AccelerateHER Female Founder Showcase: Backing Scotland’s Women to Build, Scale and Lead
On Tuesday, 3 March 2026, 160+ investors, founders, mentors and ecosystem leaders gathered at The Ladies Baths at Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh for our flagship AccelerateHER Female Founder Showcase in Scotland.
And yes, we were packed!
Our flagship event is a clear signal of intent: Scotland’s female founders are building ambitious, investment-ready businesses, and the ecosystem is paying attention.
Twenty exceptional women took to the stage to pitch. Some had three minutes, some had just one minute!
To capture attention.
To spark investor interest.
To open the door to serious backing.
Alongside our pitching founders, we were proud to welcome Deputy First Minister, Kate Forbes MSP, Ana Stewart – Chief Entrepreneur, as well as investors, mentors and partners committed to strengthening Scotland’s innovation economy.
Because when women build and scale businesses, the whole economy benefits.
FYI: According to a Scottish Government-commissioned report, Scotland’s international trade could rise by £3.4bn to £10.3bn over two years if women-led businesses exported at the same rate as male-led firms, with 2% to 9% fewer female-owned SMEs selling overseas between 2016 and 2022.
Why the AccelerateHER Female Founder Showcase Matters
Women currently lead only around one in five businesses in Scotland. Across the UK, they continue to receive a disproportionately small share of equity investment.
That’s not just a funding gap. It’s an economic opportunity being left on the table.
AccelerateHER exists to close that gap by strengthening the pipeline of investable women-led businesses and increasing their visibility to investors. The Showcase is a powerful moment in that journey. It brings together founders who are building traction with investors who are ready to deploy capital – and it does so in a room full of ecosystem representatives designed for connection, conversation and action.
The 2026 Showcase was delivered in partnership with The Scottish National Investment Bank and supported by the Scottish Government, Burness Paull and Johnston Carmichael.
We also welcomed pupils from Lasswade Academy and Knox Academy as part of our Pathways Forward Pledge, ensuring young people can see entrepreneurship up close, meet founders and imagine themselves in those roles in the future.
Visibility matters. Access matters. Early exposure matters. You need to see it to be it.
Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic Kate Forbes MSP said:
“Women-led businesses are growing faster in Scotland than any other region in the UK and increasing their turnover at a faster rate than male-led companies. The talent pool – demonstrated by the founders at this week’s AccelerateHER Female Founders Showcase – is clear.
“Despite this, women currently lead only around one in five businesses and continue to receive a disproportionately small share of equity investment. The Scottish Government is resolutely committed to addressing this gap. We will continue to work with partners across the public and private sectors, to continue driving what must be a collective mission to continue breaking down barriers for women, strengthening the pipeline of investable women-led businesses and increasing their visibility to investors.”
“This isn’t just about visibility”
The afternoon included a fireside conversation with AccelerateHER CEO Elizabeth Pirrie and AccelerateHER alumna Leah Hutcheon, Founder-CEO of multi-award-winning company, Appointed, as well as interactive sessions where the audience could respond to pitches and engage directly with founders.
Reflecting on the event, Elizabeth said:
“We were delighted to be able to bring together 20 inspiring female founders at our showcase event, and to welcome the Deputy First Minister along to hear more about their stories, successes, and to hopefully inspire the next generation of Scottish female business talent.
When women build and scale businesses, the whole economy benefits. Yet too often, female founders remain underrepresented in investment pipelines.
This showcase isn’t just about visibility, it’s about capital, growth and long-term economic impact.
By bringing founders, investors and future entrepreneurs into the same room, we are building a stronger, more inclusive innovation ecosystem for Scotland.”
That’s exactly what this event is about: not just applause, but backing and action.
Meet the Founders: One Minute. Three Minutes. Big Ambition.
From AI and healthtech to cultural infrastructure, climate innovation and consumer brands, this year’s showcase pitchers from cohorts of our various support programmes reflect the depth and breadth of Scotland’s female-led innovation pipeline.
Below, we’re proud to spotlight the founders who stepped forward to pitch.
