The tech sector in Scotland has received $549m in funding this year – up 56% on 2020.

Tech Nation has announced the five Scottish of its fourth Rising Stars competition, which recognises the best early-stage tech scale-ups from every area of the UK.

They were selected by a panel of more than 50 judges based on their value proposition, competitive advantage, market traction, team experience and potential to scale.

This year’s Scotland Regional Winners are: Kythera AI, Letting Cloud, PolyDigi Tech, Gigged.AI and Know-it.

All hailing from Edinburgh and Glasgow, the have an average of eight employees, and are notably all either business-to-business or business-to-business-to-consumer companies.

These companies will now be inducted into the Tech Nation alumni network, giving greater access to networking opportunities and the ability to learn from other early-stage tech businesses going through a similar scaling journey.

According to data from Tech Nation, Scotland is now home to four tech ‘unicorns’ – companies valued at over $1bn – up from three in 2020. The nation has also received $549m in venture capital investment this year, as of November – a 56% increase on the $352m received in 2020.

Tech job creation is also growing rapidly in Scotland, rising by 111% in the past year, from 34,636 tech roles in 2020 to 74,048 during the first half of 2021.

Esme Caulfield, competitions lead at Tech Nation, said: “From revolutionising modern healthcare and disrupting the finance sector to transforming education and tackling climate change, each of these fast-growing regional early-stage tech companies is helping us improve our economy, society and quality of life.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing the new tech companies that emerge and scale across all areas of Scotland over the coming year, with the help of Scotland’s vibrant and supportive tech ecosystem.”

Monika Ohashi, chief investment officer at Polydigi Tech, said: “We can’t express how excited we are to be chosen as the Rising Stars 4.0 Scotland Regional Winner.

“We hope with this recognition and the help from Tech Nation we can take a big step to the next stage.

“After Polydigi Tech relocated to Edinburgh in 2019, we have been supported in many ways by Scottish Development International and local fintech communities such as FinTech Scotland since we started our journey here.”

Joy Thurston, operations coordinator at Kythera AI, added: “We’re delighted to be a Rising Stars Regional Winner at what’s already a crucial and exciting time for us as we expand into new markets and grow our team.

“We’re grateful to be recognised for this and for the opportunities this award presents, we have experienced wonderful support so far from the Scottish Government, in the form of an innovation grant which allowed us to establish our product.”

This article was first published by insider.co.uk