A former UK Cabinet Minister will join Scottish technology entrepreneurs among the speakers at next month’s inaugural Invest2Scale gathering, designed to provide early stage companies with direct access to investors and VCs.

Addressing the event will be Michael Moore, who served as a Liberal Democrat MP and was Secretary of State for Scotland in the 2010-2013 coalition Government.

After leaving politics, he returned to the accountancy profession and became a senior adviser at PwC. He is currently director general of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association.

Other speakers at Invest2Scale include Nicola Anderson, CEO of FinTech Scotland; Kerry Sharp, director of entrepreneurship & investment at Scottish Enterprise; and the tech entrepreneurs Chris van der Kuyl and Andrew Richards, CEO of Codeplay which was recently acquired by chip giant Intel.

The speaker panel is also joined by Doug Lawson, CEO of MarktoMarket; Liz Fletcher, director of Business Engagement and Operations at the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre; and Mike Reid, founder and senior partner at Frog Capital. 

Invest2Scale takes place on 2 November at Edinburgh’s Dovecot Studios, and will involve a selected group of Scottish businesses which are ripe for high-level growth.

They include Celtic Renewables, Nude, Zumo, Enterobiotix, and Intelligent Growth Solutions with the full line-up set to be released later this month.    

The event will feature networking sessions, industry discussions and other scale-up focused activities, bringing the companies together with an audience of senior figures from the UK and global investment community.

Invest2Scale was launched by a group of leading corporate players: law firm MBM Commercial, accountants Chiene + Tait, recruitment specialists Eden Scott, and LINC Scotland.