Three-minute pitchers - who had the opportunity to gather feedback from the audience and answer questions from our expert panel
Natalie Garry, Founder and CEO of danceSing Ltd
danceSing is an evidence-based digital wellness platform for the care sector and senior living communities. Backed by research from the University of Stirling, it tackles inactivity, isolation, and cognitive decline by delivering daily music, movement, and mindfulness programmes that improve mood, mobility, and connection. The platform equips and trains care teams, carers, and family members with ready-to-use resources, embedding meaningful engagement into everyday practice while supporting wellbeing for those delivering care. The result is empowered teams and carers, and older adults living longer, healthier lives with dignity, purpose, and joy.
Chantalle Cummings, Co-Founder of Intercue
Poor communication at work is one of the most costly problems businesses face, leading to misunderstandings, conflict, disengaged employees, and talented people leaving.
Managers play a huge role in this. How they communicate, give feedback, and support their team directly impacts performance and retention, but most are never given the tools to do it well.
Organisations spend billions every year on personality assessments to address this.
These tools help people understand themselves, but the insight rarely goes further. The output is typically a PDF that gets read once and forgotten.
Intercue turns personality insight into a practical, daily tool. Users complete a short, scientifically validated assessment to create a personality profile. From there, Intercue generates tailored guidance between specific colleagues, whether that’s preparing for a difficult conversation, giving feedback, or navigating team dynamics. For managers, it goes further, providing structured coaching tools to support, develop, and lead their team with confidence.
Intercue is a shortcut to better teamwork. It removes the guesswork from interpersonal dynamics, giving every employee an instant GPS for collaborating with colleagues. By providing the right words for the right moment, Intercue helps teams skip the friction, build faster alignment, and get straight to high performance.
Lesley Thomson, CEO of Nudge Innovations
Nudge Innovations is building the reuse infrastructure that organisations and governments need to replace disposable cup systems.
Reuse isn’t gaining traction because there’s no infrastructure to make it convenient, easy, or hygienic. Organisations are making public commitments to reduce waste but struggling with practical implementation. The Scottish Government is pursuing charges on disposable cups, but barriers to reuse are creating significant pushback. There’s a clear impetus to act, but without addressing practical barriers first, resistance will continue.
Nudge Innovations has designed infrastructure that makes reuse scalable in workplaces and public buildings. Their NuWash system is a rapid 35-second cleaning station for reusable cups and bottles that removes manual handling and staff involvement. The patent-protected technology delivers 360-degree hygienic cleaning (99% reduction in bacteria at 70°C) and accommodates a wide variety of cups, bottles, and lids. Duet, their stackable water bottle and coffee cup system, complements NuWash by reducing cup forgetfulness, addressing the other major barrier to reuse adoption.
NuWash reaches breakeven after 10 months with annual savings of £6,664 per unit and achieves carbon neutrality in just 3 months.
Nudge makes reuse practical for organisations and creates the conditions for responsible policy implementation.
Arabella Harvey, Founder/CEO of Raven Botanicals
Raven Botanicals is a sister-led Scottish skincare brand creating high performance, natural formulations designed to strengthen the skin barrier and restore confidence. Founded by Arabella and Charlotte Harvey after the loss of their mother, the business is rooted in a rural upbringing shaped by nature, creativity and care.
Up to 70% of people in the UK alone live with skin concerns that impact self worth, yet much of the beauty industry focuses on quick fixes rather than long term skin health and inner confidence. Raven Botanicals addresses this gap with in-house formulated products grounded in botanical science and produced in East Lothian using solar energy.
Combining academic expertise in botany and forensics with commercial leadership, the founders have built a values-led brand that is cruelty free, palm free and ethically certified. With strong repeat purchase rates and growing retail partnerships, Raven Botanicals is now scaling into Ireland, the Nordics and Canada, proving that Scottish provenance, scientific credibility and emotional connection can drive meaningful commercial growth.
Gillian Murray, Managing Director & Founder of Slipperfield Training Ltd
At its heart, Slipperfield Training provides AI-enhanced technical and professional skills training to surveyors and property professionals. We sell ‘Wisdom as a Service’(TM) by taking decades of knowledge and experience from content creators and turning it into robust, interactive training based on real-life scenarios.
