A partnership has been launched between the UK government, Glasgow City Council, and the STAC to invest the money into SkyPark in Finnieston, where it hopes to build a foundation for leading development in the tech industry from drones to robots
Glasgow could become a leader in the development of new technologies including drones and AI following a new £2.5 million ($3.18 million) public and private sector investment.
A partnership has been launched between the UK government, Glasgow City Council, and the Smart Things Accelerator Centre (STAC) to invest the money into SkyPark in Finnieston, where it hopes to build a foundation for leading development in the tech industry from drones to robots.
The sum includes £257,000 ($327,098) of grant funding through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which is part of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda.
Major businesses including Volvo, Dyson, Blackberry and Meta are supporting the partnership.
The aim is for as many as 100 firms to be up and running at a 250-desk office under the name of thebeyond in Finnieston, across industries including drones and robot development, artificial intelligence, nanotech and medtech.
Following the announcement, Chief Executive Officer of Volvo Cars Jim Rowan has said the investment in Glasgow’s tech industry could allow the city to “compete on the global stage.”
Rowan said: We have the talent and innovation from our universities, now we are strengthening entrepreneurship and increasing the ambition to position Glasgow as a leader in the development and application of key future technologies that will allow it to compete on the global stage.
Paul Wilson, co-founder and chief executive of STAC, one of the investment partners and a centre supporting the investment requirements of tech startups based in Glasgow, says the aim is to make the city a “powerhouse” of the technology sector.
The funding aims to support the city in becoming a development ground for homegrown tech innovations via STAC, which was launched in 2021. It is already home to several tech firms taking shares in international markets, including Crucial in space and satellite tech and Kingdom Technology in Robotics.
The partnership says it aims to turn Glasgow into Europe’s biggest IoT innovation club. IoT is a term used in the tech industry to describe a network of devices that connect and exchange data.
Wilson added: Glasgow can be a powerhouse in the key technologies that will enhance life and industry for the next decades. As we build the leading tech cluster around STAC’s thebeyond we will gain a reputation and attract international investment.
That is the goal, ambitious and realisable. We believe thebeyond will be Europe’s biggest Smart Things and IoT space, he said.
He said: Glasgow has all the elements – talent, innovation, and a collaborative spirit – required to lead in what is known as the ‘Era of Things’. We believe we are on the cusp of something extraordinary. From thebeyond tech firms will develop tomorrow’s technologies to compete in global markets.