Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top Edinburgh based CEO’ operating in the Software space. If you think a CEO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Abesh Thakur
Co-Founder and CEO of Two Big Ears Ltd
Abesh spent two years in a Fortune 500 company as a Mainframe developer, before deciding to quit and pursue a Masters degree in Acoustics and Music Technology from the prestigious University of Edinburgh. Post completion of his degree, he co-founded Two Big Ears, with the goal of creating easy to use and effective audio toolkits, which would help developers create more immersive experience without having to worry about the Maths behind all the audio magic. He takes a deep interest in all things tech and progressive deathcore bands, and utilises his spare time in teaching Maths to Primary and Secondary school kids.
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About Two Big Ears Ltd: Two Big Ears is a Scottish company specialising in creating efficient audio toolkits for game and virtual reality developers.
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Doug Stephenson
Founder and CEO of TravelNest
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About TravelNest: TravelNest is an advertising optimisation platform for holiday rental owners.
Alistair Banham
CEO of pureLiFi
Alistair Banham is a global semiconductor industry veteran, with more than 30 years’ experience leading international business units. Prior to taking up the role as CEO at pureLiFi Alistair was Senior Vice President & GM of Customer Solutions Business Unit at Wolfson Microelectronics. At Wolfson Alistair was responsible for chip development, mobile systems strategy and driving strong engagement with tier 1 global accounts Previously he held roles as SVP & General Manager EMEA (Europe Middle East & Africa) at Philips Semiconductors. Alistair was a founding member and President & GM EMEA of ON Semiconductor and played a leading role in the spin out from Motorola semiconductor and subsequent IPO. During his time in the semiconductor industries, Alistair has been based out of key technology hubs from silicon valley (California) through to ASIA. Alistair brings an element of skill to pureLiFi that will lead innovation and release new products to drive increased adoption with their global customers and key growth markets.
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About pureLiFi: pureLiFi develops technology for communication networks that integrates data and lighting utility infrastructures.
John Peebles
CEO of Administrate
Extensive experience designing and implementing complex products and processes across a variety of industries. He is experienced in all aspects of the software and product development lifecycle, growing startups, developing business plans and delivering against those plans.
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About Administrate, Turing Fest: The enterprise training management platform for business results.
Tony Davey
Founder & CEO of Red61
Tony has been the driving force behind the company, from developing the original software concept to generating interest and building sales to more than £2m. Tony has 31 years’ experience in the ticketing business ranging from managing venue box offices to running ticket agencies as well as being involved in running venues and events.
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About Red61: Red61 is a successful Edinburgh-based ticketing software supplier.
Danae Shell
Co-founder and CEO of Valla
Danae Shell is the co-founder and CEO of Valla, a technology company who want to make legal decisions fairer and faster for everyone. Danae is a software developer-turned marketer, and a Tennessean who has worked in Scotland’s startup scene for over 17 years. She was an early employee at both FreeAgent and Care Sourcer and her latest venture Valla is co-founded with product and data specialist Dr. Kate Ho.
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About Valla: Data-driven tools for the legal industry
Ben Panter
CEO & Founder of Blackford Analysis
Ben Panter is a CEO & Founder at Blackford Analysis.
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About Blackford Analysis: Blackford Analysis develops software solutions for the worldwide medical, oil and gas, and defense industries.
Scott McGlinchey
CEO of Exception
Responsible for our customers, finance, business operations and the overall development of the business, Scott has a background spanning Executive and Board level roles in ICL, Fujitsu Services and Newell & Budge. Scott is also a Director of Young Scot as well as being a Fellow of the Royal Society for encouragement of Arts and of the IoD. He is a founding member of Generation Science and has previously been a member of the Digital Scotland Task Force, a Director of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, a Director of ScotlandIS and a member of the Council of CBI Scotland.
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About Exception, The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA): Exception is an IT Consultancy and Services company that collaborates with many of the UK’s largest companies and Government organisations.
Jim Thompson
Co-Founder & CEO of Cogbooks
Jim has a strong track record in bringing new technology products to market. It’s something he’s done successfully for Thermo Electron and Applied Materials, creating products that reached $100m+ in annual sales. Jim has extensive international experience in Asia, the US and Europe.
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About Cogbooks: CogBooks is an adaptive web-based learning platform.
Colin Hewitt
Co-Founder & CEO of Float
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About Float: Float is a SaaS based real-time financial intelligence solution for small businesses to forecast short and long-term cash flow.
Andrew Richards
CEO of Codeplay Software
Andrew Richards is founder and CEO of Codeplay Software Ltd, a highly successful business that has evolved since 2002 creating compilers and other software development tools for gaming and mobile phone products. Much of this experience is now being applied to enable heterogeneous processing products for machine learning and vision processing. Andrew also brings strong leadership in open standards definitions, specifically chair of the Khronos SYCL for OpenCL group and chair of Software Working Group for the HSA Foundation. Andrew graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in Computer Science and Physics.