Our content creation workforce is drawn from professionals at/near retirement, from mid-career women and those of all genders who love their professions but need flexible, work-from-anywhere roles and projects.
Our B2B customers are the firms employing or training surveyors and property professionals, including enterprise licence WaaS(TM) clients, universities and professional bodies.
Our B2C customers are the students/trainees and professionals themselves.
Slipperfield Training exists to capture, retain and pass down professional skills and knowledge that would otherwise be lost. Starting with a UK offer, we will expand over time beyond borders and across the property professions to support and sustain the accrued wisdom of thousands and hold it safely for future generations to learn from.
In so doing, we directly address the commercial, technical and resilience concerns emphasised in the RICS Skills Report 2025, provide employment to professionals who would otherwise be lost to our industry, and sustain the development of the next generation of property professionals.
Karen Robinson, Founder of Three Robins
Three Robins is a growing kids’ food and drink brand making healthier, everyday plant-based products for families. While the dairy alternatives aisles have seen significant innovation in recent years, the children’s category remains dominated by products that are high in sugar and full of artificial ingredients. As a result, parents are often left having to choose between convenience, taste and nutrition.
Three Robins removes this compromise for parents with their award-winning range of oat milks and on-the-go snacks that are designed for kids using simple ingredients, lower sugar and with a taste they will genuinely enjoy. Their products fit naturally into daily routines at breakfast-time, in lunchboxes and on busy days, driving strong repeat purchase and growing household loyalty.
Founded by Karen Robinson after struggling to find better options when two of her three boys became lactose intolerant, Three Robins has grown steadily through word of mouth, repeat customers and expanding distribution. The business now supplies grocery, wholesale and export customers and has received multiple industry awards and recognition.
With proven demand, loyal customers and a clear opportunity to expand across categories, Three Robins is building a trusted brand in an under-served market, with significant potential for long-term growth.
Karen from Three Robins was also winner of our 'One to Watch' audience vote
One Minute Pitchers
Eloho Efemuai, CEO of Adelphe Connect
Adelphe is an inspiring enterprise seeking to drive a sustainable change for women particularly racially minoritised women. We exist for the primary purpose of reducing the challenges faced by women such as underemployment, isolation, cultural displacement, mental health issues, and a lack of opportunity for further development and life enhancement. We also focus on seeking innovative ways to provide women with equal opportunity and close the gender equality gap that continues to negatively affect women.
Dr Esma Benssassi of AffectiveHalo Ltd
AffectiveHalo ltd is an AI startup at the intersection of behavioural science, communication, and healthcare. It addresses a high-stakes problem: one person’s implicit bias—captured in a single note—can travel through the entire care lifecycle, shaping how the next clinician interprets symptoms, how urgency is triaged, what diagnoses are considered, which treatments are offered, and how a patient is labelled over time. Those words can “stick,” influencing handovers, referrals, incident reports, and ultimately outcomes—especially for people more likely to be dismissed or stereotyped.
AffectiveHalo provides real-time “language safety” support that detects stigmatising or ambiguous phrasing as notes are written and suggests clear, person-centred alternatives, helping teams document more safely today and reducing the propagation of bias across care pathways and the data used for downstream AI tomorrow.
JJ Stenhouse, Co-Founder of Ascendrix Systems Limited / Ladder of Growth
UK employers lose £57 billion annually to work-related mental health issues yet have no early warning system to detect burnout risk before it’s too late. Ascendrix Systems’ Ladder of Growth (LOG) provides that missing infrastructure.
The company’s Load & Stability Index (LSI) measures psychological load (how much pressure people carry) and system stability (how well they hold up under sustained demand). Unlike personality assessments that offer hiring snapshots, LOG tracks change over time providing early risk signals before burnout occurs.
Built on 10+ years of tracking rapid transformation across hundreds of cases, Ascendrix identified consistent growth stages that predict capacity under pressure. This longitudinal data creates a defensible moat that AI cannot replicate without the company’s proprietary measurement model.
