• Struggle to translate academic language for non-academic settings
• A lack of time to dedicate to engaging with organisations

Participants will realise a measurable change in their knowledge and confidence in critical areas that correlate to applying the innovation process to:

1. Personal Industry engagement & action plan.
2. Increased number of contacts.
3. Initial meetings with partners.
4. Increased confidence in your ability to engage with potential partners.
5. Better understanding of how to move from interest to grant funded project.

Gillian Hambley, Business Engagement Executive at Interface will be attending this event.

Opportunity North East (ONE) is partnering with CodeBase to deliver a regional tech ecosystem event series: Founders’ Fireside. Each Month these sessions bring together local businesses and stakeholders to explore relevant topics for people working in innovation. These sessions will facilitate insightful conversations, broaden our networks, and help raise awareness of the resources available for organisations in the North East.

This May, Interface are delighted to be partnering with ONE and CodeBase to bring you “Getting Business-Academic Collaborations and Funding Right”. Interface are based regionally throughout Scotland and connect organisations and academics working with organisations of all sizes, in all sectors to match them to Scotland’s world-leading academic expertise to help them grow.

With connections into all Scottish universities, research institutes and colleges, Interface has an established and efficient process that will save time and money in identifying and accessing academic expertise, research, technologies, specialist facilities and funding. Gillian Hambley, Interface’s Business Engagement Executive for the North East region will be facilitating this fireside conversation between Kelly Fraser (KTP North), Corrin Fox (Kionnalo) and Dr Ann Lewendon (University of Aberdeen). We’re delighted to bring together this brilliant group of experts from across industry, academia, and funding to discuss the wide diversity of opportunities available to businesses in the North East.

Over the hour-long session, the following will be covered:

• Collaborative work bringing projects to life
• Funding including Innovation Vouchers and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
• Nationwide support available to people working in the North East

This session is open to people based in the North East of Scotland who want to unlock the collaborative potential of Scotland’s universities, research institutes and colleges.

Join The Entrepreneurship & Innovation Group to celebrate the achievements of the RGU Startup Accelerator entrepreneurs at the annual Startup Showcase event.

The 2024 RGU Startup Showcase will be held on Thursday, 16th May 2024, from 5:30pm to 8:00pm at the Amphitheatre, RGU Campus, Sir Ian Wood Building, RGU Campus, Garthdee Road, AB10 7GJ.

The event marks the culmination of this year’s Accelerator program, where the entrepreneurial startups will showcase their innovative businesses, you can find out more about this year’s cohort here Back to the Future with the RGU Startup Accelerator 2024 | Economic Development | RGU

The finalists will take to the stage to pitch, competing for prize funding for their new ventures – and as in previous years, the audience will get the opportunity to vote for your favourite! The Showcase event also promises Back to the Future themed surprises in store for guests!

Interface’s Gillian Hambley will be in attendance at this event so why not come along and say hello.

The Bettii Pod Ltd – Revolutionising Menstrual Care 

Background

The Bettii Pod Ltd, founded in 2021 by CEO Elaine Galston, is a start-up dedicated to normalising and destigmatising periods while promoting sustainable menstrual practices and enabling access to the testing of menstrual blood for key female focused health concerns. Focused on creating an away-from-home infrastructure for the management of reusable sanitary wear, the company aims to address challenges faced by users of reusable menstrual products, specifically the lack of facilities for cleaning and sanitising menstrual cups and discs in away-from-home environments.

1.8 billion people have periods, leading to 100 billion soiled single use period products being disposed of every year. These products are over 90% plastic and take over 500 years to decompose.  The planet cannot support this. Reusables is the largest growth sector in the menstrual market with an estimated 64 million menstrual cups sold per annum with a 56% growth prediction. 

The Challenge

The primary challenge being addressed by The Bettii Pod Ltd relates to the absence of convenient facilities for cleaning reusable menstrual cups in public spaces, an issue deemed such an obstacle that it was raised by the UN in a 2021 report which implored governments across the world to consider how to enable access to water within female toilets for menstrual cup cleaning. This obstacle, together with the lack of awareness and understanding of menstrual reusables, hinders the widespread adoption of sustainable menstrual products, affecting issues such as period poverty, environmental sustainability and at-home health testing adoption.

Currently menstrual cup users either do not clean their cup or use bottled water and/or disposable wipes which is not good for health, for the environment or practical. Over 23% drop their cup down the toilet or on the floor. The intended purpose of the Bettii product is to support sustainable menstrual practices, enabling eco-friendly menstrual product adoption and mitigating health concerns related to inadequate washing facilities. This gives potential users confidence to adopt cost saving reusables thereby helping eradicate period poverty and enabling access to the market for at-home testing of menstrual blood for key health concerns. 

The company’s innovative solution was to develop an installable menstrual cup washer and sanitiser within toilet cubicles of various public locations, such as offices, gyms, cinemas, stadiums, airports, tourist attractions and other public infrastructures.

The Solution

Interface introduced The Bettii Pod Ltd, together with their designers Fearsome Ltd, to West College Scotland and with the help of Innovation Voucher Funding, the project to develop the world’s first menstrual cup washer and sanitiser for away-from-home environments was born. The collaboration involved extensive research, design, review of key, potentially limiting regulations, and the creation of a lab-based prototype.