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About Codeplay Software, The Melting Pot Edinburgh: Enabling AI to be Open, Safe and Accessible to All
Gregor Hofer
CEO of Speech Graphics
Gregor holds a PhD in Informatics from the University of Edinburgh. Prior to co-founding Speech Graphics, he was a research fellow at the School of Informatics and a senior researcher at the Telecommunications Research Centre Vienna where he successfully commercialised a text to speech prototype that now powers several government webpages. Gregor co-authored grants worth £1.5M million to fund the commercialisation of technology. In addition to his full-time role at Speech Graphics he is a Supervisory Board member at System Industrie Electronic Holding AG.
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About Rapport, Speech Graphics: Speech Graphics delivers pioneering facial animation technology to the entertainment industry.
Ed Molyneux
CEO of FreeAgent
CEO at FreeAgent
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About FreeAgent: FreeAgent provides online accounting and money management software for small businesses and freelancers.
Stuart Fraser
CEO of Wallet.Services
Stuart’s role spans technology vision, product architecture, finance, and overall leadership. Stuart successfully founded and built the first Scottish domestic cyber security and cryptography company DNS before its ultimate sale to Dell Corp. He has a wide appreciation of the application of technology and the risk and issues of information security and continues his involvement with the cyber community. Stuart completed his MSc in High Performance Computing at EPCC and was founding CTO at online Identity provider MiiCard, specialising in advance Internet Identity technologies. Over the last few years Stuart has brought his skills to bear on the emerging blockchain technologies which culminated in the creation of Wallet.Services.
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About Wallet.Services: Connecting and protecting business and society.
Jamie Graves
Chief Executive Officer of Uleska
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About Uleska: Uleska is an application security automation platform. We help security and development teams manage application security at scale.
Steve Rick
Chief Executive Officer of Forensic Analytics
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About Forensic Analytics: Forensic Analytics provides service for software, training, and consultancy.
Georgia Stewart
Co-Founder & CEO of Tumelo
Georgia Stewart is the Co-Founder and CEO of Tumelo.
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About Tumelo: Tumelo is an impact-focused financial technology firm with the mission of giving every investor a voice.
Zhuoran Wang
Co-founder & CEO of Tricorn
Zhuoran Wang is Co-founder & CEO at trio.ai.
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About Tricorn: Tricorn is an AI startup focused on developing a conversational platform that enables people to interact with smart device.
Joseph McElmeel
CEO / Co-Founder of SymbaSync
Joseph McElmeel is co-founder, CEO, and Head of Product at SymbaSync. Joseph McElmeel believes in creating HR software that removes bias and provides employees equal opportunity. Working in newspapers, music, entertainment, education, and software, Joseph McElmeel and his teams have achieved the following recognition to date: ●“1998 Leo Kelly Spirit Award for Outstanding Achievement,” – USA Today/Gannett ● “2000 RIAA Platinum Record,” Poison’s Greatest Hits 1986-1996 – Capitol Records ● “2001 (8x) RIAA Platinum Record,” Steve Miller Band’s Greatest Hits 1974-1978 – Capitol Records ● “2002 RIAA Platinum Record,” The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds – Capitol Records ● “2002 Team Leader Award: Top Corporate Fundraiser,” American Heart Association ● “2009 #1 Pop-Punk Artist-Japan,” Billboard-Japan Music Awards ● “2010-2014 (5x) Best Business Award: Advertising, Marketing and Event Practices,” Musical Artist Enterprises, Inc. – Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce ● “2014 U.K. Finalist,” – KPMG Case Study Competition ● “2015 Global Finalist,” – Argos Enterprise Software Competition ● “2016 Trelawney Burgoyne Prize for Academic Performance and School Impact,” – University of Edinburgh Business School ● “2017 #1 Recruitment Software Platform,” SymbaSync, Ltd – SME News ● “2018 #1 Scottish Enterprise Most Innovative Recruitment Platform,” SymbaSync, Ltd. – SME News ● “2019 Nominee for the Great British Entrepreneur Awards,” SymbaSync, Ltd. – Nominated by RBS Bank ● “2020 HR Software Company of the Year,” SymbaSync, Ltd. – Corporate Livewire Magazine ● “2021 Top U.K. Project Management Companies,” SymbaSync, Ltd. – Welp Magazine
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About SymbaSync: SymbaSync creates instant access to up-to-date employee skills and interests to source for temporary and permanent project teams.