Current applications serve three markets: corporates (duty-of-care risk intelligence and performance optimisation), practitioners (measurable outcomes to support coaches, therapists and their clients) and individuals (personal growth tracking). All share the same infrastructure but serve different use cases.
Ascendrix operates as SaaS with recurring revenue from subscriptions, practitioner licensing, and enterprise white-label partnerships. The company is building the category-defining standard for what drives performance – measurable human capacity.
Keira Hodge, Founder of Being Wineful Ltd
Scotland’s wine market is worth nearly £1 billion annually. Yet around 60% of that is purchased in supermarket aisles by people who grab the same bottle out of habit or fear. Meanwhile, Scotland’s independent wine bars, shops, and restaurants, the venues that make our cities vibrant, struggle to reach new customers, accounting for just 35% of the market, with a further 5% online.
Being Wineful bridges that gap.
We’re building Scotland’s first platform that connects wine consumers directly with the independent trade: through our recently launched podcast series, sommelier-built AI-powered food and wine pairing, venue discovery, welcoming community events, and accessible, joyful wine education. We meet people where they are, build their confidence, and guide them toward the independent venues where they’ll find their community.
Started in Edinburgh, one of Europe’s most vibrant food and drink cities, before rolling out city by city across Scotland and beyond. Starting from £15/month membership to unlock events, digital tools, and exclusive trade access. A fraction of the cost of traditional wine education. Revenue comes from memberships, event tickets, digital products, and affiliate partnerships with venues. A clear mission to grow that £350 million independent Scottish sector, redirecting consumer spending where it culturally matters.
Glaire Anderson, Founder of the Digital Lab for Islamic Visual Culture & Collections (DLIVCC)
The Digital Lab for Islamic Visual Culture & Collections (DLIVCC) is a purpose-led, woman-led business working across the video games, entertainment, education, and the cultural heritage sectors.
Our expert team helps industry professionals with accuracy, authenticity, and cultural sensitivity reviews, research, and world building support. We’re known for our work on Assassin’s Creed Mirage (Ubisoft, 2023) and its educational Codex feature, which achieved 10 million players last year. Our work is now freely available in Ubisoft’s award-winning spin-off, the Discovery Tour Medieval Baghdad (2025) apps for ages 12+.
With an experienced team and a global network of top industry partners and subject matter experts, we support public-facing projects at all stages, with a focus on positive social impact, cultural sensitivity, and representations of race, ethnicity, and other social issues to support authentic, respectful content.
We are singularly well-placed to advise on any public-facing projects inspired by historical Islamic societies, globally. By providing an efficient route to specialist academic knowledge, we help clients avoid risk, inaccuracies and stereotypes, enhance their ability to create authentic, diverse worlds in the age of AI, and stand out from competitors in a competitive global sector.
Moira Bennett, Founder of Fur-Ever Ltd
Fur-Ever was founded after Moira Bennett experienced the devastating loss of her wee dog, Rubin. Like many pet owners, she felt heartbroken and alone in a society that often minimises pet grief.
Yet this experience is far from rare. Around 1.1 million pets die each year in the UK alone, and close to one billion worldwide. Despite the scale of loss, accessible and compassionate pet bereavement support remains fragmented and difficult to access.
Moira runs a dog walking business in Edinburgh and has witnessed this grief firsthand among her clients, she felt powerless to provide meaningful, ongoing support.
Together with her co-founder Bernadette Dagg, (A senior mental health professional with 25+ years experience). Moira created Fur-Ever, a digital one-stop shop designed to support people through the grief of losing a beloved pet.
At its core, Fur-Ever provides a 24/7 AI grief companion, offering a safe space for people to talk openly when loneliness hits hardest, often in the wee small hours. This is supported by a clinically informed ecosystem including memorial spaces, structured grief modules, and community connection.
Fur-Ever is seeking £75,000 build and test it’s MVP.
Pet Grief is not new, however the tools we can now employ are.