The project looked at designing an installable sanitary washer, identifying related infrastructure requirements, and developing installation training. The outcome of the initial phase is the process design of a sanitary menstrual cup washer with the potential for global installation. 

The partnership utilised the technical expertise of the College and active engagement from Bettii Pod’s product development team to design a prototype and toolkit, laying the foundation for commercial viability. The academic team’s support filled crucial gaps in electrical and plumbing expertise, providing insights into design alterations’ impact on sustainability and compliance with standards. This collaborative effort ensures the product’s alignment with industry standards and efficient installation requirements. 

The support from the technical academic staff became invaluable providing crucial insights into the entire design process, from the conceptual stage to compliance and manufacturing. Their expertise was particularly beneficial in assessing how design alterations could positively impact sustainability, with a specific focus on Ingress Protection (IP) which determines the different degrees of protection of the enclosures of electrical and electronic equipment against external elements, IK rating which is defined in international standards and indicates a product’s resistance to mechanical impact, and Water Regulations Approval Scheme (WRAS) compliance.  

This unique contribution filled a critical gap in Bettii Pod’s capabilities, ensuring that the product design would meet the necessary standards and considerations for long-term success. The academic team’s input was instrumental in addressing challenges that could not be sourced elsewhere or managed internally, highlighting the pivotal role they played in the development of the project. 

The lab prototype was developed, eradicating key operational and installation barriers giving the Company much needed assurance as to the commercial applicability of their innovation.

This product boasts a pioneering design that sets it apart as the first of its kind, addressing a critical gap in the market with no comparable alternatives currently available. Full market analysis and proof of concept have now been completed. The lab-based prototype is finalised with patents to be registered in early 2025. 

The collaboration between The Bettii Pod Ltd and West College Scotland represents a ground-breaking effort to revolutionize menstrual care, promote sustainability, and address societal period, reusables and health challenges. By combining industry expertise with academic insights, the partnership has created a pioneering product with significant potential for societal and environmental impact. Ongoing collaboration will ensure a successful development and integration of the product into the market, emphasizing a commitment to innovation, standards compliance, and mutual success.

The Bettii Pod Ltd and West College Scotland continue to work together to develop and introduce the product to the marketplace.

The Benefits

• Supports sustainable menstrual practices
• Offers an eco-friendly menstrual choice
• Addresses period poverty by improving access to sanitation facilities
• Mitigates health concerns related to inadequate washing facilities
• Enables uptake of potentially life saving at-home health testing of menstrual blood
• Patent to be registered in 2025
• Collaboration between The Bettii Pod Ltd and West College Scotland is ongoing to finalise and bring the product to market.

• Do you want to hear about future innovation in the north east?
• Interested in the new Seedpod development and how SRUC can support Food and drink businesses?
• Are you interested in leading-edge food & drink associated research?
• Do you want to hear about potential collaboration opportunities?

Then why not join this SRUC event which will showcase the breadth of their food & drink activities from product development & innovation to industry-focussed research, consultancy and education. From meat, fish & plant-based protein, food security, processing production, emerging technologies, & political drivers, to innovative food & drink product development – food & drink is very much a focus at SRUC. If you’re a food & drink business this event will give you a better understanding of how SRUC / SAC Consulting can help you and will also showcase some examples of products that we have helped to develop.

Opportunity North East will join SRUC at this event and provide an update on the transformational SeedPod project that is currently under construction at SRUC Craibstone. It has been developed with industry and partners and has been set up to grow the food and drink manufacturing sector in the region and nationally. Seedpod’s facilities and support programmes will put businesses at the forefront of innovation, productivity and sustainability, increasing high-value exports and creating new jobs. It will help businesses and the sector deliver low-carbon production and contribute to net-zero goals. SeedPod is due to open in late 2024 and is co-funded by ONE, the Scottish and UK Governments and is a key industry innovation project within the Aberdeen City Region Deal. SRUC is a strategic delivery partner in the project and is providing the site for SeedPod on its Craibstone campus.

SRUC welcomes this development on its Craibstone campus given its alignment to SRUC’s strategic growth strategy and food & drink expertise.

Lunch will be provided between 12:30pm – 1:30pm

Are you a seafood, farming or food and drink processing business? Is your organisation facing challenges and keen to discover more about how 5G technology can be used to manage records, improve camera video feed, remote monitor equipment and reduce time for machinery maintenance and more?

Opportunity North East (ONE) and The Scotland 5G Centre (S5GC) are hosting ‘5G Unwrapped: For Food, Drink & Agriculture Businesses’ at ONE Tech Hub on Tuesday 30th January from 12pm-3pm.

Hear from ONE and Scotland 5G Centre about the opportunities, facilities and support for businesses like yours. Listen to those who have embarked on a journey to implement 5G into their operations to solve everyday business challenges.

5G could help your organisation and enable:

• Reliable connectivity, no more buffering or lag
• Remote monitor equipment and reduce machinery maintenance
• Reduce costs, maximise productivity and improve margins
• Implement innovative technical solutions for your business
• More flexibility, you could have your own private secure network

Gain valuable insights and directly meet the people who can help with your upcoming journey and its challenges. Network with like-minded people in the digital and food and drink sectors and discuss how investment in technology could be implemented in your business.