Maciej Zurawski
Founder and CEO of Musemantik
Maciej is an entrepreneur and technologist with an interdisciplinary background in science, technology and arts. He has 20+ years of software development experience. Maciej believes that digital technology should be a force for good, and that mobile app innovations are the ideal way to harvest and unleash human goodness. He is passionate about creating intelligent mobile apps for social good, as well as for physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Maciej loves building innovations which transform society and alleviate suffering.
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About Musemantik: Musemantik delivers digital solutions for healthcare and wellbeing.
Leah Hutcheon
Founder & CEO of Appointedd
Leah Hutcheon is the founder and CEO of Appointedd, an Edinburgh-based startup revolutionising the way small businesses sell their timeslot appointments online. From personal trainers to massage therapists, serviced offices to large corporations, Appointedd enables online booking on any device in any timezone. Appointedd offers businesses access to CRM, marketing and business management tools, and fits seamlessly with 25+ two-way integrations. Appointedd has launched the world’s first truly multi-timezone online booking system, enabling people to take bookings across different timezones seamlessly. Leah is a proud Ambassador for Women’s Enterprise Scotland, Director of Future Leaders for Entrepreneurial Scotland and #ScotEDGE Award winner. An Entrepreneurial Spark supported company, Appointedd was featured in BBC documentary, The Entrepreneurs. – See more at: https://leah.appointedd.com/#sthash.9u1vWztJ.dpuf
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About Appointedd: Appointedd is a cutting-edge online booking and scheduling solution that makes it easier for you to connect with your customers.
Paul Gardiner
CEO & Founder of Eoovi
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About Eoovi: Eoovi is a Global Video Platform that allows small to large video providers access to our unique compression software.
Gerry O’Neill
Founder & CEO of Curo Compensation
Gerry O’Neill joined CURO as Co-founder and CEO in 2011.
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About Cognitive Geology, Curo Compensation, Vebnet Holdings: Curo4Comp is a secure SaaS solution that enables you to get maximum impact from your compensation spend.
Harry Boisseau
Co-Founder and CEO of Citizen Ticket
Harry Boisseau founder and CEO at Citizen Ticket.
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About Citizen Ticket: The simple & secure future of ticketing
Elaine Van Der Berg
Chief Executive Officer of Pufferfish
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About Pufferfish: Pufferfish open up a world of possibilities for better communication and engagement with world-beating PufferSphere® display solutions.
Ashutosh Natraj
CEO & CoFounder of Vidrona
Oxford University Researcher turned entrepreneur with 9 years of experience in academia and industry across the world such as IBM Research. Ash holds a PhD in Robotics and Computer Vision for UAVs(Distinction), Erasmus Mundus (ViBOT) scholar with 3 Masters in Robotics and Computer Vision.
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About Vidrona, Vine Rangers: Vidrona is a British AI Based Predictive Prescriptive Analytics Company for the Utilities. It helps utilities to increase RoI.
Ian Stevenson
Founder & CEO of Cyan Forensics
I am an experienced start-up executive with an excellent track record as a management team member, non-exec director and consultant. I am a Saltire Fellow, and have an excellent academic background including a 1st class degree from Edinburgh University. I have experience working in sectors including software, electronics, semiconductors, telecommunications, medical devices, optics, sub-sea survey, and electronic payment security.
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About Cyan Forensics, Salient Point Consulting Ltd: Cyan Forensics sells software to help police, social media, and cloud providers find & block harmful content from pedophiles and terrorists.
Keith Neilson
CEO and Co-Founder of Craneware
Keith Neilson is the CEO and Co-Founder of Craneware.
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About Craneware: Craneware provides automated revenue integrity solutions to improve financial performance in healthcare organizations.
Daniel Rodgers
Founder & CEO of QikServe
Daniel is a serial entrepreneur involved in a number of ventures before seeing an opportunity to disrupt global hospitality with digital self-service. Daniel has delivered on market opportunities, such as kiosk, to ensure QikServe is on the digital pathways that lead to mobile self-service.
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About QikServe: QikServe is the enterprise platform for guest self-service in hospitality.
Grant MacCusker
CEO of Letting Cloud
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About Letting Cloud: SaaS based proptech platform enabling landlords, agents and tenants to rent property in a modern way.
Jacqui McLaughlin
CEO of Reactec
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About Reactec: Reactec is the market leader in monitoring and management support solutions for hand and arm vibration syndrome
Andy Muir
Co-Founder & CEO of Coach Logic
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About Coach Logic: Coach Logic is an online video analysis and feedback platform built by sports coaches for sports coaches.
Allan Nelson
CEO & Co-Founder of For-Sight
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About : Hotel CRM, CDP and Guest Engagement
Aravinda Korala
Founder & Chief Executive Officer of KAL
Aravinda Korala is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of KAL.He attend to the The The University of Edinburgh in 1979.
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About KAL: KAL is a global software company dedicated solely to multi-vendor ATM software.