Ineta Joksaite, Founder of NetaNode
NetaNode is a digital infrastructure startup that works with internet providers to help households earn income from unused broadband.
Businesses use this spare capacity instead of relying entirely on large data centres, reducing congestion and energy use.
NetaNode is built to integrate with existing internet services without disrupting normal household connectivity.
For households, this means the opportunity to earn additional income from internet capacity they already pay for, without changing how they use their connection day to day.
For businesses, using spare household capacity reduces reliance on large data centres, which require significant amounts of electricity and water to operate. Distributing some digital tasks away from centralised facilities helps lower overall energy and water consumption.
By making better use of existing digital infrastructure, NetaNode creates practical financial benefits for households while supporting a more efficient and environmentally responsible digital economy.
NetaNode was born out of MSc Entrepreneurship Innovation and Technology research thesis by Ineta Joksaite, focusing on Community Wealth Building and Sustainability.
Lucinda Wiley, CEO of Neurish (ExploreBuddy Ltd)
Neurish is a new kind of social app designed to help neurodivergent people build meaningful connections through shared interests. Many autistic and otherwise neurodivergent adults and parents want community, but traditional social platforms can feel overwhelming, unsafe, or simply not built with their communication styles in mind. Neurish changes that by creating a calmer, interest-led space where people can meet others who genuinely “get” them.
At its core, Neurish matches users based on the topics they love, from gaming and art to niche hobbies and deep-dive passions. Instead of forcing small talk or fast-paced interactions, the app offers low-pressure ways to start conversations, explore shared interests, and join interest and support-based groups at a comfortable pace. Every part of the experience is shaped with neurodivergent users, not just for them, through ongoing co-design with autistic adults, parents, and professionals.
Safety and accessibility sit at the heart of the platform. Neurish includes clear onboarding, supportive community guidelines, and a design approach that reduces sensory load and social pressure. The goal is simple: to make it easier for neurodivergent people to find belonging, build friendships, and feel part of a community that understands them.
Emma Charlton, Founder of Porphura
At Porphura, the belief is simple: achieving true equality requires a majority to care about a minority.
Porphura was created to raise awareness, drive meaningful change, and inspire the majority to play an active role in improving the lives of disabled people. The organisation exists to educate, encourage, challenge, and support progress – working towards a genuinely level playing field.
Porphura helps businesses move beyond gestures. They provide practical training, co-designed access interventions, and intuitive tools that build confidence and make accessibility achievable. Its work empowers teams to communicate clearly, make meaningful improvements, and create environments where disabled visitors feel informed, respected, and included.
Porphura transforms accessibility from a source of uncertainty into a strategic business advantage, helping organisations thrive while caring.
Kristiina Nimmo, Founder of UnderWorks Art
UnderWorks’ mission is to transform a historic Aberdeen building into Scotland’s must-visit cultural destination. We will create a dynamic, mid-scale hub at the intersection of visual, painted, and auditory art, solving the city’s critical lack of dedicated creative space. This will reverse the trend of artists leaving and revitalize the city centre by driving consistent footfall.
The venue itself will be the destination—its art a living skin, not mere decoration. It will feature a 50/50 split of large-scale exhibitions from North-East/Scottish artists and national/international creators, alongside immersive live events. This bridges the gap between large halls and small pop-ups, meeting a proven public appetite.
More than a gallery, UnderWorks is an engine for social and economic regeneration. We will engage the community through mentorship, employment, and participation, fostering a platform where everyone feels valued. By adapting a vacant building into a year-round creative anchor, we combat urban decline, support local business, and reshape Aberdeen’s identity into a vibrant, culturally ambitious place to live, work, and visit.
Aleksandra Czech-Seklecka, Founder/CEO of VanFill Ltd
VanFill is an AI-driven logistics-matching platform that connects people and businesses that need to move goods with transport providers who have spare space in their vehicles. By filling unused capacity in vehicles, VanFill aims to reduce waste, cut costs, and make deliveries more efficient and affordable, particularly for rural and underserved communities. It is designed to create extra income opportunities for local transport providers and help them reach more customers. The goal is to strengthen local supply chains and support lower emissions through smarter, more inclusive logistics.
