Having led several businesses, including Money Dashboard, Steve could never shake the entrepreneurial urge to create something from scratch himself:
“loveelectric was the first time everything aligned: the opportunity, timing and experience. There has never been a more time-critical moment. Our business model ensures that transitioning to an EV is more affordable and accessible than ever. I’m hardwired to be an entrepreneur, and leading loveelectric is the perfect intersection of my skills, motivation and experience.”
Founded in September 2021 in Edinburgh, loveelectric found market-fit and its first customer within a month! Thinking back on starting a company in Scotland, Steve reflects:
“As a proudly Edinburgh-based company, I’m a huge advocate for starting a business in Scotland. Edinburgh offers the best of both worlds in high-growth business support and purpose-driven business development. Scottish Edge has been essential in providing early-stage funding, and Scottish Enterprise and community hub, Codebase, have both been enormous support throughout my entrepreneurial career. Plus, with groups such as Scottish Development International opening up an international network, it really feels like the global entrepreneurial ecosystem is accessible.
In June 2022, loveelectric won Scottish Edge round 19, winning a prize pot including a £70k loan and £75k with STV’s Growth Fund to bring their first commercial advert to life.
Steve highlights the importance of structure in early-stage investment:
“The loan structure was extremely beneficial to us as we were finding our feet. As the prize fund was debt rather than equity, we did not dilute our shares which made us more attractive in our following seed round whilst receiving an important cash injection.
Having won Scottish Edge, we certainly found this added credibility and a seal of approval to our initial investors.”
In November 2022, Techscaler was launched in line with recommendations from the Scottish Tech Ecosystem Review (STER) authored by Mark Logan. Steve immediately saw how this aligned with the needs and acceleration of both the industry and loveelectric:
“The launch of Techscaler has invigorated Scotland’s focus on developing highly successful, community-focused tech organisations. From its emergence in Mark Logan’s flagship Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review, Techscaler lays a framework to bring the entrepreneurial communities across Scotland together to share knowledge and support. Being part of the community as we grow together is what I believe makes Scotland the best place to start and build a business. ”
With a highly skilled and quickly-growing team, loveelectric accessed the Techscaler scaleup programmes delivered through Reforge.
Communications Manager Anna Brow recently completed the October 23 cohort alongside three of her colleagues. Anna reflects on her experience:
“The courses and international network we were able to access through Reforge have been invaluable. We learnt from the best and brightest in the tech community from across the world. Our biggest takeaway wasn’t necessarily what we could implement immediately: rather, reflecting on how and why we perform our roles in the current format has been critical learning. It’s very easy to get caught in the cycle of BAU, so being able to hear of similar problems and solutions helps to validate our practices. We are really excited to share our learning with the rest of the loveelectric team!”
loveelectic continues to go from strength to strength with support from across the Scottish Tech ecosystem. With over 30 employees and a rapidly growing revenue base - doubling year-on-year in 2023 and set to do so again in 2024 - the company is a fantastic example of what can be achieved with the right team and expertise!
Scottish Edge round 24 set to open for applications in Autumn 24.
Navigate elsewhere on our website to access Reforge courses or learn more about the mentorship mentioned.