Lee Walls, Founder of Wild Changer
Wild Changer is a Scottish outdoor kit brand changing how we change outdoors.
Our flagship product is a truly unique 50-litre insulated sports bag with a detachable padded changing mat built in. It protects dry kit, creates a warm standing surface on cold ground, and brings order to post-swim chaos.
Built in the open alongside a community of 130+ wild swimmers, the brand launched via a crowdfunder that reached 162% of its target, validating both demand and price point. Our first production run is now en route to Scotland.
Wild Changer is positioned to scale beyond wild swimming into surfing, triathlon, family beach use and travel, building a new category in outdoor changing.
Mhairi Burnett, Founder of Wild Dook Sauna
Wild Dook Sauna is a mobile outdoor sauna based across the south of Scotland. Founded in April 2025 by Mhairi Burnett, who brings a background of management consulting and passion for outdoor wellness, it encourages guests to warm up, wind down and unplug from the modern world.
As a mobile sauna, Wild Dook Sauna brings deep heat and cold water experiences to a variety of beautiful locations, including lochs, coastlines, and outdoor spaces. Since launching, it’s developed a strong reputation and built a wide customer base, stretching from Stranraer to South Lanarkshire.
At its core, Wild Dook Sauna fosters a sense of connection: with oneself, with others, and with the natural world. Each sauna experience is designed to be welcoming and grounded, encouraging guests to slow down and enjoy a moment of calm.
Looking ahead, Wild Dook Sauna plans to expand into multiple permanent locations, creating consistent community spaces while continuing to offer the mobile sauna for events and private hire. This blended approach balances stability with flexibility, while preserving the deep heat and cold water experiences that guests have come to know and love.
Emily Youngs, CEO and Founder of WombWise
WombWise is a femtech startup building an early-screening and chronic pain support platform for women with unclear, ongoing reproductive health symptoms, including suspected endometriosis and PCOS. Today, many women wait 8 to 10 years for answers because symptoms are non-specific, tracking is subjective, and clinicians often do not have consistent, longitudinal evidence to justify early investigation.
WombWise combines symptom tracking with passive physiological data to generate personalised screening insights and clinical-ready, exportable reports. It is not a diagnostic tool. It flags abnormal patterns, highlights potential menstrual irregularities and risk signals, and guides users on when to seek medical review and what information to bring. Alongside screening insights, WombWise supports ongoing symptom management with adaptive care plans and forward-looking symptom pattern predictions to help users plan around pain.
Early proof-of-concept testing suggests WombWise could reduce time to investigation and diagnosis from 8 to 10 years to under 1 year, an estimated 88% to 90% reduction. WombWise is now recruiting for a 1,000-user feasibility pilot to validate real-world performance and retention, and the team is currently raising £50,000 pre-seed to fund this pilot.
Join the waitlist today at https://www.wombwise.co.uk
Special Guests & Partners
The showcase, delivered in partnership with The Scottish National Investment Bank and supported by the Scottish Government, Burness Paull and Johnston Carmichael, shone a spotlight on some of Scotland’s leading female-founded businesses, with the aim of inspiring the next generation of business talent.
Pupils from Lasswade Academy and Knox Academy were also in attendance as part of AccelerateHER’s Pathways Forward pledge to make their events accessible to secondary school pupils, providing them with the opportunity to engage directly with founders and gain early exposure to entrepreneurship.
Building the Pipeline. Backing the Future.
The AccelerateHER Female Founder Showcase is a platform for capital connection, commercial growth and ecosystem change.
From AI startups and SaaS platforms to consumer brands, climate infrastructure and community-led ventures, this cohort demonstrates the strength of Scotland’s female-led innovation pipeline.
Our role and mission are clear: accelerate their growth, increase their visibility and ensure they are backed to scale.
Because investing in women isn’t a side conversation. It’s a growth strategy.
To follow the journey of these founders and future Showcase events, keep an eye on our channels and join us as we continue to champion the women building Scotland’s next wave of high-growth businesses.
